# Live sphagnum moss for paphs



## hardy (Sep 30, 2010)

I've read several accounts on the use of live sphagnum for orchids, either in 
orchid magazines or in online sources. I first became interested in live 
sphagnum for growing carnivorous plants, but became inspired to try that for 
paphs after reading an article by Lance Birk in the October 1970 issue of 
Orchid Digest magazine. Lance also wrote a thread about it some while ago:

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2245

I've tried live sphagnum myself for a small number of paphs big and small, and 
have had great results. I'm sharing my experience here, hope you'll find it 
useful


*How to get live sphagnum moss?*

Sphagnum naturally grows in boggy areas in temperate climates, and can 
even be found in tropical climate in montane habitats. It may be collected 
legally in some areas, but sometimes it may not. One of the ways to obtain 
live sphagnum is by coincidence. Dried sphagnum can regenerate new 
sprouts under favorable conditions. I'm using Chilean sphagnum, which 
contains mainly the red species S. magellanicum. I find that it regenerates 
quite readily, and have found the live form growing by itself in the pots of 
orchids that are given moist/wet cycle, or in potted carnivorous plants kept 
wet under very high humidity. Below is a picture of regeneration in a potted 
maudiae type hybrid.












The same pot, after several months:





The paph was grown with the medium kept from moist to wet in a clear pot 
and as you can see the moss was sprouting near the pot sides. Under such 
condition, the sphagnum does not develop its characteristic capitulum, but 
grows in thin, individual long shoots. A capitulum is one defining feature of 
the genus sphagnum, and is the flower-like structure you see at the apical 
end of each shoot. But young sphagnum or sphagnum grown in shady 
conditions sometimes do not develop the capitula, or develop these poorly. 
Which brings the point about how to look for live sphagnum when other 
mosses are also present. Here is a picture of a few shoots of live sphagnum 
sprouting on a surface that has other mosses on it. 






In this case the capitulum has not developed, but the moss can be identified by the 
similar look to the dried sphagnum it comes from. The other mosses are 
distinctly different. Quite often live sphagnum will sprout on sphagnum 
medium surface that is kept moist to wet, but won't survive long enough to 
produce the capitula that will distinguish it right away.

Live sphagnum moss is quite common stuff among the carnivorous plant 
lovers, so if you cannot get them yourself, you very likely can get some from 
your CP-er friends.


*Culture of live sphagnum moss*

When you get hold of live sphagnum moss, you can grow it on a bed of 
sphagnum moss medium soaked in clean or peaty water. I propagate mine 
by cutting off the capitula of the live moss and insert them onto new 
beds of sphagnum. Frequent watering from the top with good quality water 
helps to keep the moss alive. At low temperatures, the moss grows 
vigorously and can be grown in full sun, but when the summer is hot it needs 
some protection from direct sunlight. I've also grown live sphagnum 
successfully under lights in an air-conditioned room. Here are some pics: 





Grown under lights






Grown under full sun in winter. This is a very compact green sphagnum species sprouting out from Chilean sphagnum.






The red Chilean sphagnum S. magellanicum at the end of summer, grown outdoors in dappled shade.

There are some cool links that contain more details about the culture of live 
sphagnum. These have helped me so much and gave me so much reading 
pleasure about a year ago when I was truly crazy about sphagnum mosses, hehe 

http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Resources/Fletcher.pdf (Chapter 3 - Sphagnum Growing)

http://bluegrasscarnivores.com/


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## hardy (Sep 30, 2010)

*Using live sphagnum as a medium for paphs*

Lance Birk has stated before that sphagnum moss is magic stuff for paphs. I've 
found this to be so true. I can keep the bases of paphs sopping wet yet 
they seem to be protected from rots, and the live moss quicky promotes an 
initial flush of root growth. That's why I think it is one of the best growing 
medium for salvaging a paph. From mature division, newly deflasked seedlings, 
to ailing plants, they seem to respond similarly to live sphagnum. Of course 
we can save our paphs in a variety of growing media, but we can keep them 
sopping wet with little fear of rot in live sphagnum, which is a great advantage 
for plants with little or no roots on them.

I harvest my sphagnum moss for use by cutting a few centimeters off my 
sphagnum lawn, leaving the bottom one or two centimeters of stumps, which 
can sprout again. When potting the paphs, I try to keep the vertical 
orientation of the capitula. Both loose or firmer potting can work quite well. 
After potting, I either dunk the pots in shallow clean water, or frequently 
water the moss. I usually fertilize my paphs by soaking the medium with 1/6 
to 1/10 recommended concentration of fertilizer, but drenching live 
sphagnum with this fertilizer solution kills it in a matter of days. When the 
moss has grown too tall, I simply press the capitula down to a lower level in 
the pot.

