Top dressing for hot days.

[Mike Corazzi]

Would RAISED BED potting soil work? It's coarser than regular potting soil and I'm wondering if it would work for hot days.
I know about Sphagnum moss but that stuff seems all ropy and tangly. Harder to keep from washing off?

???

 

[Cadillactaste]

Many grate it...and put on top. Wear a mask.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Many grate it...and put on top. Wear a mask.

Doesn't matter. The biggest nursery in the area doesn't have it.
Nor chelated iron.

Bastards.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Doesn't matter. The biggest nursery in the area doesn't have it.
Nor chelated iron.

Bastards.

Amazon has it. That's where I get mine. You don't buy online then?

 

[TrevorLarsen]

If you get the good stuff (not the stuff sold for pets) you can just soak it then remove the stems. Then apply it and it all becomes like a solid mat after a bit and is very secure. I don’t shred it or grind it.

 

[Paradox]

Doesn't matter. The biggest nursery in the area doesn't have it.
Nor chelated iron.

Bastards.

Chelated iron probably isn't in enough demand for them to stock.

I got mine from Amazon as @Cadillactaste suggests.

 

[nuttiest]

I vote santorini stone. Just go to a rock yard on a hot day and feel the different gravel - santorini is cool - very reflective. Like cool deck.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I ordered a cheap sheet of compressed, dried sphagnum from amazon.

I just break it up with my fingers before wetting.

It's been working pretty good for me so far as top dressing on my bald cypress and a small forest I'm developing.

 

[roberthu]

Sphagnum moss doesn't wash off for me at all. The only issue is really with birds in the spring when they are trying to source material for their new nests.
Make sure you soak them in water before breaking them apart and apply to the soil surface. It takes some time to prepare but works pretty well once applied and watered down.

 

[RKatzin]

Oh lucky me! I just go down by the creek and collect it off the trees by the bucket load. It pretty well stays put once it's wet.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I got a full bale of New Zealand sphagnum special ordered from my local nursery. I run mine through an old blender and apply it to the soil surface. Also makes a great base when applying moss. You can just grind up live moss along with it then apply to the bonsai soil surface and presto in a few weeks the spores will germinate and grow a green moss surface.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Ace Hardware had chelated iron.
I kinda liked the gooey rusty brown stuff.
But this has some trace elements that might be okay.

 

[Paradox]

Ace Hardware had chelated iron.
I kinda liked the gooey rusty brown stuff.
But this has some trace elements that might be okay.

Yeah that'll work

 

[TCEvan]

Oh lucky me! I just go down by the creek and collect it off the trees by the bucket load. It pretty well stays put once it's wet.

I accidentally gathered up a hibernating baldfaced hornet queen this year when gathering sphagnum from my bogs. Which subsequently woke up and stung me when I was repotting a week later. So gathering your own has its pros and cons.

 

[RaginCajun]

Down here I worry about roots cooking in pots. Moss is a good top dressing but when it’s 109 degrees actual temperature with heat index up in the 120s, full sun stuff gets an old wet white rag draped over the pots.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Down here I worry about roots cooking in pots. Moss is a good top dressing but when it’s 109 degrees actual temperature with heat index up in the 120s, full sun stuff gets an old wet white rag draped over the pots.

PLUS.... it adds so much panache to your bench.

 

[Dabbler]

I just use moss that's everywhere, like from my neighbors yard