Moss
Cushion moss
Leucobryum glaucum
ModerateFine in a closed jar
Plump pale cushions that go grey when dry and green when wet.
What the simulation uses
- Light
- 1,500 to 10,000 lux
- The brightness it grows well in.
- Humidity
- 60 to 95 % RH
- Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
- Temperature
- 10 to 24 °C
- Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
- Dies at
- below -5 or above 44 °C
- Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
- Soil pH
- 3.8 to 5 pH
- Soil acidity it prefers.
- Grows up
- 0.08 cm/month
- How fast it gains height in good conditions.
- Spreads
- 0.05 cm/month
- How fast its edge creeps outwards.
- Thickens
- 1.25 %/month
- How fast its cover fills in on its own ground.
- Copes with wet
- fair
- How well it stands soggy soil; poor means rot comes quickly.
- Copes with still air
- fair
- Sealed jars have still air; poor means grey mould finds it.
- Copes with shade
- good
- How well it holds on in dim light.
- Copes with drying
- good
- How well it survives the jar drying out.
- Water use
- 0.03 ml/cm²/day
- Water that evaporates off the cushion each day in room air.
- Holds water
- 0.3 ml/cm²
- Water a cm² of moss soaks up and keeps.
- Grows on
- soil, stone
- Where it can take hold and spread. Moss that cannot grow on stone thins out there.
Care
- Day length
- 10 to 14 h
- Substrate
- Moist
What kills it
- waterlogged substrate
- lime/calcareous water
- a sealed jar left soaking: fog on the glass all day, never vented
- hard frost when dry
Description
Cushions can grow 3 to 20 cm tall, and a torn one is slow to regrow, so handle it gently. It hates waterlogged soil, limy water and a sealed jar that drips with constant condensation. Give it some air movement and keep lime away.
Also called pincushion moss, pillow moss, large white-moss, bun moss (UK trade).
Estimated, where sources were thin: photoperiod_h; humidity_rh_pct; temp_lethal_c.max; coverage_pct_per_month.