My first example is a group of Paph thaianum seedlings. I first grew them into 
the usual sphagnum moss medium with wet to moist cycles, yet they did not 
do very well, and some leaves began to rot. I consulted the nurseries I 
bought my flasks from and they both confirmed that Paph thaianum is a 
difficult one from flask. I quickly transferred them to live sphagnum after a 
few months of very poor growth and they quickly recovered.





Newly repotted into live sphagnum. Note the damaged leaves due to rot in the larger compot.






Good root growth few weeks after transfer to live sphagnum.






How the large compot looks today. It has been grown in live sphagnum a 
little more than a year. It's been kept in very wet conditions. Note how the 
moss has grown rampant. It wicks water up the leaves causing some salt 
deposits on them. Time to press down the sphagnum and rinse the plants!






At almost two years from flask, the largest of the lot have leafspans of 3 to 4 inches.


I've also tried live sphagnum for growing Paph sanderianum seedlings. They 
responded very well, producing healthy growth in the next one or two years. 
I had one seedling losing all its roots due to careless deflasking. After two 
weeks in live sphagnum, it grew four roots about 1-cm long. That's what I 
call magic! I've salvaged the smallest sanderianum flasklings this way too. 












I divided a four-growth, one-stolon Paph. Fanaticum, which had been grown 
in a bark mix, into 3 divisions and single stolon, and I repotted them in live 
sphagnum. The old roots adapted well to the new medium, and they grew 
really nice new roots as well.
















However, I think there is a caveat to using live sphagnum long-term for paph. 
It is difficult to provide extra nutrients to the paph without killing the 
sphagnum. It is actually possible to fertilize the sphagnum moss by very 
light sprinkling of dilute fertilizer over the capitula, but these probably will not 
be available to the paph anyway. Therefore, even though the roots of the 
plants grow well, they will slowly be staved of nutrients, which may make it 
unsuitable for long term culture. In an article in AOS magazine I believe, Disa 
grows very healthy roots in live sphagnum but the shoots grow poorly. Also, 
owing to the extreme acidity of live sphagnum, some paphs that prefer 
neutral to slightly basic medium may suffer in it (mentioned somewhere in 
ladyslipper.com). There's an article in an orchid magazine (forgot which one) 
about the use of live sphagnum for paphs in Germany, where it's said the standard 
complex type do not do well in it. I have not tried live sphagnum for standard 
paph, but I find it to be quite unsuitable for maudiae-type seedlings. They 
can grow beautiful roots initially, but shoot growth is very poor, much slower 
than those seedlings grown in the usual sphagnum moss medium.







*Growing sphagnum as a hobby in its own right*

After getting to cultivate some live sphagnum I was hooked. I wanted to 
learn as much as possible about them. The handbook provided by the 
Bristish Bryological Society (one of the links above) was a great enabler for 
me. I was intrigued by the colorful descriptions of the colored sphagnum 
species. I soon noticed that the the dried Chilean sphagnum is mostly 
brownish red, which I later found to be Sphagnum magellanicum, yet the live 
moss I had kept were mostly green, just with the occasional pink tinge.






The handbook stated that bright light is necessary for the colors to come out, 
but mine grown in full sun in the winter were just slightly pigmented. I was 
intrigued so I tried to find information about them on the net. Luckily I found 
a few scientific papers stating that a drop in nightime temperature to 
cold conditions is mainly responsible to induce the coloring. Ah, so that is it! 
But mine was still just lightly colored despite the cool winters here. One day I 
had some excess NAA powder after dipping my rose cuttings, so I sprinkled 
some on my S. magellanicum grown indoors. Voila! I got deep red sphagnum 
in a few weeks! Yuppee!






For those of you who might want to know the growing conditions, this small 
cup of sphagnum was grown in bright light (5-cm from fluorescent tube), in 
an air-con room with 25 degrees minimum.

I got hooked even deeper, and exchanged some sprigs of sphagnum with a 
couple of overseas friends online, so that at the peak of my craziness I had 
11 distinct sphagnum.
















Beautiful, aren't they? Unfortunately last year was a rough year for me. I had 
to relocate and stuff, and most of these didn't survive. Well, I've lost many 
plants under my care, but my lost sphagnum is among those I miss the most 
and feel quite bad about.

Finally, here's a highly enabling link about the sphagnum species from Britain:

http://hosting.sleath.co.uk/bbs/mosses_nz.php



Phew! That's the looongest post I have ever written in a forum. Hope you have enjoyed reading it! Cheers.


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## Leo Schordje (Sep 30, 2010)

Thank you, you have inspired me to try my hand again at growing sphagnum. I want to try to raise the local native Sarracinia species, and for that one definitely needs live sphagnum, but it also is a very beautiful. Thanks


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## likespaphs (Sep 30, 2010)

wow!
that was absolutely fantastic!!!!!!!
thank you so very much!
i've tried to grow sphag but without success. you have really given me some great ideas!!
thanks again!


