15 replies to this topic

[ctarry]

Bought a bag of sphagnum moss today from homebase. it was an extra large bag for around £3.50, and it looked nice and green, and is bagged by tenax and is called hanging basket moss

has anyone used this before?

i got it to replace the top layer for my neps, as the other moss had got a horrible slime over it.

anyway i got the new moss out of the bag, and it is a very strange green, almost a blueish green colour, looks like it has been dyed with colour

it doesn't mention anything about dye on the packaging, just 'fresh s. moss harvested from managed renewable sources.....moss colour subject to variation'

not really sure if i trust it now

Edited by ctarry, 12 April 2012 - 19:32 PM.

[Loakesy]

It's not entirely unusual to find the moss has been dyed. Personally I wouldn't use it either. I think you can buy it unstained, but it's a lot harder to come by!

[Darkrai283]

I bought one of those before at homebase! My mum thought that it wouldn't be safe for CPs as it has a greenish artificial colouring added to it but I ignored her and bought one. I think it was around £4 or something.

I don't think that it will affect the CPS too much though.

Here's a thread on FTC about chopping this sphagnum up started by me when I was still a noob.   http://www.flytrapca...517.html#p72517

In the end, I managed to chop it up finely using a food processor and used it for D. capensis but it dried out too quickly (I might've chopped it too finely) so I dumped it into a coleus pot as a top dressing.

Edited by Darkrai283, 12 April 2012 - 20:23 PM.

[carni grower]

You can get proper live sphagnum moss from pets at home, it comes in red and green native sphagnum. the red is short growin and good for topping plants as it doesn't grow as fast or as tall as the green moss. bought a pack of each and made a little sphagnum bog in a big clear plastic box, so i don't need to buy it again. hope this helps.

[JohnP]

I've picked this type up by mistake once in the past. I decided not to use it on my CP's.

[Flytyer]

JohnP, on 30 April 2012 - 14:22 PM, said:

I've picked this type up by mistake once in the past. I decided not to use it on my CP's.

Why was that? Only asking because I bought a couple of bags last week  

[JohnP]

Flytyer, on 30 April 2012 - 19:12 PM, said:

Why was that? Only asking because I bought a couple of bags last week  

I did not want to risk the dye damaging the plants.

[Flytyer]

Sorry, I thought you were talking about the stuff from Pets At Home, not Homebase. The moss I  bought was from Pets so hopefully will not be dyed. It's now languishing in the water trays so with a bit of luck it's the last bit of moss i'll need to buy  

[Darkrai283]

I bought them before at pets and home last year. But I didn't have success with it and it was a bit pricey though! I think it was £7-£8.

[carni grower]

Homebase now has a choice between horrible dyed sphagnum moss or a bigger bag of live undyed sphagnum moss, for the same price £3.40

[carni grower]

Darkrai283, on 01 May 2012 - 16:15 PM, said:

I bought them before at pets and home last year. But I didn't have success with it and it was a bit pricey though! I think it was £7-£8.

That's unfortunate it didn't grow for you. i've had no trouble growin it, i have a big outdoor bog container that is growin away fine and numerous indoor propagators growing nicely too. what conditions did you try growing the sphagnum in?

[Carnivine]

How do I keep my sphagnum moss alive once I have opened the bag?

[gardenofeden]

spread it out in a seed tray and keep it watered, should grow quite fast

[Darkrai283]

carni grower, on 13 May 2012 - 09:08 AM, said:

That's unfortunate it didn't grow for you. i've had no trouble growin it, i have a big outdoor bog container that is growin away fine and numerous indoor propagators growing nicely too. what conditions did you try growing the sphagnum in?

I had it in a propagator but mould soon took over while I was on holiday. A small pot in a nep terrarium survived but I really can't remember what happened to it. :S

[carni grower]

I find you get mold sometimes when you start a batch, i just flush it thru with pure water a few times and that gets rid of the mold for me.

[Carnivine]

cheers for the advice, I will give it a go :)