Will;

Three questions;

1. Is this a waste of time in the fall?

2. Do you know how long the moss can be dry before the spores aren't viable anymore? Meaning, if I collected a variety of moss but don't want to do the cultivation until March, is that possible?

3. Can this same thing or similar be done with lichen?

Thanks, Michelle

Earthgrrl:

If you can find a way to cultivate lichens, PLEASE let me know. All of my attempts have failed miserably. Probably because I know nothing about them

[EDIT] Looks like Will answered my question just as I asked it. Ta, Will!

pootsie

1) No not at all, as long as the moss spores are there they will take when the conditions are right. Sometimes this takes awhile. I received a piece of moss from Vance Wood at our show in May. He has a moss that has silver tips that is absolutely beautiful and he was kind enough to give me a piece. I took this home and prepared a tray, cut it into very fine pieces and sprinkled it on the soil surface of the tray. It is just now starting to "green up." I never over protect or do anything special to my moss over winter that I do not do to my bonsai.

2) I have never completely dried my moss so I do not know. I do take my sphagnum moss and other fresh mosses and place them in a clear plastic bag with a few holes poked in it and fold the top underneath. I place these bags under my deck next to the lattice work where they still receive dappled light. I have found that they keep relatively fresh and living throughout the year like this.

3) lichen is different, the minute you touch it with your fingers you throw off the PH balance. I find it is better to take a pair of tweezers or a scalpel with a small Tupperware container that have all been cleaned very well with me when I collect lichen. I scape or pluck lichen from the area, place it into the Tupperware and then carefully, using the tweezers or scalpel, place it on the bark. I place pieces in the crevices or cracks in the bark, it will spread on it's own.

I hope this helps and please remember that I speak from my personal experience only, product may settle during shipping, do not remove tag under penalty of law, results may vary depending on climate, growing conditions, and the intelligence of the user.


Will Heath

As usual, you have come through again with good info...and once again giving Bates a run for his money. Thanks!

Moss will regrow even 50 years after it was harvested and dried.



and we've got another moss recipe for you; this one was published with the idea of using it to cover the pots themselves. I think it would be a great idea to create a picture of some type on your pot with different mosses or lichens and such.. .

1 cup flour
2 cups buttermilk
2 packages of dried yeast (5 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 - 1 1/2 cups of dried, crumbled moss

Mix all of the ingredients together, using a bucket to mix it is fine.
Place the bucket in the sun for three days.
When the mixture is really smelly, brush it liberally on the outside of your clay pot.
After applying moss paint, wrap the pots in plastic and place them in the sun. In 2 weeks the pots will mold and in 6-8 weeks, moss plants will be growing well.

Re the lichen care, it is my understanding that the lichen's main need when it comes to rapid growth is the supply of symbionts that the lichen need to survive. The lichen will spawn and whatnot but the baby mycellium lichens need to find a partner to do the chloroplast work shortly thereafter in order to continue to grow. Symbionts vary but the main one may be cyanobacteria; often found growing as pond scum.

the symbiont that it gets hooked up with can also determine the ultimate shape the lichen will assume..

it would be cool to find a symbiont that would make a bonsai tree grow in a particular shape, Yea?

is bio-engineering allowed in bonsai competitions?

I just tried the blender and buttermilk method with a very small batch this past weekend. Now the container looks like it's growing white fuzzy mold. Did I do something wrong or is this the first stage of the growing?