Sphagnum moss

[fred]

this thread is to show all those who hate sphagnum moss as a medium
as I have said many times one has to learn how to use sphag
I have alot of photos I just took to show you all anything is possible
its all about providing the right conditions

enjoy the pics
the first attachment is a Coelogyne ( reused tag )
fifth attachment are Masdevallias
seventh attachment is a cym back bulb I have struck
last attachment is a sophronitis

[fred]

attachment one another Coelogyne
attachment two a Maxillaria
the others are all Wills

[fred]

attachment one a Dendrobium
the others have tags

[fred]

not all of my chids are in sphagnum moss
but with these pics you can see I don't have a problem using sphag

[tansyflower]

A couple of Q's

1.Are they sphag mixed with other stuff, or straight?

2.I have been taking most of my orchids out of sphag, as it seems that it is very tightly packed. How tightly do you pack sphag?

3. I have some recently deflasked seedlings packed loosely with sphag. They all seem to be drying out at different rates. What do you suggest, as I am worried that even short dry spells may be fairly detrimental.

[benetay]

Thanks for sharing Fred! I certainly agree about Sphag, when i'm less busy with my exam revision, i will contribute some pictures of orchids that are covered in sphagnum moss. Nothing else except sphag as media in the pots or mounts.

Cheers!

[fred]

Originally Posted by tansyflower

A couple of Q's

1.Are they sphag mixed with other stuff, or straight?

2.I have been taking most of my orchids out of sphag, as it seems that it is very tightly packed. How tightly do you pack sphag?

3. I have some recently deflasked seedlings packed loosely with sphag. They all seem to be drying out at different rates. What do you suggest, as I am worried that even short dry spells may be fairly detrimental.

very good questions
answer to Q 1 aqll my sphag is straight nothing else is used.

answer to Q 2 that is a mistake alot of people seem to do is pack the sphag tight.
all my sphag is loosely used, just enough so the plant holds in the moss because the moss will grow.

with question 3 what you can do is place the pots into a shallow dish of some sort so you can go along and put water into the dish and let the moss soak up the water I would do this either each morning or latish in the afternoon with your location I would lean toward latish afternoon

i will edit this post in a second so I can show you what I mean with a dish

I keep these chids in this dish all the time I just ad the water when needed

[kid a]

thaks Fred! As I am learning how to make sphag work for me instead of against me this is perfect timing. I mentioned earlier in another thread I was putting consideration towards moving my Bllra. into sphag to see if helps keep the pseudobulbs from shriveling away! And now I have decided to definitely give it a try Thanks Fred! (PS I want that Restrepia lol never seen the flower on that one before )



I think it was when I started growing Neos when I really wanted to use it and not kill stuff in it hahaha. And then had some good luck with those and stuck a failing Bifrenaria in it and its taking off now. And you are right Freddy it's all about having the right conditions for the plant to be grown in it

I actually took some pics earlier before I watered the plants of some of the ones in sphagnum moss. I will share It would be neat see what everyone has that is growing in sphag that is working well for them also

1. and 2. are Bifrenaria harisonea (sp?)
3 and 4 are Neos
5 is Sederia japonica Nagoran
6 is my big Neo falcata
7 is Masd but it is mixed with fine fir bark

I have a few other things doing good so far in it like various jewel orchid seedlings and a Paph insignia seedling too! I had tried an Angrecum seedling not really knowing anything about them in it and quikcly killed it

[fred]

see the difference between the sphag you have a and fresh live sphag
thanks for posting
I can see this will be a very interesting thread

[tansyflower]

When I first potted the seedlings, it said to keep the sphag moist but not wet. How do I stop them soaking up too much water??

[fred]

you will learn with watering just how much water to ad and how much keeps the sphag moist
for all those in the dish I place about 5 cups of rain water into the dish that keeps them moist
what you can do is keep your eyes on the sphagnum moss when soaking them
as soon as you see the top of the spag is getting wet you can empty out any remaining water in the dish

it does not take long to notice the difference between drying sphag to moist sphag

for those that have never seen fresh sphagnum moss I will ad some pics
I am not sure if anyone remembers my drive a few weeks ago where I took photos of sphagnum moss growing from the rocks here in Tassie
well I collected some as well I will show you the pics as well.

