Q Mark adults breeding colony

[Silverback]

Some adults hanging out at the live Moss end which seems to be their favourite spot

SB 

[kadupul]

Is that live sphag?

[Silverback]

Yes mate I collect it myself from a very special 'secret location' 🤫 I remove any grass etc so it's just pure Moss and it's amazing stuff the root system is about 1 to 2"+ thick and the green is 2 to 3"+ thick and very dense it's incredible at holding moisture for a long time I use it for all my bio set ups especially my pods roaches and Ts it's something else I intend to sell in large solid squares no bits and pieces like some other stuff I've seen for sales 

SB 

 

[kadupul]

I've had awful luck keeping the live moss live. It may have to do with the fact that it's the stuff that's got to deal with winters. I really love the look of it and I use the dried sphag for everything. What sort of lighting do you use?

[Silverback]

It thrives in very dull conditions mate some of the Roaches and pods I use it for have no direct light at all and it's fine as long as you keep it sprayed and if your collecting your own you have to get a good root system with it because the big mistake people make is they take the green top bit and leave the roots so always get at least a good inch of roots and regularly give it a light spray although the stuff I use takes a couple of weeks to dry out in 80+ temps and I only use distilled water on it oh and before you use it give it a good soak I leave it standing in a tray of distilled water overnight and as long as you don't let the roots dry out you should be fine 

Added couple of pics of other tubs with the same Moss

Hope this helps 

SB 

 

[kadupul]

I didn't think that sphag had roots. I did a quick search and what I read was that they absorb everything through their leaves. Is it maybe more about the quantity of plant in the "cutting"? Or is there just a lot of bad info out there because nobody else really cares about moss. 🙃

[Silverback]

Technically Moss doesn't  have roots it has Rhizoids but in my opinion it's basically the same thing from a collecting and looking after it perspective 

I've included some pics from my Moss stash outside before I've cleaned it up and removed grass etc

Close up to show green part 

Cut out squares before tidying up plus some ball Moss at the top 

Side on view showing 'root' layer and green layer 

So you can see what I mean about a root/rhizoid layer and if you remove the root part the green doesn't flourish at all hence the way I do things with Moss 

Hope this helps 

SB 

 

 

 

[kadupul]

I'll have to try growing a patch outdoors like that and it'd be a good excuse to get back into carnivorous plants too. Thanks for the pictures!

[Silverback]

Your welcome mate but I'd suggest trying to find some (any shaded woodland should be productive) instead of growing it which takes forever and just cut some squares out (I use a small thin fine tooth saw or bread type knife which allows neat cutting and a uniform thickness of roots) then keep it outside on a tray well watered for a few weeks take any grass etc out then use it for whatever you need 

Post how you get on 

SB 

 

 

[kadupul]

I know, but sphag isn't very prolific where I'm at and so I always feel guilty even just taking a few strands for propping. I'd feel better trying to grow it for myself.

[Silverback]

That's a great attitude I'm very lucky I've got a pretty much unlimited supply without effecting the area 

Don't know if this is of any help to you they maybe worth contacting 

SB 

[kadupul]

Wow, thank you! This is a great resource for more info on my natives species! I love to use iNat for this stuff too, but I've noticed that there's a lot of bias on the species are observed.

[Silverback]

Just a quick follow on about Moss I completely forgot about this tub it was just soil with some dandelions I was growing for the iguana and Moss just started to grow so I left it as it doesn't effect the dlions and this is the result so it can be grown from nothing but this has taken many months and scale wise it's about a square foot of solid bushy Moss with the green part about 3" deep 

SB 

 

[kadupul]

I'm pretty sure it's a flowering plant that's closely related to phloxes commonly called "Irish moss" or "pearlwort". If it gets tiny white flowers, then it's definitely it.

[Silverback]

I stand corrected mate thanks for educating me but I'm disappointed it's not Moss as there's proper Moss growing with it but I do like it anyway so I'll probably try it in some of my enclosures as a decorative plant because it's very pretty much more so than in the picture 

And I should of looked it up myself before posting so my apologies to everyone for the wrong id so I'll try and identify it exactly and let you know as I have an app that tells you what a plant it is from a picture 

SB 

 

[kadupul]

There's a great plant that looks like moss called Selaginella, it's fabulous for enclosures that'll be drier than the sphag's tastes, but the one I keep with my roaches is always gnawed down to the stems. I suspect it may be the isopods that are responsible, but I'm not certain that it isn't the roaches' doing yet.

[Silverback]

Some pods are lethal to Moss pruinosus are really bad they turn a beautiful piece of Moss into something that looks like a nuclear fall out zone in days so after they've done that I just put the rehydrated dried Moss on top of the roots and replace as needed 

I'll look that plant up sounds great 

SB 

 

[kadupul]

That's a great description! 😆