Moss

Woolly fringe-moss

Racomitrium lanuginosum

DemandingOpen jar only

Woolly grey hair-tipped mats from exposed rock. Very slow.

What the simulation uses

Light: 5,000 to 60,000 lux; The brightness it grows well in.
Humidity: 50 to 90 % RH; Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
Temperature: 2 to 20 °C; Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
Dies at: below -30 or above 48 °C; Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
Soil pH: 3.8 to 5 pH; Soil acidity it prefers.
Grows up: 0.07 cm/month; How fast it gains height in good conditions.
Spreads: 0.03 cm/month; How fast its edge creeps outwards.
Thickens: 0.3 %/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: poor; Sealed jars have still air; poor means grey mould finds it.
Copes with shade: poor; How well it holds on in dim light.
Copes with drying: excellent; 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: 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

warm humid closed jar
shade
lime

Description

It grows only a few millimetres to 1.5 cm a year on exposed acid rock and scree. It survives remarkable heat, yet a warm, humid closed jar kills it. Keep it in an open container with bright light and no lime.

Also called hoary rock moss, woolly hair moss, grey rock moss.

Estimated, where sources were thin: humidity_rh_pct.

Sources

Grow it in a jar