Edit here is what fresh sphag looks like

[fred]

what I have done is I went outside and found one of my chids growing in sphag that needed water
you might not be able to see the difference between the two attachments but the first is sphag then needs water and the same one that has been watered I can see its moist

can you see the difference ?

[solay]

And don't forget using it for mounting. Sphag. works great for that. The only things I have in straight Sphag. is my Neos, Masd, and bulbos.

Here is a pic. of the Neos. and Sedirea all in sphag.

[fred]

yes your right there Solay
I have not even posting pics of my mounts yet
sphagnum moss is great for mounts
thanks for sharing

[benetay]

Here are some of mine, pardon the picture quality i just took some snap shots, too lazy to setup everything and move them around.












Cheers!

[rcb]

Fred, I too use spag, especially for my thinner roots. Gongoras, Stanhopeas, Catasetums, mounted plants, some Coelogynes. I have started recently modifying the spag with some perlite, more to make it easier when I have to repot.

Here is a picture of my Gongora quinqueveris in January when I went to repot it, there were almost no dead roots, even deep inside the middle. It had been in the spag for about a year. The second picture is from yesterday, blooms opening.



The leaves are hanging a little cause I dropped it while I was repotting it - oops - and they got bent

[fred]

it is very clear to me and may I say others that sphag is not as bad as what some have made it out to be

sphagnum moss has got its own usage
as i has stated the hardest part is learning how to use sphagnum moss

thanks for sharing Renee, Benetay, Solay, Kortney and tansyflower

please keep your pics coming

it is very nice to see what genera are grown in sphag

[benetay]

The problem with sphag is that they don't come very cheap & from my current usage, i think i will need to spend at lease $20-30 every month. How i wish that i can pick some up like you Fred. Certainly cuts the cost down.

Since you requested, i took some snap shots in the room and show some more orchids filled with sphag. I just change all the old media to fresh sphags for the bulbo rothschildianum, i'm not sure if it is too wet for it.

Oops! Those chids' are on my bed!






Here is where most of the bulbos are hang up & yes all are covered with sphag.



Cheers!

[Hummer344]

All of this is very interesting and I am tempted to try spag in a plant or two & I am one person that is against spag. NOW, I will tell everyone that for the causual home buyer that receives an orchid as a gift, or buys one because they are SOOOO beautiful, if they are planted in spag, more than likely the plant will die because of over watering. When I do my class on orchids, to beginners, I have them bring their problem orchids in & those is sphag have the most problems. Sphag to the beginner is a killer, sphag to the hobbiest, like most of us here, is a matter of what works for you.

[benetay]

I must visit your class! To learn more!

I decided jumping to sphag was because i can control watering as and when i need.

Cheers!

[dtje2000]

Fred, you've made a couple of references to this moss as being live...

[QUOTE=fred;130115]see the difference between the sphag you have a and fresh live sphag

Is this because you actively collect/harvest it, or can one purchase it in the live state? I'd LOVE to have some!

[benetay]

I'm growing live sphagnum moss in hot Singapore. It's possible to grow them live & yes i think some nurseries do sell live ones. In Singapore we have a lot of moss to consider when doing purchase but most use dry sphag.


Cheers!

[dtje2000]

The only live moss I have is spanish moss...the stuff that drapes from trees here in the south. I also have some of the really flat mossy stuff that ends up growing on the surface of my other potted plants...but not very much. I think some call it sheet moss... In any case, moss is another plant, and that makes it fun to grow!

Maybe if I search for 'moss nurseries'...

[LadyV]

Many orchids sold here in the UK have their roots tightly wrapped in Sphagnum moss and nothing else. I always remove the Sphagnum and repot using my own orchid compost mixes with just a little added Sphagnum. My husband is a carnivorous plant enthusiast and always uses Sphagnum when potting up his plants, therefore we always have a good quantity of home-grown and dried Sphagnum. He has asked me to remind those of you who are unable to locate Sphagnum, live or dried, that there is a shredded, dried Sphagnum moss from New Zealnd that is sold in compressed blocks called Supersphag. To revive, just add rain water and each block will expand greatly.The compressed, dried blocks are easy to store too. For more information, see: Supersphag

I hope that helps,
V.

