AusBonsai

I love moss! My wife thinks I have an unhealthy obsession with it. She calls me a 'mossicker' as I like to 'fossick' for moss

Did you know that there are approximately 12,000 species of moss classified in the Bryophyta?!

Here's some moss shots taken on the weekend... Please feel free to post pictures of moss here!

Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven and everyone. Here are some pictures that I like of moss. They are from Japanese gardens in Kyoto.

Although I like to have moss on my medium for display and showing, I am reluctant to leave it in place over the winter because it provides the ideal hideout for overwintering nasty creeping things. I remove it in Autumn/fall. It returns naturally in time or I replace some when exhibiting. I am not anti-moss because I like it at the right time and have several flat seed trays in production at any time.

Did you know that there are approximately 12,000 species of moss classified in the Bryophyta?!

Well done Steven - no I did not know that, but can you name them???

Here is a patch I saw on my morning walk.
Jon

I love moss!

I recently spent every night for a week or so just reading everything i could on moss. I collected some thuidium of some sort a while back and I'm growing heaps of it now and using it for air layering. Works a treat!

JayC

G/Day! JayC, its good to catch up again!

We need a great deal of input from members on the subject of Moss. Not enough has been done on this subject by the Forum.

How can we kick it off?

Oh and when you get a chance can the Moss master give us some tips on how to get the most out of the spores. How do you use them
Brett Summers
Bonsai is the celebration of life. Spring is the opening number!
soltan
Aussie Bonsai Fan

Brett's question is a good one.

I'll help kick it off.
These notes are from my experience only, and need to be either ratified or shot down by the members.
MOSS
. Grows best in areas exposed to rainfall. Tap water retards or kills off many mosses.
. grows well in Bonsai pots that have been planted for 2 years or more - this appears to be the case because the tree roots close to the tree have blocked up the drainage somewhat creating a positive environment.
. Some mosses can handle tap water, but not many.
. application of fertilizer sets back most mosses and we all fertilise regularly don't we?
.Moss appears to grow best on a fine silt layer even over clay. This makes it difficult to duplicate these conditions in a bonsai pot even if we wanted to.
. my most success is in planting the thinner type mosses over the bonsai mix and then burying it with the gravel dressing.
The damp gravel seems to make an ideal environment for the moss to grow and in some cases the moss has quickly pushed up through and overgrown the gravel.

In searching the net I have found some cool sites, particularly in the USA where blokes are making a living out of farming and harvesting moss. They sell it by the square foot (30cms square). So someone has learned to propagate moss!!!!

Question is, can we?
Over to you the member.
regards
Tmaster
<](:-))

I have never tried to grow moss, I just find that some of my trees will grow it naturally.

My JBP is one that allways has a great carpet on it that does not dry out although the tree is in the full sun all year round. It gets fertilised and is water with tap water

Ken

G/Day Ken,

Yes I experience the same with my Seiju elms and Hokkaido elms and like your JBP they must be larger and established in their pots for a number of years. These established plants,seem ok even after disturbance each year with repotting.

regards
Tmaster
<](:-))

Moss is fascinating. Can just imagine walking through that forest bare foot and taking in the smell, must be great humidity.

Mossicker

Great shots Steven. Number 3 is an absolute corker! Great angle,DOF and colour, well done.

Hope you don't mind, had a lil' play to try and bring out the details.


Don't forget our extensive range of natural mosses is almost equalled by our fantastic miniature ferns. Miniature ferns not only apply contrast to a composition they also have some extrodinary forms.

I have as many trays growing of ferns as I have of moss. I have found though the ferns are very tough to keep, just keeping them moist 24/7 like moss does not work they need dry periods.

I am still rather new to Bonsai, and I notice some of the lovely trees on display at the NBPC have moss on top. The two bonsai I have purchased had moss, and I quickly threw it out. I found I could not tell when the plant needed watering because of this. Am I doing it all wrong?

Glenda

Glenda wrote:I am still rather new to Bonsai, and I notice some of the lovely trees on display at the NBPC have moss on top. The two bonsai I have purchased had moss, and I quickly threw it out. I found I could not tell when the plant needed watering because of this. Am I doing it all wrong?

Glenda

Your right Glenda it can be hard to judge. I have a few composition with 95% coverage, I have found over time I can judge the soil dampness, by the look of the moss. As the soil dries out my moss tends to go crispier and crispier. So when the moss looks like it is drying out, I usually water. Infact I would say I now look to the moss first, instead of the tree to tell if I need to water. So now it is not confuse me, it is actually my natural indicator, kind of like an alarm.

A night of rain & seeing all this beautiful moss this morning I just couldnt resist sharing some of my fave's. Like you Steven I am always collecting moss, lichen and things reclaimed by them. There are a few local types that just die if I remove them from the bush. I will walk up the hill if & when this rain stops & get some pics of my fave fluoro lichen and the one that looks for all the world like coral. knitted scarf, the pink spots are lichen that has gotten too much water childs jogger decomposed car seat foam completely covered in moss & lichen close up of lichen on another jogger, the orange tops are the fruiting bodies.
Rock with lichen, from west of Bendigo. Pink area is die back from too much water, the circled black spots are another form that is slowly starting to make a come back close up of above Another rock from nr Bendigo, the lichen died when I lived in the Yarra Valley due to too much rain & humidity. 5yrs ago this rock was bare, thats how long these things take to grow. The silvery grey lichen is the same as on the above rock

Matt

I absolutely love moss, but my boyfriend loves it 10 times more. When we go bushwalking I find I take pictures of it as much for him as I do for my own enjoyment.

The first two bonsais I got from the local nursery had moss on them, but it all died during a hot spell we had. I tried saving it but it just never came back. Been thinking about growing some of my own but I guess there's no point now that I am/will move them into grow boxes.

Just beautiful Matt! Any tips on cultivation? Do you use rain water?

Joel