Sphagnum.... what kind?

[Mike Corazzi]

I'm thinking that a top cover of sphagnum moss might help ease the summer blast heat here.

Looked at some at a nursery and it was a ground up product that had some Miracle Gro in it.

Seems to me back in the old days sphagnum was a dry stringy stuff. Looked hard to moisten. What is proper for my usage?

 

[Chop_n_Change]

sphagnum (the stringy kind) is what i use for top dressing. when its dry you grind it through your soil Sifter (somewhere over the 1/4 inch size) to break it up into smaller bits, then sift out the tiny stuff. then mix that with similarly ground up/sifted live moss (if you can find it in your area) as an inoculant. you don't want gobs of it on the top, just a light coating to intermix with the soil particles on the top. the real goal for top dressing is to hold that top layer of soil in place when watering/raining until the moss inoculates and becomes incorporated in the pot.

you can also dye the sphagnum with sumi ink (calligraphy ink which is charcoal based) to darken the color. The New Zealand Sphagnum is pretty light colored and can be jarring to look at.

other than providing a slight buffer for evaporation, I don't know that it would extend watering needs by any stretch. mainly to keep the soil from shifting around on top and for a carrier for live moss to setup is how I view it.

 

[Maiden69]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D477CZ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[rockm]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D477CZ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The above will work. If you want to be "official" yamagoke from Japan--I've used both. Yamagoke is chopped a bit smaller and it's easier to apply and remove when wet --not stringy. BTW those blocks will go a looong way, as the fibers expand considerably when they're wet down.

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[Wires_Guy_wires]

Don't shred it when it's dry though! Sphagnum is one of those few gardening components that have killed people after being inhaled. The bacteria and fungi in there can be nasty.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Don't shred it when it's dry though! Sphagnum is one of those few gardening components that have killed people after being inhaled. The bacteria and fungi in there can be nasty.

Systemic anti owner thing. ???

 

[rockm]

Systemic anti owner thing. ???

The stuff CAN give you something called spirotrichosis, a fungal infection. The fungus is present in the moss (along with other soils, plants etc.) It CAN infect two ways--through a scratch on the skin or through the lungs. Apparently, it can take repeated long-term exposure to actually develop the infection in the lungs. BUT it HAS infected and killed one pretty famous bonsai guy. Back in the early 90's,Brian Batchelder had a program on public broadcasting channels about bonsai. He lived in Fla. and used sphagnum as the primary ingredient for his soil. His program was called "New Horizons in Bonsai."

FWIW, wear gloves and avoid breathing the dust (or wear a mask) and you won't have any problems.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Systemic anti owner thing. ???

It shreds right back at ya! I recommended smoking cigars when shredding sphagnum once at a gardening meeting. Because they work as an air filter by burning off the baddies and the tobacco itself actually filters some particles out. But for some reason they didn't appreciate it. Maybe they're scared of tobacco mosaic virus or something.

 

[ZombieNick]

The stuff CAN give you something called spirotrichosis, a fungal infection. The fungus is present in the moss (along with other soils, plants etc.) It CAN infect two ways--through a scratch on the skin or through the lungs. Apparently, it can take repeated long-term exposure to actually develop the infection in the lungs. BUT it HAS infected and killed one pretty famous bonsai guy. Back in the early 90's,Brian Batchelder had a program on public broadcasting channels about bonsai. He lived in Fla. and used sphagnum as the primary ingredient for his soil. His program was called "New Horizons in Bonsai."

FWIW, wear gloves and avoid breathing the dust (or wear a mask) and you won't have any problems.

Man, this is actually the first time I have heard about this. Thanks for the heads up - gonna start using gloves and masks when working with it.

 

[dbonsaiw]

I have a bag of moss spores. Could I shred the sphagnum and simply add the spores to that and use the combo as top soil?

 

[rockm]

I have a bag of moss spores. Could I shred the sphagnum and simply add the spores to that and use the combo as top soil?

. You're not likely to have much success with the air spaces among the sphagnum for the moss spores to take hold. ,Additionally, if the spores did sprout, you would basically cement the sphagnum moss to the soil surface and probably create a drainage problem. Sphagnum moss is meant to provide a barrier with air space, between the air and surface soil, to increase humidity for the surface roots on the tree, instead of pushing roots mostly at the bottom of the container.

FWIW, Surface moss is the LAST thing you develop on a tree. It's not an integral part of the bonsai. It is nice, but mostly unnecessary.

 

[bonsaichile]

Don't shred it when it's dry though! Sphagnum is one of those few gardening components that have killed people after being inhaled. The bacteria and fungi in there can be nasty.

Exactly. Always wear a respirator when working with it

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Interesting thought. Dunno about the cement issue…We use a mix of Sphagnum and Mountain moss or just the latter on over a hundred bonsai. No drainage issues. (Odd examples follow )

…
Yet for any moss or vegetative covering that is not properly watered one might envision having to rewet it thoroughly… and the media too..

Then there is the thought of how having the surface proper moistened and covered might actually be advantageous?

Cheers
DSD sends