[benetay]

That is interesting! pellets of moss. Maybe we can discuss on the grade of moss to be used? Since i know there are some very cheap china sphag that cost only half as much as the NZ ones.

I'm just using the normal NZ ones i think AAA grades.

Cheers!

[LadyV]

I thought you might like to see a tray of our home-grown Sphagnum moss, growing in a tray within a propagating tray and filled with rain water. We keep the tops on the propagaters and the top vents open. Once you have a bag of live Sphagnum, this is an excellent method of cultivating a continuous supply for future needs.

V.

[hulaorchid]

Thanks all for the advice!! I am not totally against sphagnum but I am still working on the watering thing. I'm still learning. I like the idea of the water tray! Thanks Fred.
I't gets really dry here in the summer so I need to try new things. I am also going to try S/Hydro. Thanks Jay.
This is the first summer I will of had more orchids than cyms, so It will be an adventure!! Still trying to see what works.
I do have several orchid in sphagnum-some mounts, neos, a couple phals and a gongora. I must add that alll of these came in sphagnum. So I'm letting them along. I guess It's my overwatering I have to control!

[PhalPal]

Originally Posted by Hummer344

...... NOW, I will tell everyone that for the causual home buyer that receives an orchid as a gift, or buys one because they are SOOOO beautiful, if they are planted in spag, more than likely the plant will die because of over watering......

Hummer I think this is what makes the difference between a successful sphagnum grower and a dead orchid. Old, packed hard moss will kill an orchid faster than anything. It is very hard to know what is going on at the root level and very often growers will put new sphagnum around the sides and on the top of the pot, leaving the decomposing wet stuff hidden in the middle. I have learned to always, always repot orchids when I get them home, even if I am going to repot back into moss.

I have learned to love sphagnum (my own that is, so I know it is fresh) and use it a lot, especially with mounts and species phals. I make my own mixes and usually include a little chopped sphagnum in most of my concoctions. BYW, I have killed more orchids trying to learn to grow in bark!! Jacqui: Moss will help you greatly if you are going to grow outside all summer!

Heres a great tip given by Brooke: If you want to use straight sphagnum, mix in a little tree fern. It will keep the mix a little more open and keep it from packing down.

[FLBob]

Fred - I'm so happy you made this post. I started using sphagnum moss about two years ago for all my Phalaenopsis. I feel the results in my case have be phenomenal.
I've been second guessing my decision as well changing my watering approach as a result of so many growers on this forum telling tales of woe about plants with rotten roots planted in sphagnum. I grew fearful of sphagnum. I keep wondering "is it really that difficult to grow in sphagnum" and "have I just been lucky so far". Well now I can sleep easy once again.

My mantra for growing Phals in moss is
Use the best long fibered moss I can find, once re-wetted never let it dry, keep it moist, pot to the root mass and pot loosely.

[fred]

[QUOTE=dtje2000;130193]Fred, you've made a couple of references to this moss as being live...

Originally Posted by fred

see the difference between the sphag you have a and fresh live sphag

Is this because you actively collect/harvest it, or can one purchase it in the live state? I'd LOVE to have some!

I have quoted this post because the sphagnum moss from Tassie only goes to the mainland Australia they don't export our sphagnum moss

the truth here is even orchid society's here are screaming for sphag
collecting sphagnum moss or the places sphag grows is a well kept secret
I don't even tell people where I collect it.
the demand for fresh sphag is high

with the sphag from NZ that is processed for shipping and dry
you can how ever still grow that sphag as well it just takes a little time to green up.

as i have said and other geeks have said the secret with using sphag is to not use it tightly when potting orchids.

[brookn]

Ah sphag, I have lots of plants in it. Almost all of my Phals, a couple of Oncs., Masdevallia, Angraecum, Neos... If you know how to use it properly it rocks, but caution must be used if you are heavy handed with the watering. Fred, thanks for starting this thread, sphag gets a bad rap sometimes.

[katrina]

Great post Fred!! I'm a fan of sphag too!

[tansyflower]

Fred, I tried what you said yesterday (with putting the pots in tray and letting them soak it up) and the little seedling pots seem to still be nice and moist. I was a bit worried that they would be overwet, but they look ok.

