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Any spaghnum moss experts?


manders

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Most of my sphag has spontaneously grown (from spores) in peat etc that ive used for potting. I have used dried new zealand spagh also in the past.

Two pots have this rather nice very fine spaghnum which is much smaller and tidier than the other sorts that have grown. Is it new zealand long fibre or some other sort, just curious. Its very neat in the pots and doesnt get too soggy...

21186360045_69a51a7b9b_b.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Take a picture of some of its stem and branch leaves under a microscope (to see the whole leaf and possibly also under a higher magnitude to see the cells), then we can try to determine it precisely. I would personally guess S. fallax or S. flexuosum, however, I cant remember whether they can have reddish stem and I do not know, whether they grow on New Zealand.

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Oh that's an easy one to answer.

Is it New Zealand long fibre Sphagnum Moss. No, as it didn't come from New Zealand it couldn't possibly be

 

In my time I have participated in surveying a large Sphagnum raft. In a 10cm square several species of Sphagnum would be present. Identification would be done with 10X and 20X loupe on site and some samples requiring to be retained for identification under microscope. Identify one from a photograph?  :sarcastic_hand:

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Oh that's an easy one to answer.

Is it New Zealand long fibre Sphagnum Moss. No, as it didn't come from New Zealand it couldn't possibly be

 

In my time I have participated in surveying a large Sphagnum raft. In a 10cm square several species of Sphagnum would be present. Identification would be done with 10X and 20X loupe on site and some samples requiring to be retained for identification under microscope. Identify one from a photograph?  :sarcastic_hand:

So basically most of them are indistinguishable to normal folks. Could it be from new zealand? Yes as theres plenty of rehydrated new zealand spagh in the greehouse, unless the drying process kills the spores.

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Let's break it down then

 

New Zealand Is not a specific species it's  mosses harvested and dried in New Zealand. Unless you specifically imported spores and grew them on in isolation you cannot possibly attribute a location.

 

 

So basically most of them are indistinguishable to normal folks.

 

It's extremely rare to find "normal folks" in this hobby so that's a hard one to answer  :laugh2:

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Let's break it down then

New Zealand Is not a specific species it's mosses harvested and dried in New Zealand. Unless you specifically imported spores and grew them on in isolation you cannot possibly attribute a location.

So New Zealand long fibre is a mixture of the same species that grow here?

It's extremely rare to find "normal folks" in this hobby so that's a hard one to answer :laugh2:

Too true! Edited by manders
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So New Zealand long fibre is a mixture of the same species that grow here?

 

Well all the live Sphagnum I've come across is long fibre, none of it came from New Zealand. You only have about 120 species to go through to see which it/they is/are. I have some spare loupes.  :whistling:

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Good, i'll send you a sample, if it turns out to a species we dont have here then it would probably be from New Zealand, now thats sorted i'll get back to something more constructive than reading a long winded response that basically means 'I dont know'.

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If its New Zealand Sphagnum, Sphagnum cristatum is the most common harvested Sphagnum there. It likes to grow in greenhouses with us, not outside. Cant stand frost. In New Zealand are only 6 to 9 species of Sphagnum depends on what biologists call a species or just another form of the same species.

The other harvested species there is Sphagnum subnitens.

To be sure all the above mentioned tools are necessary, because it can be one of ours..

I just learn the lower merits. But in some years I hope to become an expert. What I most need is contact to an expert to get really started.

Edited by partisangardener
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This is an old topic, but thought I'd chime in.  There are some species or varieties of sphagnum that produce smaller "strands" but in general, the stronger the light you give them, the denser the fibers grow.    

 If the moss you're growing produces relatively "small heads" even in full sun,  it's not an ideal strain to grow if you plan on using it as a potting medium.  This is because these smaller heads tend to have thinner "stems" which are less fibrous than the strains or species that produce large heads.  Less fibrous means less dense cellulose, which translates weaker strands that break down quickly.   

I've grown a single strain both in part sun/afternoon shade and compared it to the same exact strain grown in full sun:there is a drastic difference in quality.  In general, when used as a medium, dried, shade grown sphagnum breaks down quicker and doesn't last as long as full-sun grown sphagnum.  I'll also add that when sphagnum moss is grown in full sun and is grown very slowly, it's higher quality (ie. produces denser fibers) than the same moss in the same conditions grown very quickly.  There might be "strains" of sphagnum that can be produced quickly and still end up with dense, high quality substrate, but my experience is limited to maybe 3 or 4 different strains total. 

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