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## Mrs. Paph (Sep 30, 2010)

Thankyou for sharing! I really appreciate the info and the pictures to go with it! I would love to become just enough of a sphagnum nut to be able to have some on hand for plants needing a boost or perhaps even to grow more longterm if possible...have you tried foliar feeding the plants? Perhaps make sure the moss is pushed down, hold the plant in the pot sideways and spray the foliage with your fertilizer mix so it's getting to the plant rather than drenching down through the live sphagnum? Yes you'd have to lift up individual pots and tip them sideways to fertilize, but it could be a worthwhile experiment to try!  I still grow indoors under lights anyway, so all my plants go over a large plastic tub to get watered! All I've been able to do so far is make sure the tiny regenerated pieces of moss along the sides of my pots (clear) gets transferred to the new pot when I repot - they don't grow nearly as much as the one you showed, but I've had a few continue from year to year, pot to pot and like to see the humid pockets they create for the roots to grow into.


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## smartie2000 (Sep 30, 2010)

that you for taking the time to write this! I appreciate it.


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## NYEric (Sep 30, 2010)

Very interesting and well developed. I agree sphagnum is an interesting and beneficial medium, unfortunately it is as common in the NYC area as $4 bills.


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## Yoyo_Jo (Sep 30, 2010)

Thanks for writing such an interesting and informative article!


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## Paul (Sep 30, 2010)

Very good article, thank you for sharing your experience!! 

I have tried to use living sphagnum but too hard to let it alive with salts, even quite low. Now in the media, I put some moss I find in the garden (where the grass is very poor, under trees where it's humid). when the moss is well established it's quite salt tolerant (about 500-600µS/cm waterings). and makes strong roots with all kind of species.


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## Ernie (Sep 30, 2010)

Leo Schordje said:


> Thank you, you have inspired me to try my hand again at growing sphagnum. I want to try to raise the local native Sarracinia species, and for that one definitely needs live sphagnum, but it also is a very beautiful. Thanks



Leo,

Stop by our old place. I left several square feet of it growing in the back yard between the AC unit and the house.  Kicking myself for not bringing it down. Have lots of apps for it here and now have to start from scratch.


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## NYEric (Sep 30, 2010)

Did you leave any orchids?!


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## breeindy (Sep 30, 2010)

I grow my paphs in bark and only get to water them once a week or so but when i repot i always get rotted roots. I shouldn't grow in moss should i? I can't belive you keep the moss wet and don't rot the paphs!


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## Ricky (Sep 30, 2010)

breeindy said:


> I can't belive you keep the moss wet and don't rot the paphs!



Live sphagnum produces a low pH that fungi and bacteria don´t like, it is antibiotic. 

But never forget to change your sphagnum at least after 2 years. It will compact and rot at the bottom and than the roots will "suffocate".


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## biothanasis (Sep 30, 2010)

Amazingly interesting info in this thread!!!!!!!! Thanks a million!!!!

Paul, do you "clean" the moss before applying it to the pots? If yes, how?

Ricky and Hardy, do you think paphs can be grown in sphagnum, live or not, if it is loosen up every year or two??


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## paphioboy (Sep 30, 2010)

Thanks for sharing... The trouble is getting it to grow in the tropics, where temperature is not optimum...


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## JeanLux (Oct 1, 2010)

hardy said:


> [ Phew! That's the looongest post I have ever written in a forum. Hope you have enjoyed reading it! Cheers.



Really an excellent presentation of your experience!!!!! Thanks Hardy




Paul said:


> Very good article, thank you for sharing your experience!!
> 
> I have tried to use living sphagnum but too hard to let it alive with salts, even quite low. Now in the media, I put some moss I find in the garden (where the grass is very poor, under trees where it's humid). when the moss is well established it's quite salt tolerant (about 500-600µS/cm waterings). and makes strong roots with all kind of species.



Interesting Paul! I too started this summer using my 'garden' moss, but it is too early to see if it really helps; nevertheless, some of my Stanhopeas grown in baskets with moss responded very positively, by bringing up new roots and growths! Jean


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## Leo Schordje (Oct 1, 2010)

Ernie said:


> Leo,
> 
> Stop by our old place. I left several square feet of it growing in the back yard between the AC unit and the house.  Kicking myself for not bringing it down. Have lots of apps for it here and now have to start from scratch.



Thanks Ernie, 
But the new residents might not appreciate me snooping in their yard. I can see it now, me skulking around at midnight with a flashlight, looking for moss :evil: and the new residents, who only grow 'dirt plants' just not being understanding.


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## TyroneGenade (Oct 1, 2010)

Thanks, Hardy. A very useful thread to me as I try grow Disa as well as Paphs.

Any experience with helenae in sphagnum? Anyone..?


