AusBonsai

Being a bit of a fan of indigenous birds I have to say blackbirds are not on my most favored list I have a solution for them I learned from a dedicated australian native gardener, I am not going to post it here as it could cause controversy but if anyone wants to know you can pm me.
Craigw

Hey guys, sorry to be a killjoy but could you use PM's please, if it is not relating to the thread. Thankyou.

hey mitchell, how long does it take for the moss to start growing again?
iv'e never attempted the moss milkshake trick, always been interested in giving it a go though.

Thanks for the work in posting this progression....
On the previous page you wrote:
"Don't ask me why I am drying it just before wetting it, cause honestly I don't know. I read it somewhere and it seemed to work so I'm trying it again."
Great question..... is drying it out needed as part of the growth cycle? Like scarification of some seeds? It would be so much easier to just chop and mix....
I think I read somewhere that it's more for killing off any contaminating weed bits than for the moss itself.....
Though there are many opinions on the "accelerant": beer, yoghurt, stale milk, buttermilk, and even urine [!] (no doubt discussed under different threads),
I would love to know if anyone has compared output WITH vs WITHOUT the 'drying out' stage.

Sorry i have never seen any of this before. What happens after you have a milkshake? just leave i in the bucket?

Jake- It takes 3 months to get a green mat. You'll just growth with a couple of week starting.

Makkanan- Thanks. I do not believe the drying stage is necessary, but as you said weed contaminant may be a problem. I believe the drying puts the moss into a state of hibernation, not growing or consuming energy just existing. It waits in anticipation of the next wet to send out new growth and come alive again.
This is advantageous as with brushing it on, the new growth stimulates the matting effect.
Remember what I am doing is using the spores to mix out in the milkshake not the pieces of moss, they are just in there because it's hard to remove the spores from them. Some of the larger pieces of moss might regenerate, but it is the spores I'm after.

Rowdy- Sorry mate, got a bit side tracked the other night. The milkshake is still sitting in the bucket. This is a spore mix, which is ready to be painted over the soil/gravel in a bonsai pot. It may alos be spread out on grow trays, to grow mats of moss so you can cut squares and transplant it to your bonsai pot.

The mix is pretty cool, you can paint it on bricks, paths, stones anywhere it is slightly damp and a mat of green moss will grow. This is also the same stuff Moss graffiti artist use to spray living art. Hope that helps.

Mitchell wrote:Ok so here is our wet mix milkshake.
I'm not one for quantities, I'm more of a "see how it goes" kinda chef.

To the now 500g mix I added 1 bottle/stubbie of beer, 2 cups of milk (on the verge of going off), 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 litre of water to thin it out so it will go further.
Stir till frothy in a blender or by hand.

Doesn't that look delicious??

The paint mixers you put in your drill work very well and don't upset the fairer sex.

Glenda

I was thinking that Glenda! Wasn't sure if it would cut the moss up enough? If you let the moss soak for a while it would work no probs.
I didn't end up using the line trimmer, I prefer my manhood intact. I opted for pulling it apart by hands then chopping with kitchen chicken snips. Didn't take long, even that much.

Mitchell wrote:I was thinking that Glenda! Wasn't sure if it would cut the moss up enough? If you let the moss soak for a while it would work no probs.
I didn't end up using the line trimmer, I prefer my manhood intact. I opted for pulling it apart by hands then chopping with kitchen chicken snips. Didn't take long, even that much.

I meant for the mixing rather that using the blender . You could always weld on some lethal looking blades and turn it into a blender!

Glenda

Sweet shot Jake! That's the stuff!!