[LouisW]

Man That stuff you have fred looks much more appealing than what we usualy get here in pots. I might use it if i had some of the live stuff! maybe ill try to grow some like Lady V said. ill look for seeds on the internet. does anyone know about growing this from seed or can you order live sphag over the internet?

[Bolero]

I tried growing my Masdevallias in coconut for a while but for them it's too hard to keep wet. I have gone back to sphagnum and won't use anything else from now on (as long as i can still get it of course).

I know of several cattleya growers that swear by it.

[fred]

if I remember Bolero you sent me a pm about that

tansyflower i am pleased that has worked for you

I have to agree with brookn that sphag has been given a bad rap lately
that is why I decided to start the thread

Lou the sphag I get is as fresh as one can get I just go for a drive

I am going to show you some attachments with sphagnum moss in a one inch pot and you can see how the sphag has grown also with the right conditions sphag grows well and yes there is a psbulb in the sphag as well

[dtje2000]

Geez...that stuff is awesome in the live and thriving state! Makes for a great-looking plant in an of itself! Ok, new goal...convince sphagnum to revive and grow for me! More research is needed...I'm off to read about the stuff.

I'll mention I have a miniature bog garden...a large flat dish with a particular soil from a local conservatory...I would have to wonder if I just need to do something similar to cultivate the sphag.

[dtje2000]

Oh! Another question...since it's in a growing state, itself, it would seem less likely to decompose like the dead stuff does... true?

[benetay]

I was about to take some pictures of my live sphag but after seeing Fred's picture i decided not to. Mine is so badly grown as i'm given a little live sphag and i'm growing them in clear covered containers. However due to HOT Singapore, it's not as easy as it seems!

I put dead sphag underneath as a media before putting the live ones on top. So far the growth is slow but at lease they are still green. I have to keep them cool and gave them high humidity. Air con at night seems to favour them!

Cheers!

[benetay]

Originally Posted by dtje2000

Oh! Another question...since it's in a growing state, itself, it would seem less likely to decompose like the dead stuff does... true?

Since it's growing it will not decompose like the dead ones. Like you said having the miniature bog garden, it's pretty similar! Live ones don't disintegrate over time unless it's the dead ones.

Correct me if i'm wrong.

Cheers!

[fred]

a bog garden is a good start

dt the so called dead stuff has been dried and processed for shipping
I saw 150 gram pack of NZ sphag today the price was 12.95
this was the firs time I have seen this stuff with my own eyes
I was talking to my orchid friends today about the NZ sphag and with the pack we saw it would take some time to get that to green up.

now with sphag I have collected I have had some 12 months old in a bag dry as a bone
a couple weeks of regular watering and it started to show new green growths
I have never seen the sphag here processed


Benetay please do share pics with us

[dtje2000]

Ok, one more question on this sphag cultivation stuff and I'll shut the heck up (maybe)...There's some US sphag grown up in Minnesota that can be shipped to me in the live state... do you think live any-kind-of-sphagnum moss is ok for the "Fred" application of your moss? I hope that makes sense...

[benetay]

Fred, do you think that it's possible to even get those processed sphag to green up? It looks very dead and almost impossible. I'm not sure how they process it and i might think that some of them have undergone heat treatment that will kill any spores. The vacuum tight packaging serves as a detrimental to the possibilities too. I'm really hopeful if those dried ones can even become green.

Cheers!

[fred]

good question Benetay
with the pack I saw today I think it would take about 12 months to get that sphag any where near to what I would use

it also said on the 150 gram pack to use 2 liters of water to soak the sphag
I could not see anywhere on the pack to read how the sphag was processed
I would say some chemicals would have been used to kill any bugs but what sort of chemicals I don't know.

I don't even clean the sphag I collect I don't treat the sphag at all either
are there bugs in the sphag ... only the odd leach
as a rule I will not collect sphag in summer thou ( why .. snakes )

[benetay]

That's what i thought too. Lets see if 12 months will initiate any growth on it.
I really hope if there are any way to get better sphag other than those processed ones. It is just like having to buy dried vegetables instead of the normal ones we see in the supermarket. How can i survive on those processed dried vegetables

Here are some of the barely alive sphag.
I'm wondering if i keep them in a little too much water and a little too less light.







