AusBonsai

treeman wrote: ↑April 10th, 2018, 5:51 pm Remember too that some mosses hate shade and love sun and some hate sun and love shade. The place where you find them will give you the clue. You can't mix the two. One will die.

This is an excellent tip. I get a high degree of transplanting success in when I transplant moss in conditions where I found it. So - if is found under the dappled shade of a tree - unlikely to survive on bonsai that requires full sun. If found in a gutter - look at when and where the sun hits it and try to replicate. I also not that I had grabbed moss from roadsides on the Mornington Peninsula - very sandy, tight stuff growing in nearly full sun...that transplants well into full sun areas where I live but... you must keep the sand base... it dies when the sand base is removed... in my experience.

In short - if you can replace the conditions it is found in .... it has a higher likelihood of survival... in my experience.

Hi MJL have you tried breaking up the moss with the sandy base and then mixing through sieved sphagnum? Give it all a soak and then place a thin layer onto the surface of the potting mix and pat down.
Seen a clip of this method and seems to work well. But yes still need the correct moss for the light / environmental conditions as the others said earlier.

matlea wrote: ↑May 29th, 2020, 10:09 pm Hi MJL have you tried breaking up the moss with the sandy base and then mixing through sieved sphagnum? Give it all a soak and then place a thin layer onto the surface of the potting mix and pat down.
Seen a clip of this method and seems to work well. But yes still need the correct moss for the light / environmental conditions as the others said earlier.

Hi matlea, good idea. I haven't but my step-dad has and as you say, it has worked really well. I will try it... thanks for the reminder. It is also worth pointing out that if people see dry moss (say on a rock face or in a gutter) - it probably isn't 'dead' so to speak ... add a bit of moisture and wait ten minutes. Of course - a bit of a rash generalisation on my part but dried moss in gutters can spring to life.