Sphagnum Moss

[museeumchick]

So its not exactly aquatic, but almost?!

I have lots of this lining my frog tank (two southern bells) from a friends garden and it is doing ok but looking a bit sad in patches

reason #1, inadequate drainage = drowned some of it, but i've got this sorted now.

It's getting enough moisture but not too much, so something else is now the problem.

Sphagnum naturally likes relatively high nutrient patches:

Is there any frog friendly fertiliser i might use to cheer up the rest?

or could it be something else thats the problem ie light requirements?

[alanmin4304]

I had some in with my frogs which went from very healthy to very dead in a short time. Not certain, but suspect it was lack of light.

[spoon]

lack of light and moisture are normally the culprits . its fine in there once its dead tho will stay moist and take a long time to break down , i have a picther plant growing in dead stuff in my frog tank . the only live stuff i have is growing on a small branch i found in the wetland in front of our house a small spray of water every few days keeps it alive

[museeumchick]

Well theres plenty of live plant matter already, I have 3 different ferns (leatherleaf, hen and chicken and button fern) so maybe i will worry less and leave it be - i can always replace it

it just looks sooo good when its going well, its a shame to let it go

[Insect Direct]

the sphagnum moss you buy at nurseries thats brown (looks dead but its not fully dried like the compressed blocks you can buy) in a bag often comes to life once out of bag and it gets moist and some sun light, actually ive seen it in the bag starting to green up and thats normally on the side facing the sun

i found it grew fine in with my newts and or whisting tree frogs when i had them and that only had a fluro above it (prob a 6500k phillips), it likes it moist but not relly soggy wet i rekon.

otherwise i find javamoss is all good for a ground cover as long as its kept moist underneathe it tends to grow really well and thick once out of the water almost looks like xmas moss

A photo of the tank would be kool to see :lol:

[museeumchick]

Alas no digital camera

=no pics

but it was looking excellent, now still ok but not brill (will def be putting up pics as soon as I can borrow a camera)

methinks witht he moss i will cover dead bits with new stuff, then the dead stuff can decompose and feed the new stuff.

cheats fix, but will do till i can get it growing well myself

[Stella]

Sphagnum naturally likes relatively high nutrient patches:

I thought it was the other way around. Carnivorous plants are often naturally found growing on spaghnum and CPs are definitely require *low* nutrient conditions.

I am not quite sure what it needs to grow. I have some looking rather sad in a pot, but still alive and has been so for six months.

[cesarz]

I agree with Stella, sphagnum does not need a lot of nutrients. Also, sphagnum dies quickly when iron or copper is present.

I have lots of live healthy sphagnum growing only on the parts where I don't fertilise.

I would recommend java moss instead, especially the xmas variety. Remember, java moss is actually terrestrial.

Cesar

[museeumchick]

But sphagnum grows nearer the edges of peat domes where the decomposition is occuring so while in therms of all plants they are low nutrient, in terms of peat dome plants they are high nutrient (rather higher than CP's

i think.....

and now having thought about it I am not so sure, shall have to dig up some old class notes