Cheers!

[fred]

ahhh thanks for the pics
that might not look pretty but its growing that is a good start
your photos prove that one can grow sphag

this may help you I have also seen sphag growing in about a foot of water in the wild
with the cool temps here and rather harsh winters on the mountain the sphag never drys out

hehe i have even collected sphag when it was frozen I found a good clump one winter I went to grab it and it was rock hard .. hehehe my fingers did not like that to much and boy was it cold hehehehe

[benetay]

So that means sphag are actually able to be grown in aquarium since a foot of water seems like a great deal of water. I believe they might need a little Sun, however at this time of the year it don't seem quite possible. I will move it nearer to the windowsill so it will be able to get as much light as possible. I believe the 'growth' are indication that even HOT Singapore can grow COOL sphag!

I cannot believe why can't we have some sphag moss over here. I'm green with envy when you don't even have to fork a dollar for what is considered a weed to you.

no cheers for no sphag!

[LadyV]

Originally Posted by benetay

Here are some of the barely alive sphag.
I'm wondering if i keep them in a little too much water and a little too less light.
Cheers!

Yes, I think that you are using too much water. We grow our sphagnum on ericaceous compost with a little sharp sand mixed in. All the sphagnum is grown outdoors in full light throughout the year. See my earlier posting for our method of culture.

V.

[benetay]

Alright i will remove some of the water so it stays wet enough.

May i know the temperature needed to grow sphag? I grew some with some potted orchid and the next day it became totally white with brown tips all over. However i will like to know if there are any quicker methods for growing live sphag since this is the method i was taught.



Cheers!

[LauraGR]

You folks in the mossy US NW - Do any of you collect and use fresh sphag? My family lives around Oregon and I'm flying out in June, and would LOVE to collect some to start growing and using! I kow there are Sphagnum bogs in northern Minnesota but I think it is very short stemmed stuff - the kind they make into chopped garden cover.

[fred]

hehe hang on a sec I have never said I think its a weed
I go and collect sphag to save money its expensive to buy here as well
I know why as well its not easy to get
to get that black garbage bag of sphag would have been a 2 hour drive then I had to climb rocks to get that .. its not easy

if I was to sell that bag of sphag I would get about 50 to 60 dollars for it
I have never sold any sphagnum moss that I have collected
swapped for orchids plus I have been known to give it away to help out other orchid mates as well.

[dtje2000]

Weed? Blasphemy! Who said that?

LauraGR, I mention the Minnesota thing because someone on eBay selling carnivorous plants also sells the live sphag and he referred to it as long-fibered. I suppose everything is relative, but I was hoping that would be good enough, given that it's live and I clearly can't get my hands on Fred's supply.

Just for giggles, I just went out and shoved some of that Better-Gro dried sphag into my little bog garden...we'll just see how that works out in the coming months.

[LadyV]

Originally Posted by benetay

May i know the temperature needed to grow sphag? I grew some with some potted orchid and the next day it became totally white with brown tips all over. However i will like to know if there are any quicker methods for growing live sphag since this is the method i was taught.

Cheers!

Hi Benetay, Although all our sphagnum here in the UK is home-grown in trays outdoors, the propagating trays are covered with just the vents open. My husband also has a little sphagnum moss growing in his bog barrels that has been covered with snow, and survived the winter. He has never been able to bring dried sphagnum back to life, including the green dyed variety used for hanging baskets. Too many added chemicals we think.

V.

[benetay]

I just added some moss to my masdie and took a quick peek on the cover. It says natural fungicide used and sterilized. Oh gosh, it's not coming back to live. Fred, i will do 2 hours drive and a climb any other day just to get fresh sphag. During my term break when i don't have any other activities i trek very long hours to photograph butterflies since we are launching a book in June!

I hope they are weeds here and i will just collect them any other day regardless how long the drive how high the climb! I will do it.

That's very nice of your Fred, a very nice gesture in exchange for orchids, too bad you are in Aussie.

V: i will like to think that a cooler condition might be better for the sphag & i believe the HOT Singapore weather will just dry them up in no time if i left them outdoor for too long. To me they are my precious! I know they travelled a long long way and i must take good care of them!

