Hi all,
Truly newbie question. Is there anything problematic about using preserved moss on Bonsai if it is just for show?
Thanks in advance,
David
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I would be leery about using preserved moss on bonsai or any other live plant. The preservatives are designed to prevent decomposition which is normally carried out by fungi and bacteria. Those preservatives will undoubtably leach out into the soil when watering and kill the fungi and bacteria in the soil - the microbiome that our bonsai rely upon for good health.
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Agree with what @MartyWeiser said but never would have understood it well enough to put it so well..Also I would be willing to go out on a limb and say the live moss will actually be improving the relationship of the soil microbiome ā¦along with giving you a decent ātime to waterā indicatorā as a true newbie
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The āMirai top dressingā of Sphagnum and dried moss works amazingly well. Especially after repotting with inorganic bonsai soil mix. Spring weather amplifies the growth!
The video is in the library under repotting procedures.
Grind or wet chop the āNew Zealand Sphagnumā into ~1/2 chunks. (WEAR A MASK). Mix in a equal part dried green moss (live sporesā¦). Sprinkle on soil surface. Tuck the sphagnum in place with a pointy chopstick pokes. This holds the moss in place so it doesnāt wash off easily.
I add a few ālittle finger size chunksā of live moss as well, poked into the soil.
The combination WILL grow a moss cover in about a month (in spring conditionsā¦) This looks WAY more natural than laying live moss onto the soil.
BTW, there ARE more than a few moss speciesā¦ that have different growth and colour habits. Pick and propagate the ones you like. I grow trays of mossā¦ for overlaying trees for show.
Later in the summer, you WILL have to pull the aggressive moss growth apart; or, when repotting, save the mossā¦ Throw these chunks into a bin to dry, for next yearās top dressing.
I can tell which trees have a greatly active soil micro-biom by the lush (or lack of) moss cover.
Moss is easy to grow and collect.
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Hope this helps.
Bonsai On!
K
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Hi Kurt,
Do you recommend buying live moss spores rather than grinding, and if so, are their any dealers in live moss spores youād recommend.
Thanks,
David
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You could buy. It will be (randomly) the same LIVE spores found in a local collected sampling. I have only seen it advertised in bonsai mags. Sometimes online bonsai sale websites.
Collecting moss is freeā¦You probably only need a quart baggie to start. Go out your front door in late spring, moss will be growing everywhere. See photo above, it is just wind blown dirt on concrete ā¦ Choose the shorter tighter greener moss. Light yellow and olive mosses, too. Steer clear of the longer stringy types. Dry and store. Rub the chunks of dried moss over a screen, or just between your hands. They break up easily. The spores WILL grow new colonies in a month or two. Be aware, watered and fertilized, the moss WILL over run the pot by the summers end. For show, keep the moss off of the tree trunk, and maybe only filling 60% of the pot.
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If you are talking about tree trunk lichen, it is doable. You only need several thumb sized chunks.Collect what will grow on your tree species, dry, rub into a powder and gently rub it into the treeās trunk crevices. Spray water gently to start. I have it growing on decideous and evergreens. Slow as a glacier to grow, though. I suspect most of mine have blow in and colonized naturally.
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American Southern tree Spanish moss (Tillandsia sp) is a epiyphatic bromeliad. Takes years in the right environment to grow.
Reindeer moss is actually a symbiotic fungus / algae that looks like a lichen.
BTW, New Zealand dried moss is just a uber- long species that grows in bogs. Kinda like Irish peat mossā¦
TMI?
Bonsai On!
K
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No such thing as TMI when it comes to Bonsai. Thank you.
David
I like to use a dedicated chefās knife and cutting board to dice both the green and live sphagnum moss when they are damp and then sieving for size. I find it easier than trying to grind it through and screen and there is far less dust kicked up so I donāt need to wear a good dust mask the entire time. Plus the damp moss mix sometimes starts to grow in storage and is less dusty to spread on top the bonsai pot.