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## hardy (Oct 1, 2010)

Thank you all, for your kind comments ^_^

Thanasis, I think sphagnum needs to be replaced from time to time, because it turns into something nasty as it decomposes. If allowed to dry between waterings, it can stay good for longer periods.


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## Pete (Oct 1, 2010)

> Thank you, you have inspired me to try my hand again at growing sphagnum.



^^^what he said


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## cliokchi (Oct 1, 2010)

*aseptic use of spaghnum*

hi guys,

in the first world war the medics used sphagnum moss filled wound compresses
to treat heavy shot wounds ,
at that time they didn't have readily access to any anti biotics
somehow the sphagnum moss filled wound compresses did a similar job and resulted in the wounds not getting infected.
i can remember about 30 yrs ago visiting a real old style paph maudiae grower
he was growing in these semi submerged in the ground greenhouses with stone tablets he was growing paph. maudiae for cutflower trade the plants were deep in live spaghnum, 
he was cutting some flowers and managed to cut him self very badly , i asked him if i had to get some i odium for him ,he turned around and said don't bother and stuck his finger deep in spaghnum moss filled pot after 1 or 2 minutes the bleeding had completely stopped, a week later i stopped in his place again and asked how his finger was doing, he showed it to me and it was almost completely healed !
so if it's a good enough for cut fingers i think our paphs will be happy with it to
happy orchid growing from Northern Thailand
cliokchi


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## etex (Oct 1, 2010)

Awesome and well thought out presentation!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this important information with us!


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## Jaljala (Oct 1, 2010)

Very nice to see your experience with growing in live sphagnum. I do too, and have had great results with Masdevallia, which don't like much fertilizer either, so they do well in sphagnum. I also tried with a Phrag Jason Fischer (not long enough to have results yet).
I found a solution to avoid too much water at the bottom of the pot : I use a layer of hydroton (clay pellets) about 1 inch, and the live sphagnum on top. The pot sits in a saucer of pure water, and the wicking effect of the hydroton pellets provide enough water for the sphagnum to grow.
I also found that a small amount of fertilizer (30 ppm N) in water once a month does not kill the sphagnum (if too much fert., the tips of the moss turn brown), if the day after I rinse thoroughly with clear water.


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## hardy (Oct 1, 2010)

Thank you guys. 

Jaljala, that's great information. I tried fertilizing by drenching the sphagnum and let it sit in the dilute fertilizer solution. It etiolated quickly and the whole thing turned white in a few days. Rinsing it timely may be the solution.



Mrs. Paph said:


> ...have you tried foliar feeding the plants? Perhaps make sure the moss is pushed down, hold the plant in the pot sideways and spray the foliage with your fertilizer mix so it's getting to the plant rather than drenching down through the live sphagnum? Yes you'd have to lift up individual pots and tip them sideways to fertilize, but it could be a worthwhile experiment to try!  ....



Mrs. Paph, I havent tried foliar feeding actually!  Thanks so much for your suggestion, I should do it next time! Well, as I mentioned earlier, it's okay to sprinkle dilute fertilizer very lighty on the moss surface. I find that doing so will cause the moss to emit a rather nice fishy odor, instantly


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## e-spice (Oct 1, 2010)

That was an absolutely GREAT post! I love having you in the forum!!!

e-spice


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## hardy (Oct 1, 2010)

Aww, thank youu! I feel flattered now.  
It's my pleasure sharing growing experience in this forum! Have learnt so much from others here, so trying to contribute is a way for me to give back


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## biothanasis (Oct 1, 2010)

hardy said:


> Thanasis, I think sphagnum needs to be replaced from time to time, because it turns into something nasty as it decomposes. If allowed to dry between waterings, it can stay good for longer periods.



OK! I see... TY very very much!!!!!


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## paphioboy (Oct 2, 2010)

Just wondering if a slow-release fertiliser like Osmocote might be useful in this situation....?? Or will it still be too 'salty' for the moss?


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## Paul (Oct 2, 2010)

paphioboy said:


> Just wondering if a slow-release fertiliser like Osmocote might be useful in this situation....?? Or will it still be too 'salty' for the moss?



this is worse than watering with very diluted fertilizer... talk with experience


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## Ricky (Oct 2, 2010)

Yesterday I had to deflask my P. primulinum (earlier than expected). So I give it a try:


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## Clark (Oct 2, 2010)

Priceless.


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## Mrs. Paph (Oct 2, 2010)

Good to know some mosses are more tolerant of fertilizer than others! For those using 'garden' moss, how do you add it to pots? Add actively growing sheets of it on top of the media, sprinkle live or dried moss over the top or mix throughout? I've had good luck sprinkling dormant/dried out native mosses around a water garden and getting it started where I wanted it, so I'm tempted to take bits of it and crumble it into some pots to see if some will stick here and there and start growing.