Cheers!

[hera]

I found an interesting site about growing it.http://www.geocities.com/butchtincher/ I would love to have the live stuff. I swear by it (dried) for my oncidium intergenetics. I wish I could get my hands on some live but I may try to grow some of the dried.

[Brooke]

The dried compressed NZ sphag will sometimes come back to life as live sphag. On this mount you can see a small section that has turned live.



I'm sorry it isn't overly visible but the live area is across the whole top of the plant. This is the section that receives the most light but the live is slowly growing around the entire sphag'd area. This is watered and fertilized daily. I have several mounts where the sphag has turned into live sphag.

I also have live sphag growing on many different pots where I used the dried sphag as a top dressing, not where the sphag is the main media.

Brooke

[tizzycat]

Fred, If I could get moss that looked like that, (here in the UK) I would certainly give it a try. Unfortunately what we buy in our garden centres is nothing like what you have there, the fibres are much thinner, shorter and a bit twiggy. When watered, I find it stays too wet for too long in our climate.

I have seen the blocks of dried NZ moss, but it doesn't look very "appetizing".

What you have there looks fantastic compared to ours.

[rodcuda]

For those who think moss is bad..... I recently repotted a Cattleya that had been in coconut chips for 7 years. When I unpotted it I realized I had potted the original seedling like a plug and left the sphag and rootball intact and now after 7 YEARS all the roots in the sphag were still alive!!! While I use coconut chips for most of my plants, I use sphag for some, especially backbulbs and find it works well.

[benetay]

Having said so much about using dried sphagnum as media i'm thinking of :
Using live sphagnum on top of dried sphag like what Fred shown. Which are the ones that are capable of withstanding the constant wet feet?

I'm currently testing out the use of live sphag on jewel orchid since they really don't mind being constantly moist. The rest just dried up like biscuits! I don't even dare to try live sphag on masdie.

Cheers!

I'm so in need of going to the nursery to grab more pots of jewel orchids but exams are coming. Gosh...

Cheers!

[fred]

ok give me a few seconds i just went outside into my orchid house to show you all the roots in sphagnum moss
I do not recommend anyone take there orchid out of the pot unless your really need to
I will upload the pics for you one pic is the root system of my masdivallia King of Kings
I will edit this post with the photos

[benetay]

Yes! Those are the type of roots on my masdie before i repot it into less sphag. On the next repot i will shift it to 100% sphag now it's only 80% sphag. I wrap the sphag around the roots and place it in the pot lined with perlite and finally top it up with a little sphag on top to retain more moisture.


Here is the masdie wagneriana var. pteroglossa with a little perlite from the recent repot. I will have to repot it maybe end of this year due to the very long and healthy roots that i saw during repotting.


How about turtle moss on sphag moss


Not so sure about this jewel's ID.
I'm not sure if jewels will do well with sphag on top. Any suggestion?
There is one piece of live sphag on it but and it has been there for about 2 months.


Cheers!

[fred]

myself I would not play around to much with the jewel it looks pretty healthy to me
just let the sphag grow and see how things go

your masdie looks pretty good also

I have never heard of turtle moss myself I would remove it from the sphag and grow it on its own

[benetay]

Hmm but i'm unsure of what should i use as a media for the turtle moss. I think it's a trade name so i believe it has many other names too. In Singapore we have a lot of different type of moss from aquarium to terrarium to all sorts but what we lack is sphag.

Thanks! I also think the masdie look pretty good but i'm not hoping for spikes or bloom, i got it because it looks good that's all. Knowing that most masdie prefer a cooler temperature, which HOT Singapore cannot provide and the air con certainly can't work 24/7.

I'll take your suggestion on the jewels!

Cheers!

[hera]

Has anyone used north american moss as a top dressing. I noticed that it is coming back to life here in the north and with all the talk about moss it got me thinking. It is too short growing to use as medium, but what about on top? Would it benefit the plants or harm them, or would I be introducing pathogens?

[benetay]

I always think live moss looks very very pretty and natural as topping. I think the effects of the moss are not a major detrimental factor that will lead to the death of the chids'. However i have no academic or reference on my comments i just base it on what i see in the wild and those chids' i'm growing.

