The Study of Moss

[clownonfire]

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[lnaminneci]

Cheri,

This will be a great thread to watch and see what happens with your Study of Moss!

I definately do not have a green thumb when it comes to my moss, as I have heard from so many others as well. It would be nice to get it to grow healthy and not have to replace it every few months or even weeks! Or give up on moss completely, which I'm about to do.

Can't wait to see the progress and more pics!

~Lesley

[Ebony]

I absolutely LOVE moss and I have been using it for many years.
The person I get it from has many varieties. He just keeps his carpet moss outside on plastic mats but not in a bright area and under a canopy. He has mosses under there for years, Just kept moist.
In my enclosures it does not last as long due to the light/heat but lasts about a year until I have to change it. I sit the carpet moss on sphagnum moss which is on top of large rocks half out of water. I spray the Moss every day. I dont have soil in my indoor enclosures apart from the potted plants but they are all topped with Sphagnum Moss. I also have mosses in my outdoor froggery which are still lovely and green that have been in there for over 2 years and I think they will be fine for many years to come.

I'm interested to see what you find Cheri. Great idea.

[bshmerlie]

I definately do not have a green thumb when it comes to my moss, as I have heard from so many others as well. It would be nice to get it to grow healthy and not have to replace it every few months or even weeks! Or give up on moss completely, which I'm about to do.

I know what you mean. I bought moss before from local pet shops in little prefabed packages and its always dried out and looks old. JOSHS moss comes fresh in a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Its bright green and already damp. It looks fresh, feels fresh and smells fresh. It doesn't look freeze dried like some I've bought in the past. I hoping the fact that is starts out alive will give me a better chance.

[frozensponge]

wow the tank is neat with all the moss around. how much area can 1 gallon of moss cover? was thinking of using moss as well. And what moss do you use for the back ground?

[bshmerlie]

JOSH is really generous with the moss. If you look closely you can seen the difference in color and texture. About half the tank is the green tree moss (shag) which you will see as the browner left side. The right side except for the right side wall is the Sheet moss. You would need two bags to cover this size tank. I would probably stretch in out and let it fill in which it looks like it will do. The right side wall and a little strip on the right bottom is the Live Mood moss which according to JOSH's website is slow growing so I don't expect it to spread to quickly. You can see the gaps on the wall. I may press in some soil to get rid of the gray coloring in the gaps. Maybe someday it will fill in. The Live Mood moss is very thick and it would take several bags to fill a tank completely like I have done here. Although, Josh's prices are real cheap so it wouldn't cost that much to do. Look closely at the picture and you'll be able to see where the different mosses start and stop. By the way this whole setup was just one bag of cat litter for the clay background and three bags of moss. Plus the LECA and soil on the ground. Basically very inexpensive to setup. And with all the moss around I wouldn't have a problem with humidity.

[frozensponge]

so basically you just stick the moss to the clay or do you stick another substrate to the clay before sticking the moss? what happens if we use silicone instead of clay? can I still use moss instead of other substrate?

[DonLisk]

Great info Cheri. I definitely want to use moss in the next viv for my darts.

I purchased some sheet moss from a local flower shop last year for my Red Eyes viv and so far it is doing well but has never taken to grow anywhere else but on the original put in sheet.

A local pet store recommended the local moss we have here in New England but I think our moss needs a winter over to actually do well. Something that would never happen in a frog viv.

I'll be watching your thread since Josh has always done me well and I would love to have some moss take ina new dart viv.

[bshmerlie]

You just push it directly into the clay. I suppose you could silicone it to the glass but I don't know how long it would survive like that. If you use coco fiber on top of the silicone then you would just need to find a way to secure it to the back wall to keep it up. Some kind of push pins or I think Eric was talking about sewing it in or something. I'm not a huge fan of clay but in this case it definately has the advatage of ease. I guess it all depends on your setup. If you want a simple back wall like what I did then go with the clay its cheap, easy and quick. And you can put the frogs in right away. No waiting for the fumes to disipate.