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Iāve always had better luck getting a moss local to my environment/similar growing conditions as my trees. It seems to grow better. The best for me seems to be moss that grows in a sunny carpark near me by the beach.
You are the first person that I have seen, to throw the warning about the moss taking over by the end of summer, I thought I was crazy and so did everyone at my club when my moss grew to a 2ā-3ā mat by August and I actually lost a tree because I was not paying enough attention to it. I love the spag and find it beneficial but I am cleaning the moss off each year and starting fresh in the spring. I no longer add the green moss in, I just stick with the spag. Live & learn. Thanks again for the info !!
Imported āNew Zealand sphagnum mossā is dead and (mostly) sterile. Wonāt grow new plants. Only a few stray spores.
I would discard any 3ā moss; AND look for the very short moss species. Dry and crumble into the Mirai top dressing after repot and spring surface renewalā¦. There are a multitude of Slower growing short mosses that wonāt take over in one summer.
Maybe keep several trays of just moss, to see the growth pattern and colours. Grey, olive, emerald, chartreause.ā¦ Grab a clear glass cloister bell cover and grow a āforestā of moss in the shadeā¦ It is impressiveā¦
I can tell which of my trees have a good microbiom and ARE getting good nutrition, just from the moss appearance. Pay attention to the trees that like full moss / moisture retention. My hemlocks did greatā¦ until I took the thick sheets of moss off. They did NOT like being dryā¦ One by one they curled up and died over several summersā¦
My problem is, I WANT a nice mossing for summer shows in June. I tuck small pieces of moss into the soil surface in Aprilā¦ and hope to keep everything out of a 100F sun. By August, most of the larger trees have little or no mossā¦
Bonsai On!
K
It might have been mentioned amd I just missed it as @KurtP was very thorough in his explanation but you want to collect moss off inorganic (rock, pavement,hard pack) substrate assuming itās going on bonsai soilā¦moss off the same substrate you are trying to propagate it on. I imagine most are adaptable but I noticed enough difference to stick with this as ātrueā
Hay, Joe. Inorganic plants, not so much.
Moss is a eukaryotic plant. They need all the same things other plants require. Nutrients, water, sunlight, something to anchor ontoā¦ Free floating aquatic algae and terrestrial moss are relatedā¦
The spores fall in the same niches that collect blown / washed in dirt. It MAY appear to grow on bare concrete, but need the soil to thrive. The harsher the environmect and less resources they have, the slower and shorter they grow. Starvation? They just dry out, curl up and blow onā¦ to come out of hibernation when things get better. Spores. One step up from a sporulating bacteriaā¦ donāt get me started on tardegrade hibernation!
I have observerdā¦ moss grows poorly on bare classic 1:1:1 bonsai inorganic soil. It needs something to keep moisture and nutrients close to grow. Fine organic surface treatment of some kindā¦ A very thin layer of fine sifted potting soil works. You do need something to keep it from washing off daily. Sphagnum moss worksā¦ on bare bonsai soil, moss will grow, slowley and sparsley.
Mirai surface treatment of a mix of dried ground up moss mixed with ~1\2ā sphagnum moss ticks all the boxes. Elegantly. I tuck little finger sizedpieces of green moss into this matrix to spead it up. Donāt over fertilizeā¦.
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Potted up 3 ā Xmas tree Eldarica pines yesterday. (Google itā¦) 27F last nightā¦ not much is stirring yet!
Bonsai On!
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Interesting ā and apparently a tempting rabbit hole to spend the next 20 years of my life inā¦
I was under the impression that moss commonly found on rock tends to form very dense rhizoid mats that grip into microscopic cracks and mineral texture, whereas moss growing on organic substrates relies more on binding loose material like humus or soil. Thatās partly why Iāve had better success using moss collected from stone on bonsai soil.
Itās not that the rhizoids are specialized the way a root system is in vascular plants ā the adaptation seems more in the ābehaviorā of how the colony forms on different substrates. But I am not claiming to be an expert and thank you for sharing your knowledge..MOSS ON!