Cheers!

[fred]

I will be honest here I have never tried moss as a top dressing
would it work it could help with moister

[benetay]

Some say moss will compete with the chids' in terms of food, light, water. However i don't really think it's a MAJOR issue.

A moss covered driftwood.


Cheers!

[fred]

my first thought here is that is way to wet
plus a few of those psbulbs don't look the best
even the psbulb with the new growth looks slightly brown I am not sure that psbulb can support that new growth to mature
I would be making sure the slightly brown psbulbs don't start to go soft on you

any other opinions on this one "geeks" ?

[benetay]

I agree with what you said on the p/bulbs. Those 4 small looking ones are actually older ones, can they be considered as back p/bulbs? When i purchase this, the back p/bulbs do not have any leaves on them. So i pick them due to the front 3 p/bulbs, which are bigger than the older ones. I wasn't quite looking forward to new growth on the older p/bulbs since none of them had leaves at all and none of them were looking good and not blooming. The front 3 had leaves and bloom.

i watered them before i took the shot so it looks in a wet state.

Please advice.



Cheers!

[benetay]

I think i just made a fool out of myself. However i got tricked by the picture about the new growth. It wasn't from the old psbulb.... i can't believe it, i got tricked by my own picture.

Here is another angle after thinking of what the possibilities of having new growth on an old psbulbs. Pardon me people, pardon me.

silly me.....



Cheers!

[fred]

that explains the wet look

Edit
that looks like a different plant now lol
so how many psbulbs does this one have for I only see 5 in this pic

no you have not made a fool of yourself

[benetay]

Thanks!

Guess it's the angle when i was taking the picture. I count a total of 7 but the 2nd picture shows 5. Both of them are the same plant.

So the angle of taking a picture will determine what you see and what you don't! Not bad at lease i learn something today. Not to get fooled by my own picture. Rarely do i make this mistake on the DSLR but having use the P&S i was too complacent and just snap away.

Cheers!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by hera

... north american moss ... what about on top? Would it benefit the plants or harm them, or would I be introducing pathogens?

Originally Posted by fred

... would it work it could help with moister

Originally Posted by benetay

...very very pretty and natural as topping...

Very interesting stuff here. There's no stopping orchidgeek ingenuity. If it crosses an orchidgeeks path it orchid growing potential will be thoroughly analyzed and exploited. I say all of that in a good way.

I have used this kind of moss as a medium topper but only for my most moisture-loving orchids, more specifically Masdevallias. I had one that came this way so I just kept it on. I peeled it off to repot and put it back on after. It worked well in helping to retain moisture so the sphag (which is what the Massie was potted in) did not dry out.

This kind of moss requires lots of moisture to survive and it holds moisture, mostly in the dirt layer held by its roots. It forms a relatively dense matt that prevents drying out of whatever's under it. Therefore it would not be optimal for certain orchids. I would not recommend its use with any orchid that needs to dry out, like a cattleya and generally it doesn't seem well-suited for use with growing in pots unless the plant is a high moisture plant (like a massie as I've mentioned above).

Mount growing is a different story. I've seen pics of phals growing in situ with their roots wrapped around mossy tree branches. This suggests to me that moss might be appropriate for use on mounts, but again probably only with those orchids that like a bit of moisture like phals (thought I would not use moss to cover the mix of a potted phal, it seems like doing so would be running the risk of the mix being kept too wet). Last year a member posted a stunning pic of Soph. cernua mounted with moss growing on the mount. S. cernua also appreciates a bit of moisture.

Hera brings up a a good point about collecting moss from the wild. One does run the risk of picking up little nasties like snails and other critters, though I do not know if any threatening fungal infections have ever reslted from using moss.

To summarize, my general opinion of moss is that it is only appropriate for certain orchids under certain conditions. I recommend very good knowledge of the cultural needs of any orchid you're considering using moss on and I recommend good knowledge of the affect of growing methods (pot culture vs mounted) on moisture retention and watering needs. I'd also avoid using it on any potted orchid that needs to dry out.

[fred]

well said Kevin

[benetay]

While repotting today so i took a picture of this little orchid before i change the old sphag to fresh new sphag.

So anybody still not convince?




Cheers!