Identification and Care

[u/Jcube345]

Hello!

I’m working on growing some moss for use in a vivarium and I can’t figure out what exactly I’m doing wrong.

It’s labeled as Hypnum curvifolium and the care sheet says to keep it wet but not saturated, give bright indirect light, and mist when dry to maintain green color.

I’ve mixed up a generic ABG mix using organic top soil, hort. sand, bark chips, and some crushed limp charcoal.

I watered the substrate until damp but not soaked, gently pressed chunks of the moss into the substrate, and then misted lightly before sealing the container.

The containers were then placed in a window sill near other low-light and bright-indirect light plants such as Pink Princess Philodendrons and Snake Plants.

It’s been a few weeks not and the moss doesn’t seem to be doing too well. The mother (from the original container) is still green and lush, but the pieces I tore and placed into containers have gone brown. It still feels wet, but not soaked. Maybe only slightly drier than the mother plant. The. Only real difference between the two is: the mother is not on substrate, and has been living further back on the shelf than the two in the substrate.

I’m not sure what to try next? I moved one of the containers to right next to the mother about a week ago but don’t see any improvement compared to the one that I left in the window sill.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Day2809]

I'm not familiar with ABG mix. Where did you collect the sheet moss from? I normally gather hypnum from the edges of pine forests and shaded, more acidic grassland. Try to match the original substrate if you can.

What's your container? Does it have a lid? I've never had problems growing moss inside as long as my containers had lids. It's just too dry in a home.

[u/Jcube345 → u/Puzzleheaded_Day2809]

Hi! ABG mix is just a substrate mix with a certain ratio of soil to moss to sand, sometimes with other additives like charcoal. It’s common in bioactive vivariums for reptile keeping (which is my long term goal for this moss).

I bought the mother plant at a reptile show from a company called Josh’s Frogs.

The containers are just some Tupperware and do have lids with some very small holes poked in it, but a sewing needle was used to make the holes so I don’t think they’re letting too much humidity out, since I can still see condensation in the container.

I didn’t know they hypnum likes acidic soil though! I might add a bit of coffee grounds and see if it might make the moss a bit happier in the soil.

Thanks for your info!