I finally found some long fibered sphagnum moss. Our Lowe's has changed their plant department, not necessarily better, just different, but they did have the LFS. I thought I'd give this a try before I order some. Don't know what the quality will be like.
Ki, I remember you telling me to rinse it a few times before use, but I need a little more direction than that. Do I soak it in a bowl for a little while, or just grab a handful and rinse it? Hot water or cold? Wring it out and rinse again, or let it drip for a while? Can I use it while it's still damp? (LOL These are the goofiest questions...but I don't know what to do!) I know LFS is supposed to have antifungal properties, but do I need to sterilize it for pests or anything? If so, how do I sterilize it? Mix it with my regular mix, just put it on top, or use it alone? One more question...do you think I'm putting waaaay too much thought in to this? ;o)
Thanks!
Sphagnum Moss questions
RainGazer - Are you wanting the LFS to sow gessie seeds? All I did was to put the dry fibre into a food processor and chop it. I store it dry in a ziplock bag. When ready to sow seed, I put the chopped sphag into my container (with drainage holes) moistened thoroughly with warm water, then sowed the seeds and covered with a clear covering. Looking forward to what Keyring has to say.
I'm looking forward to what she has to say too. I buy the Long Fiber Spag too and I never thought to sterilize or rinse it before use! Gosh, all I've been doing is wetting it, wringing it out and putting it in my container! I sure am learning so much from a lot of the Pro's on this website and I sure am Thankful for all the advice and information I'm getting.
Snowrose, yes I was planning to start some Strep seeds on it for now. I'm sure I'll play around with it and see what other uses I can find for it, too. I thought Ki said to rinse it, but I'll go look and make sure I'm remembering the correct thing. Don't want to quote the wrong advice. My biggest concern was whether to sterilize it for pests.
How fine do you chop it?
Lin, it's amazing how much information is available from all the people here! And everyone is so willing to help one another out. I simply love it here! :o)
OK I found it in the "Five strep crosses" thread.
Here's what Ki said: "Rinse a few times before using, and I recommend wearing gloves for the rinsing."
Now that I've gone back and read that thread, nobody said anything about sterilizing, so I guess that's not necessary. Good - one less step to take! LOL
Thanks Amy .. from now on I will rinse it a few times and wear gloves.
My biggest challenge will be remembering to wear the gloves! I tend to just jump into a job without thinking and planning.
Edited for grammar...
This message was edited Apr 14, 2007 11:54 AM
I hear ya Amy! I always begin with gloves when I go out to work in the yard, do gardening, repot houseplants, whatever ... but within 30 minutes, my gloves are off! During the Winter time I can keep the nicest manicure ... but, come Spring when I'm out doing yard work and playing in the dirt, my nails look so awful! Ground in dirt! I've tried the gouging my nails in a bar of soap before working, but then I usually have the hose on during my play and the soap disappears real quick! And, I like the feel of the surgical gloves over cotton or leather gardening gloves cause I can get a better grip on things ... but they get holes torn in them real quick! So ...... even with thinking and planning, I start out right and end up with Farmer/Gardener Hands! We should have a game where everyone submits photo's of their hands to see whose look the nicest/dirtiest/most gardenerish?? LOL. Mine would win for the dirtiest most of the time! Every week I keep saying I'm going for a manicure and a pedicure .... I am WAY past due!
Lin
I keep a box of latex gloves on hand for gardening because I can't work if I can't feel what I'm doing. I do have leather gloves for heavy duty gardening, but even then I don't like to wear them.
Oops, sorry I was AFK this morning, hanging out at the local gesneriad society meeting ;)
Believe it or not, my first actual meeting - locally, that is.
Btw, I am not a pro or expert by any means. A lot of my growing knowhow comes from orchids - I'm relatively new to gesneriads.
Anyway, yes I recommend rinsing LFS, but I can't provide a good reason for it. It has always been recommended to me, and I know the first time I soak it, it smells chemical. At least, every brand I've tried does. By the second rinse, it does not. The third time is just rewetting with the water I want to grow in.
Oh, the first rinse I do with warm water and let it sit for 15 mins or so before squeezing.
The quality of LFS at HD and lowes seem to vary from store to shipment, so yours may be good. But in any case, I don't think the quality matters as much if you are chopping it for short term use like for seedlings.
Some people mix chopped LFS with perlite - you might consider that if your chopped mix looks too dense.
And finally, the thing about gloves. Someone sent me links to something (sorry - memory malfunction) ... Skin irritation? Something else? It was somewhat serious, as far as I remember (which is not far at all). You can probably google if interested - I'm typing on my blackberry again so....
I also usually wear latex gloves while doing indoor repotting and such.
A lot of people have allergic reactions to the latex in some of the gloves! And, I heard recently that some people have had a reaction to the ones that have the powder in them! So, folks need to be aware of that and if they have any red, itchy or other symptoms after wearing them, discontinue the use! I am amazed with all my allergies that they don't bother me much. At times when I wear them, my hands and wrists will begin itching, so I take them off and wash my hands real good and stop using them for awhile! May just be my imagination runnning wild with me though! I try to buy the Latex Free Surgical Gloves when I can find them. I also am a recycler, I save the gloves from my hair color (LOL) and wash them and use them for planting. They don't last very long, but are good for light work for a couple of days sometimes!
well I just had to get out some sphag so I thought I'd report back.