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## Ernie (Oct 2, 2010)

If you want "garden moss" to grow on stuff, get a fist full, stick it in the blender with buttermilk or beer, blend, then spray or paint where you want it. It might take a couple months, but eventually you'll get some as long as the area is shaded and moist. You can also do a clay pot covered with it- soak a clay pot in good water (RO, DI, rain) then paint the moss on per above then keep the pot moist by either sticking it in a mostly closed bag in shade or keep it in a shallow pool of water. Looks really awesome once it get sgoing.


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## Mrs. Paph (Oct 2, 2010)

Ernie, what's the reasoning behind the buttermilk or beer? Do they help to feed the mosses or stick them to the surface, or do you just like drinking the leftovers? LOL


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## likespaphs (Oct 2, 2010)

they offer this stuff too now...
http://www.mossmilkshake.com/home.php


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## Kevin (Oct 3, 2010)

Very awesome thread! Thanks! I grow sphagnum too, and it's really cool. I haven't tried Paphs in it, but I want to try Phrags. I don't grow my CPs in it, because it just grows too fast and overtakes the plants! I propogate mine by chopping it up into tiny bits and sprinkling it on wherever you want it to grow. I haven't tried the blender method, but I might, to see how it works.


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## SlipperFan (Oct 3, 2010)

I've been thinking about mixing some moss in with crushed oak leaves and adding it to a mix. This is an interesting thread.


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## Ernie (Oct 3, 2010)

Mrs. Paph said:


> Ernie, what's the reasoning behind the buttermilk or beer? Do they help to feed the mosses or stick them to the surface, or do you just like drinking the leftovers? LOL



No idea, actually. Must provide some nutrients to encourage growth or gemination. It works though. Proportions don't matter, I like a little on the thick side to make it stick where I put it a bit.


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## NYEric (Oct 4, 2010)

Less filling! oke:


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## NYEric (Oct 4, 2010)

Somebody send me some live moss! No bugs though!!


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## goldenrose (Oct 5, 2010)

SlipperFan said:


> I've been thinking about mixing some moss in with crushed oak leaves and adding it to a mix. This is an interesting thread.


Would oak leaves be a good choice? I don't have oaks but understand vegetation doesn't grow well under oaks, they wipe out potential competition?


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## SlipperFan (Oct 5, 2010)

goldenrose said:


> Would oak leaves be a good choice? I don't have oaks but understand vegetation doesn't grow well under oaks, they wipe out potential competition?



Hmmmm -- I had to do a little googling on that one! I knew that black walnut roots are toxic to nearby plants, but I'd never heard of oak trees being toxic. In fact, I read somewhere that an oak leaf mulch over Cypripediums was a good thing. We have oak trees on our property, and grass grows under them quite well.

So what I found out was that acorns are toxic to dogs, oak is moderately toxic to horses but more toxic to cattle, especially in the Spring and Fall when there is little else to eat.

But I couldn't find information that said that oak is toxic to other plants.

If anyone has info about this question, I hope you'll share.


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## Scooby5757 (Oct 5, 2010)

There's tons of native sphagnum around here. Within a 20-30 minute drive to the middle of nowhere.


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## NYEric (Oct 5, 2010)

An invitation to a fine and arrest, thanx Ty!


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## hardy (Oct 11, 2010)

Check out this thread I just saw (in German):
http://www.forum.orchideen-forum.de/showthread.php?41815-Sphagnum-Terrarium
Some very nice pics in there, cheers!


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## montanaguy28 (Oct 13, 2010)

*Sphagnum moss*

Ok, this is just to let everyone know there are dangers of having sphagnum moss and especially using it as a compress. The sporotrichosis caused by fungus living in live sphagnum tissues can be directly transmitted into the blood through spores or stems of any infected area of the sphagnum and the fungus is very difficult to kill. It can cause lesions and ulcerated wounds that break out on the skin surface so be careful if using it as a compress. 
Also, I grow my paphiopedilum and phalaenopsis in semi hydro ' prime agra' which is a clay aggregate made from superheating clay pebbles and making them porous yet hardened on the outside. The clay pebbles wick water and keep roots humid but also allow enough oxygen to contact the roots. I flush the pots frequently with water but use dilute fertilizer at every feeding and even had live sphagnum spores that germinated when I used all sphagnum in the pots. Even though there was fertilizer I must have used enough to flush the pots so the moss was virtually unaffected. I eventually moved the live moss to ziploc bags and repotted all my orchids in prime agra but the moss is still alive and the orchids are better off. With dried sphagnum that is rewetted, the moss still decomposes and gets algae and cyanobacteria on the pots and in the sphagnum itself. 
With prime agra, there is less algae as the plants need to be watered more frequently, but there is less chance of root rot or anything else that occurs with the degradation of sphagnum moss. Any once live material used as medium for any kind of plant will eventually break down but prime agra since it is clay does not break down- it will eventually break if you are rough with it, but it does not degrade over time which is why so many people use it. I have a paphipedilum getting ready to bloom soon so I am excited about that and I will try to post pictures once it does bloom. I hope this helps with anyone who wants to spend less time potting or repotting and maybe give more enjoyment without worrying about rotted roots and or plants.


