Moss

Blunt-leaved bogmoss

Sphagnum palustre

EasyFine in a closed jar

Green-brown peat moss that holds many times its weight in water.

What the simulation uses

Light: 3,000 to 30,000 lux; The brightness it grows well in.
Humidity: 70 to 100 % RH; Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
Temperature: 10 to 30 °C; Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
Dies at: below -20 or above 46 °C; Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
Soil pH: 4 to 5.5 pH; Soil acidity it prefers.
Grows up: 0.3 cm/month; How fast it gains height in good conditions.
Spreads: 0.13 cm/month; How fast its edge creeps outwards.
Thickens: 3 %/month; How fast its cover fills in on its own ground.
Copes with wet: excellent; How well it stands soggy soil; poor means rot comes quickly.
Copes with still air: good; 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: poor; How well it survives the jar drying out.
Water use: 0.035 ml/cm²/day; Water that evaporates off the cushion each day in room air.
Holds water: 0.25 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 (fragments survive about 14 days air-dry)
hard or limey tap water
fertiliser

Description

It grows in wet woods and fens and slowly makes the water around it more acid. Keepers use it as the usual live sphagnum for carnivorous plant and dart frog setups. Avoid hard tap water and fertiliser, and never let it dry out.

Also called sphagnum, prairie sphagnum, live sphagnum, peat moss (live).

Estimated, where sources were thin: species growth rate (genus data used).

Sources

Grow it in a jar