Sphagnum moss?

[hornydevil]

Decided to do a spot of scouting for sphagnum moss today and ended up in Happy Garden orchid nursery. Asked them if they have moss for plants and they showed me a 500gm bag of dried moss,
They said the moss was from Chile and it was what they are using for their orchids. Bought 2 bags of it for RM 36/ and will be using it to repot my Sarras.

Anyone used this type of moss before or wish to comment on this product?

[marvin1997]

Huh,what.......?

[bactrus]

Chile moss is reasonable. It is a Honda/Toyota of moss but not a Bentley/Ferrari. Most of us are using this kind of moss.

Other grade which I sometimes use is those you can get from ACE hardware or New Trio (forum sponsor). It is New Zealand sphagnum moss and is very long lasting.

Also, note that sphagnum moss harvesting can be very enviromentally destructive, depending on sources. So one's choice of moss plays a role on our little planet.

[hornydevil]

I'm okay with a Honda or Toyota cause I definitely cannot afford a Bentley!

Thanks for the input.

[kit1212]

Hey there,I bought a bag of moss from there too and it obviously better than the moss from China.It does not decompose easily but contain other materials.So it's not as clean as the New Zealand moss. =)

[hornydevil]

Originally Posted by kit1212

Hey there,I bought a bag of moss from there too and it obviously better than the moss from China.It does not decompose easily but contain other materials.So it's not as clean as the New Zealand moss. =)

I did ask the lady there if the moss was from China but and she said the moss is from Chile. She does have the China ones but said the quality was not acceptable even for her orchids.
As to the debris in the Chilean moss, guess we just have to do some preliminary work before using it.
Cant compare it with the NZ Sphagnum moss lah. It will be like comparing a Proton with a Merc!(no offence to Proton owners!)

[bactrus]

Yup, NZ moss are nice. I don't drive a Maserati but I do use NZ moss. Gives me less problem as it doesn't decompose quickly and holds water better. As it is a firmer moss, there is more "air pockets" for the roots to breath. About RM15 per block I think. Comeon, how often you report your plants. Might as well give them the best you can afford. However, I do use Chilean moss too when I mix it with other stuff like sand, peat moss, cocochips, soil etc for nep, ultric etc.

Chilean moss are slightly better than China, say Honda Legend. Light pink in colour.

If you want material for germination, where you shred the moss, then cheap cheap moss will do. Remember to soak and rinse the moss prior to use. Yup get all the ionic salts out.

[marvin1997]

Erm,why suddenly cars come popping out?Are they moss names...

[spark]

He he he. They're metaphors. A Bently is a really nice car, and the New Zealand moss is really nice moss!

[paphioboy]

Say, is that the average price you get for sphag in KL..? RM36 for 500g..? Half a kilo isn't much is it..? The ones i get in Penang are cheaper.. hehe :D