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## SlipperFan (Oct 13, 2010)

Welcome to the forum, montanaguy28 -- tell us about yourself and your orchids, please.


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## smartie2000 (Oct 14, 2010)

hmm...you are making me want to attempt to revive my dead sphag now. Hopefully I can attend them if I try!


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## chrismende (Oct 19, 2010)

Terrific post, Hardy! Gets me excited to harvest the few live pockets I have now!


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## Delilah (Aug 25, 2013)

Hello again Hardy. Same plea . Any possibility of updating the broken links to the photos on the first page please? 

I actually have kept some live sphagnum moss growing in a bucket for two years, waiting for a role in life! This sounds like it could be it 

Delilah


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## NYEric (Aug 25, 2013)

That's easy, put live sphagnum moss in your mixes w/ the other media. Also if you have plants that need root rescue, sphagnum often works to help roots grow.


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## hardy (Aug 28, 2013)

Delilah said:


> Hello again Hardy. Same plea . Any possibility of updating the broken links to the photos on the first page please?
> 
> I actually have kept some live sphagnum moss growing in a bucket for two years, waiting for a role in life! This sounds like it could be it
> 
> Delilah



Same here, cannot edit my old post so here's the whole text copied and pasted with updated photo hotlinks:









I've read several accounts on the use of live sphagnum for orchids, either in
orchid magazines or in online sources. I first became interested in live
sphagnum for growing carnivorous plants, but became inspired to try that for
paphs after reading an article by Lance Birk in the October 1970 issue of
Orchid Digest magazine. Lance also wrote a thread about it some while ago:

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2245

I've tried live sphagnum myself for a small number of paphs big and small, and
have had great results. I'm sharing my experience here, hope you'll find it
useful

*
How to get live sphagnum moss?*

Sphagnum naturally grows in boggy areas in temperate climates, and can
even be found in tropical climate in montane habitats. It may be collected
legally in some areas, but sometimes it may not. One of the ways to obtain
live sphagnum is by coincidence. Dried sphagnum can regenerate new
sprouts under favorable conditions. I'm using Chilean sphagnum, which
contains mainly the red species S. magellanicum. I find that it regenerates
quite readily, and have found the live form growing by itself in the pots of
orchids that are given moist/wet cycle, or in potted carnivorous plants kept
wet under very high humidity. Below is a picture of regeneration in a potted
maudiae type hybrid.












The same pot, after several months:





The paph was grown with the medium kept from moist to wet in a clear pot
and as you can see the moss was sprouting near the pot sides. Under such
condition, the sphagnum does not develop its characteristic capitulum, but
grows in thin, individual long shoots. A capitulum is one defining feature of
the genus sphagnum, and is the flower-like structure you see at the apical
end of each shoot. But young sphagnum or sphagnum grown in shady
conditions sometimes do not develop the capitula, or develop these poorly.
Which brings the point about how to look for live sphagnum when other
mosses are also present. Here is a picture of a few shoots of live sphagnum
sprouting on a surface that has other mosses on it.






In this case the capitulum has not developed, but the moss can be identified by the
similar look to the dried sphagnum it comes from. The other mosses are
distinctly different. Quite often live sphagnum will sprout on sphagnum
medium surface that is kept moist to wet, but won't survive long enough to
produce the capitula that will distinguish it right away.

Live sphagnum moss is quite common stuff among the carnivorous plant
lovers, so if you cannot get them yourself, you very likely can get some from
your CP-er friends.

*
Culture of live sphagnum moss*

When you get hold of live sphagnum moss, you can grow it on a bed of
sphagnum moss medium soaked in clean or peaty water. I propagate mine
by cutting off the capitula of the live moss and insert them onto new
beds of sphagnum. Frequent watering from the top with good quality water
helps to keep the moss alive. At low temperatures, the moss grows
vigorously and can be grown in full sun, but when the summer is hot it needs
some protection from direct sunlight. I've also grown live sphagnum
successfully under lights in an air-conditioned room. Here are some pics:

Grown under lights






Grown under full sun in winter. This is a very compact green sphagnum species sprouting out from Chilean sphagnum.






The red Chilean sphagnum S. magellanicum at the end of summer, grown outdoors in dappled shade.





