Moss
Common haircap
Polytrichum commune
EasyFine in a closed jar
Tall upright stems like tiny pine trees. Wet, acid ground.
What the simulation uses
- Light
- 3,000 to 30,000 lux
- The brightness it grows well in.
- Humidity
- 60 to 100 % RH
- Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
- Temperature
- 5 to 25 °C
- Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
- Dies at
- below -30 or above 45 °C
- Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
- Soil pH
- 3.8 to 5 pH
- Soil acidity it prefers.
- Grows up
- 0.33 cm/month
- How fast it gains height in good conditions.
- Spreads
- 0.06 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
- good
- 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
- fair
- How well it holds on in dim light.
- Copes with drying
- fair
- How well it survives the jar drying out.
- Water use
- 0.04 ml/cm²/day
- Water that evaporates off the cushion each day in room air.
- Holds water
- 0.2 ml/cm²
- Water a cm² of moss soaks up and keeps.
- Grows on
- soil
- Where it can take hold and spread. Moss that cannot grow on stone thins out there.
Care
- Day length
- 10 to 14 h
- Substrate
- Wet
What kills it
- drying out
- lime
- deep shade
Description
This is the largest common moss, usually 5 to 10 cm tall and sometimes far more. It grows fast and may outgrow a small jar. Keep it wet, acid and out of deep shade, and never use lime.
Also called great golden maidenhair, haircap moss.
Estimated, where sources were thin: species growth rate (genus data used).