Need advice collecting mosses

[whuntley]

Spring has sprung, and on my biweekly hikes and when walking the dogs at the shelter in Big Pine, I am starting to see mosses along the creek banks.

Last Friday, there were a couple of wet logs completely covered in bright green moss on the stretch of Rock Creek where we were hiking. [I also took my first fish picture with my new little camera. I just got a Canon S1 IS to carry instead of my big, heavy DSC-D770. I caught a pic of a 10" trout, but the water ripples rendered him nearly unrecognizable. No. I didn't think to shoot the moss. There were too many wildflowers.]

I wondered how one should approach collecting and cultivating wild mosses. I'm sure some of the folks here with experience (not at the LFS ) can guide me to the ways to make it work.

Should one collect emergent moss only, or try to find some fully submerged? I don't recall seeing any of the latter.

How to pack them for survival in a hot car trip home? I have coolers and can take ice.

How to acclimate them to warmer conditions? I notice none of our warm springs ever seem to have any mosses at all. Am I just asking for a frustrating experience?

I'm a complete novice, here, so any beginner advice gratefully accepted. I can grow Java and Taiwan Moss, but the Weeping is still a disaster in process. I have no idea why, unless it was just hopelessly frostbitten along with the (late) downoi stems.

Wright

[timebomb]

I'm a complete novice, here, so any beginner advice gratefully accepted.

Aww, come on Wright, you're our Chief Bloviator so you must never describe yourself as a novice

But then again, I saw what the professor did with the 2 mosses he bought from a fish shop in Japan. He packed them in separate plastic bags. One was filled with water and the other was not. The former is almost completely dead whereas the latter is still green. The Prof is a moss expert but he does not know how to keep them alive

When packing moss in a plastic bag, try to drain off as much water as you can or the plant will die. Packed dry (not completely dry but just slightly moist), moss can survive in an envelope for up to 2 weeks easily.

Some mosses are semi-aquatic, in that they can be found growing underwater as well as above it. If you find such mosses however, take only those that are growing submersed as those growing on land will have a layer of soil underneath the moss. It will take a lot of time and effort to remove this layer of soil.

If you find them growing on rocks underwater, either take the whole rock or chip off a small piece.

Mosses need low temperatures but if your journey home isn't a long one, it isn't a big deal. But take note that plants in general will wilt and die if they are left in a car under the midday sun. I don't know how the weather is like over where you are but here in Singapore, an hour or so under the blast of the afternoon sun is enough to kill any plant.

When in transit, plants travel best when they are packed in an airtight plastic bag. Keep them slightly moist but do not fill the bag with water. If left in the open, uprooted plants can die within a short while if there's a strong breeze. That's the reason for keeping them in an airtight bag. I usually carry small plastic bags with me when I go on nature walks. To seal them, I use my lighter which is always with me all the time

I don't believe you can acclimatise mosses to higher temperatures. That can be done to a certain degree but beyond that limit, the mosses will die.
If plants can be acclimatised to grow under different temperatures, we will be growing apple trees, won't we?

Loh K L