There are some cool links that contain more details about the culture of live
sphagnum. These have helped me so much and gave me so much reading
pleasure about a year ago when I was truly crazy about sphagnum mosses, hehe

http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Resources/Fletcher.pdf (Chapter 3 - Sphagnum Growing)

http://bluegrasscarnivores.com/


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## hardy (Aug 28, 2013)

*Using live sphagnum as a medium for paphs*

Lance Birk has stated before that sphagnum moss is magic stuff for paphs. I've
found this to be so true. I can keep the bases of paphs sopping wet yet
they seem to be protected from rots, and the live moss quicky promotes an
initial flush of root growth. That's why I think it is one of the best growing
medium for salvaging a paph. From mature division, newly deflasked seedlings,
to ailing plants, they seem to respond similarly to live sphagnum. Of course
we can save our paphs in a variety of growing media, but we can keep them
sopping wet with little fear of rot in live sphagnum, which is a great advantage
for plants with little or no roots on them.

I harvest my sphagnum moss for use by cutting a few centimeters off my
sphagnum lawn, leaving the bottom one or two centimeters of stumps, which
can sprout again. When potting the paphs, I try to keep the vertical
orientation of the capitula. Both loose or firmer potting can work quite well.
After potting, I either dunk the pots in shallow clean water, or frequently
water the moss. I usually fertilize my paphs by soaking the medium with 1/6
to 1/10 recommended concentration of fertilizer, but drenching live
sphagnum with this fertilizer solution kills it in a matter of days. When the
moss has grown too tall, I simply press the capitula down to a lower level in
the pot.

My first example is a group of Paph thaianum seedlings. I first grew them into
the usual sphagnum moss medium with wet to moist cycles, yet they did not
do very well, and some leaves began to rot. I consulted the nurseries I
bought my flasks from and they both confirmed that Paph thaianum is a
difficult one from flask. I quickly transferred them to live sphagnum after a
few months of very poor growth and they quickly recovered.


Newly repotted into live sphagnum. Note the damaged leaves due to rot in the larger compot.






Good root growth few weeks after transfer to live sphagnum.






How the large compot looks today. It has been grown in live sphagnum a
little more than a year. It's been kept in very wet conditions. Note how the
moss has grown rampant. It wicks water up the leaves causing some salt
deposits on them. Time to press down the sphagnum and rinse the plants!









At almost two years from flask, the largest of the lot have leafspans of 3 to 4 inches.


I've also tried live sphagnum for growing Paph sanderianum seedlings. They
responded very well, producing healthy growth in the next one or two years.
I had one seedling losing all its roots due to careless deflasking. After two
weeks in live sphagnum, it grew four roots about 1-cm long. That's what I
call magic! I've salvaged the smallest sanderianum flasklings this way too.












I divided a four-growth, one-stolon Paph. Fanaticum, which had been grown
in a bark mix, into 3 divisions and single stolon, and I repotted them in live
sphagnum. The old roots adapted well to the new medium, and they grew
really nice new roots as well.

















However, I think there is a caveat to using live sphagnum long-term for paph.
It is difficult to provide extra nutrients to the paph without killing the
sphagnum. It is actually possible to fertilize the sphagnum moss by very
light sprinkling of dilute fertilizer over the capitula, but these probably will not
be available to the paph anyway. Therefore, even though the roots of the
plants grow well, they will slowly be staved of nutrients, which may make it
unsuitable for long term culture. In an article in AOS magazine I believe, Disa
grows very healthy roots in live sphagnum but the shoots grow poorly. Also,
owing to the extreme acidity of live sphagnum, some paphs that prefer
neutral to slightly basic medium may suffer in it (mentioned somewhere in
ladyslipper.com). There's an article in an orchid magazine (forgot which one)
about the use of live sphagnum for paphs in Germany, where it's said the standard
complex type do not do well in it. I have not tried live sphagnum for standard
paph, but I find it to be quite unsuitable for maudiae-type seedlings. They
can grow beautiful roots initially, but shoot growth is very poor, much slower
than those seedlings grown in the usual sphagnum moss medium.







*
Growing sphagnum as a hobby in its own right*

After getting to cultivate some live sphagnum I was hooked. I wanted to
learn as much as possible about them. The handbook provided by the
Bristish Bryological Society (one of the links above) was a great enabler for
me. I was intrigued by the colorful descriptions of the colored sphagnum
species. I soon noticed that the the dried Chilean sphagnum is mostly
brownish red, which I later found to be Sphagnum magellanicum, yet the live
moss I had kept were mostly green, just with the occasional pink tinge.






The handbook stated that bright light is necessary for the colors to come out,
but mine grown in full sun in the winter were just slightly pigmented. I was
intrigued so I tried to find information about them on the net. Luckily I found
a few scientific papers stating that a drop in nightime temperature to
cold conditions is mainly responsible to induce the coloring. Ah, so that is it!
But mine was still just lightly colored despite the cool winters here. One day I
had some excess NAA powder after dipping my rose cuttings, so I sprinkled
some on my S. magellanicum grown indoors. Voila! I got deep red sphagnum
in a few weeks! Yuppee!






