substitute for shagnum moss

[sooxiwei]

hi to all, have seen shagnum moss here and there, but almost none other than shagnum moss works as a medium to most cp, i would like to know the theory of using shagnum moss as medium to cps and also, does cp grow on dried shagnum moss in the wild? Thanks a lot, will appreciate your answer

[arvin555]

I'll start it off.... It depends on what species of CP we are talking about. VFTs, Sarracenias, etc. (most N. American CP, but not all) are "bog plants" meaning they live in bogs where sphagnum moss lives, the dead sphagnum moss becomes Peat and that is where they grow.

However I know of a lot of CPers that have tried using other medium, for example cocopeat to plant their Sarracenias, and they thrive. On the other hand, most of our Nepenthes are in Cocopeat (at least here in the Philippines).

Peat moss, sphagnum moss are a bit difficult to get, a bit expensive and some even don't like them because they are a "limited resource" mined from peat bogs (dead sphagnum takes a long time to turn into peat).

I hope others will chime in to correct or confirm the above.

TTFN
Arvin

[David]

What arvin says about s. moss is correct. They are almost always found where CPs grow. The other reasons why s. moss is used in cultivation is:

- It retain water which is what CPs love

- It allows air to the roots

- It is acidic which is what CPs like

- It is sterile and clean

- It has an entibiotic effect that prevents mold or fungus. Perfectly preserved human bodies over 100 years old have been found burried in sphagnum/peat bogs

- It does not decompose easily especially in cooler climates

However, like what Arvin says, there are other media that you can use for CPs as long as it provides similar conditions as s. moss. These conditions are:

- it must retain water
- it must alow air into the roots
- It is acidic (depending on the species, but most CPs prefer acidic media)

To answer your second question, yes, CPs do grow in dead s. moss in the wild but most of the time it is mixed with live s. moss. As S. moss grows, it becomes longer and longer and the old strain dies off and turn brown. So usually when you see them in the wild, the top part is green and a live but below this layer is dead s. moss. And below this dead brown layer is sphagnum peat with is decomposed s. moss. CP's grow in this media.

[sooxiwei]

Thanks to both Arvin and David for the answer, will try out other stuff on them onces I have lot of them, one more question, why is it sterile and clean since bog wood and dried or died shagnum moss suppose to be organic? thanks

[arvin555]

If it were up to me, I won't experiment with alternatives on VFTs, for VFTs, Dried LFS or Peat with some sand or perlite is safest. But for others you can try other alternatives.

I think that the reason why it is "sterile" is because of the very high acidity of the medium. however please don't think that it is really sterile, we just mean that most molds, fungii and bacteria do not thrive in them... but it doesn't mean it is completely free from other microorganisms.

TTFN
Arvin

[David]

Thanks for answering Arvin.

sooxiwei, if you want to experiment with other media, try it on Nepenthes first. They are more tollerant as compared to other species of CPs and in the wild some of them grow in richer media rather than media that is completely void of minerals/nutrients.

[sooxiwei]

hi to all, have wonder "why shagnum moss" for a while and now I decided to try out other stuff...

Material chosen: aquarium filter sponge
cp: ping

found that it doesn't collect much water as shagnum moss, so I increase the water level higher till I can see the sponge is wet on top, will update some times later, hope it works

[marvin1997]

Any thing happened?

[sooxiwei]

it's not dead yet, the root grow into the sponge now, will wait for another month to make a conclusion for the ping

[marvin1997]

Can't wait la!Finally another media to plant our plants on!!(not yet,should say this in the future but I can't wait!!)