I didn't use gloves :-( Being lazy.... so it may be psychological but my hand feels a bit itchy :P
I find I can't do the powdered gloves either. They are really aggravating to my skin. For sphag-washing, it's perfectly possible to put a plastic bag over your hand - you don't need a lot of control, LOL.
Here's a pic of a wad of sphag, rinsed once and squeezed tight.
when you pull the strands out, it looks like this. Long strands with fluffy pieces that hold together. Great stuff. As our speaker today said, lots of big air pockets to hold air, and lots of tiny gaps to hold water. If only this stuff didn't break down so fast......
I never thought I would hear myself saying something like this .... but, That's great looking Spag! Where do you get yours? It really looks "healthy" compared to the last bag I bought at Lowes or HD!
LOL Lin !!
The sphag is from http://calwesttropical.com/.
Thanks Keyring! I may just have to order some!
I was on this website last week
http://www.essenciaonline.com/WebSite/default.aspx?sUrl=../WebSite/Home.ascx
It was started by a woman in her kitchen making soap. I work with her in dog rescue but didn't know she had this business until last week. She and her daughter make gardeners soap and all kinds of moisturizers, body butters, and skin care products. I think it's all natural. After seeing the website in her email signature and browsing the site I emailed her asking about the business. Among telling me how it got started she said this "We now supply products to Coldwater Creek and are about to embark on a big project for Frontgate Catalog!" I'm so happy for her :~)
Anyway, I'm going to order some stuff, thought since y'all were talking about the dry, dirty gardeners hands you might want to take a look :~) I use to do the soap under the fingernails too but never bother anymore. I sometimes start with gloves but usually end up bare handed lol. Sorry to sound like an advertisement, her stuff just looks so good for the skin wanted to spread the news. Can't wait to get mine!
Lana
Thanks for that link, Lana! I will definitely check it out!
Lin
other than for lining hanging baskets, will someone tell me what you all use this Spaghnum Moss for?? Someone said to germinate strep seeds?? I am afraid I need to know something i don't know (LOL).....I am having such rough luck with my rex begonias either being too wet or too dry, I might try this??????????????????
I use it for Orchids. There are some plants that like the moisture that wet spaghnum provides. It helps retain moisture, so I have used it to line those wire baskets before putting the soil and plants inside. Here's some good info for you to read about it:
http://www.mosserlee.com/whatis.html
it's good for begonias, too, but the problem is that it will break down into dense sludge after 5-12 months, depending on how damp it stays. At that point, it must be repotted... but if you use it on fine-rooted plants, the fine roots and the sphag will be totally intertwined, making it pretty much impossible to remove the old sphag without damaging the roots. Using chopped sphag mixed with medium/large perlite or other lumpy material avoids this problem.
I use it for rooting a lot of things and for orchids.
You're welcome! I just talked to the website owner and I think she's going to come aboard. She's a gardener too!!! There's a gardeners gift basket on her website that sounds really yummy here's the description:
"it contains two products for outdoor use, a 2.2 oz. Sandalwood Moisture Therapy Lotion with SPF 15 for sun protection and a 3.8 oz. bottle of our natural insect repellent, Aromaway. For use after persuing the pleasures of the garden, there"s a 5.0 oz. Gardener"s Bar soap and a nail brush to make clean up a breeze, and a 0.5 oz. jar of Nail Butter to condition nails and cuticles."
She has natural insect repellent and sunscreen! Can't wait to get my stuff!
Lana
OK, thanks....just didn't want to miss out on anything!!!!
I have my Orchids potted in just Sphagnum. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I have about a dozen Orchids and when they were in the bark/charcoal/perlite mix they didn't seem to do very well. Last year I took them all and repotted them in straight Sphag. It seems to dry out so quickly though that I am thinking about repotting again in the next week or so, back to the bark mix. That dries quickly too but it doesn't get stuck to the roots of the plants like the dried up sphag does. I am not a very good orchid "mom". They seem to do real well when I hang them out in the trees ... they always bloom real well, but when hanging on the shaded deck they do just so so. I have one with buds ready to open but thats the only one. I think the orchids need a bit more attention than I give them.
if your problem is drying out too fast, try one of two things: adding chopped sphag to your bark mix, or, try a mix with large CHC (coconut husk chips). Or see what your local orchid growers are doing. I thought the problem down in fla was that things wouldn't dry quickly enough, but what do I know....
We have been really dry here in East Central Florida for the past couple of years. Need a good Tropical Storm to dump a lot of rain! The Humidity is Still Horrid during the Summer, but my Orchids still seem to dry out very quickly. Most of the time I keep them hanging on a covered deck on the Northwest side of the house. I can water them in the morning and the next morning it looks like they haven't been watered in weeks! After I repot them (soon) I am going to hang them back out in my Shefflera tree where they seemed to thrive! When under the canopy of that tree they get watered twice a week with well water from our irrigation system. They seem to love it in that location, so thats gonna be their home for the entire summer! (Unless we have Hurricanes!) I've read some different posts about the Coconut Husk Chips ... think I might give a mix with that a try!
Wow! Lots of great information in this thread - from sphagnum moss to orchids to lotion! LOL Thanks to everyone for your input!
Sorry I started the thread and then sort of abandoned it. We spent most of the day with my parents. :o)