For those of you who might want to know the growing conditions, this small
cup of sphagnum was grown in bright light (5-cm from fluorescent tube), in
an air-con room with 25 degrees minimum.

I got hooked even deeper, and exchanged some sprigs of sphagnum with a
couple of overseas friends online, so that at the peak of my craziness I had
11 distinct sphagnum.
















Beautiful, aren't they? Unfortunately last year was a rough year for me. I had
to relocate and stuff, and most of these didn't survive. Well, I've lost many
plants under my care, but my lost sphagnum is among those I miss the most
and feel quite bad about.

Finally, here's a highly enabling link about the sphagnum species from Britain:

http://hosting.sleath.co.uk/bbs/mosses_nz.php



Phew! That's the looongest post I have ever written in a forum. Hope you have enjoyed reading it! Cheers.
*
(Reposted with updated photo hotlinks, upon Delilah's request)*


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## Delilah (Aug 28, 2013)

That's fantastic, thank you.

The most amazing thing is that Sphagnum moss needs to be wet - not just moist, but wet - to grow like that. I'm stunned that orchids are OK with having their roots continually that wet. It's the opposite of the usual lore.


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## NYEric (Aug 28, 2013)

It works when you can maintain a warm temp. I've gotten many Paphs from Florida grown in pure sphagnum.


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## Ryan Young (Aug 28, 2013)

I should test some orchids with the live stuff, i have a small terrarium of carnivorous plants, embedded with some live sphag i liberated from a bog 2 years ago it's grown into a nice clump, i might take some for some seedlings! 

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 4


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## SlipperFan (Aug 28, 2013)

Interesting! Thanks, Hardy.


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## Trithor (Aug 29, 2013)

Great thread, thanks


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## cnycharles (Aug 30, 2013)

NYEric said:


> Less filling! oke:



I actually understand the reference (I must be pretty old lol)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free


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## Secundino (Aug 31, 2013)

Oh man, just a great thread, I work so hard to get any moss growing constantly, that I takes my breath seeing so much _Sphagnum_ at once! I really love mosses and it is great fun watching them (not) grow in a terrarium together with _Drosera_.


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## NYEric (Aug 31, 2013)

I have a small Phrag longifolium I saved by putting it in live Sphagnum to root. Now I have put a few other things in there to grow roots and so far so good.


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## NYEric (Aug 31, 2013)

cnycharles said:


> I actually understand the reference (I must be pretty old lol)


Great taste/less filling wan't that long ago!


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## Trithor (Sep 1, 2013)

Two species I find difficult from flask are hangianum and anitum (and adductum), has anyone tried these in live sphagnum? I am desperate to find something which will improve my success with these two.
Does anyone know of any sphagnum species in southern Africa, and if so, where to find them?


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## Ozpaph (Sep 1, 2013)

great thread and thanks for re-uploading the photos


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## JeanLux (Sep 1, 2013)

First: I appreciate Hardy's work a lot, and this is a great thread about Sphagnum!

But, I recently got several Sophronitis and Phals in Sphagnum! After a few months now I checked for roots, and did not find any living!! I repotted into Orchiata, see if this will help! Again, as I already mentioned in Brabantias thread it is Imo very difficult in a larger collection ( mine is +/- 600 plants) to try different mixes esp. ones that are really different conc. retention of humidity!! Jean


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## Missgreen (Sep 1, 2013)

I've rescued a few Phalaenopsis by repotting them in (dried) Sphagnum moss. I would love to get some live Sphagnum for my Phrags and Phaps, but Sphagnum is also very interesting in it's own right. A couple of years ago I went on a field trip to a natural habitat of our Danish Sphagnum mosses where it had been growing on a lake, maybe 10-20 meters deep. The layer of moss was so thick that you could walk on it but we had to wear wetsuits and fins. The Spaghnum was in itself a habitat of carnivorous plants and heathers, but under heavy threats from the surrounding vegetation like willows and pines.


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## Stone (Sep 1, 2013)

Trithor said:


> Two species I find difficult from flask are hangianum and anitum (and adductum), has anyone tried these in live sphagnum? I am desperate to find something which will improve my success with these two.
> Does anyone know of any sphagnum species in southern Africa, and if so, where to find them?



Tabletop mountain? or Kilimanjaro:rollhappy:


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## TyroneGenade (Sep 1, 2013)

Trithor said:


> Does anyone know of any sphagnum species in southern Africa, and if so, where to find them?



Yes, there is lots growing on the seeps on the Cape Fold Mountains. Probably the Drakensberg as well. Visit www.apsa.co.za and PM Biologic. He works for CNC but may be able to put you in touch with some who can help you. It is easy to grow (needs to be kept wet and cool) so you could establish a sphag bed somewhere...

Best of luck


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