Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone grow there own moss? I'm thinking about cleaning out a place in my basement to grow some plants and maybe some moss, and wondered if anyone else did this. Too bad my basement is way too cool to keep frogs in.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
D. leucomelas
D. azureus

im not sure about that. but i have heard lots of people say they tried to grow moss from moss spores with no success.

aj
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05

I've heard the buttermilk thing works, but still no idea. People must grow it, just a matter of how and how hard it is.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
3 D. leucomelas
2 D. azureus

I had a little piece of tropical pillow moss left over after I planted my viv, so I put it in a blender with some 50/50 water/buttermilk and made a runny slurry, enough so that the final result is runny enough to paint on whatever you want it to grow on (I don't know what the actual buttermilk to H2o mixture is supposed to be). I brushed it on a few spots on the tree fern root background just as an experiment to see if it would grow. Now it's growing on all the areas where it was applied with the exception of a few spots that died out because of being overgrown by foliage which blocked the light. If you try this make sure you constantly stir the moss/H2o/buttermilk mixture as you brush it on because the moss particles will quickly sink to the bottom.
Another thing....after I brushed the mixture on the tree fern root, I sprayed the areas thoroughly with a pump up hand sprayer so it would force the mixture down into the fibers.

i think tah most moss is collected not grown by the people who sell it, but i could be wrong.
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Nate
1.1 alanis tincs
0.0.2 Azureus (soon)
0.0.2 imitators very very soon

I think would have to grow it, but then again i could also be wrong.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
0.0.2 D. azureus

like i said i could be wrong, so give it a try i don't see why it would'nt work
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Nate
1.1 alanis tincs
0.0.2 Azureus (soon)
0.0.2 imitators very very soon

I would agree with Nate. It is my understanding that MOST of the moss sold is collected because it takes so long to grow so it is not practical to grow it. It is much easier to just go out in the woods and remove it. I collected some this weekend and it looks great. But, I also agree that it wouldn't hurt to try the 50/50 mixture just to see what happens. Keep us posted on the results. I would be interested in the outcome myself.

TonyT

I use pillow moss in my viv. I removed one or two heads of the stuff from my greenhouse, pulled it apart as best I could with my fingers and spread it around the inside of the viv on a bed of dead long fiber spaghnum moss. Grew like a weed, no milk or cookies required. If you don't have live heads to pull apart just buy some good dead long fiber spaghnum (not new zealand type and not the cheap stuff in the green bag) tear it up, mix with dead peat moss, soak it and place in a standard PDF clear shoebox under good light. It will grow, this is where all mine came from. By far the fastest way is from live heads (growth points) though.

joe