I'd be interested in hearing responses to this as well. I have a dend. cariniferum that came with the same moss all over the top...I don't even know what species it is, but I'm quite sure it's not sphagnum. The moss is now spreading to some of the other pots, and it looks really pretty, but I feel like it may be damaging too, although I can see roots poking out of the bottom of the pot on my moss covered dend.

I am going to try transferring bits of it to mounts, because I think that presents less of a problem there.

I have occasionally gotten moss which grows (on its own) on top of my plants which I am growing in tree fern fiber. These are all in plastic. I thought it was a good thing--I am using tap water for watering, and these are getting misted heavily every few days...and if moss will grow, I think it indicates the chemicals in the water are low enough in number to allow good growth of orchids as well. (Whew, that was a meandering thought...) So far the plants seem to tolerate it well, although whether they benefit or not I am unsure. But none of this is happening on my sphag-potted plants. These are mostly phals, which I let dry out between waterings.

If the moss seems to be overpowering the sphag, and the plants roots are not properly aerated in your opinion, I would suggest getting rid of it. It could be robbing the medium of nutrients you are trying to apply to the plants. Although moss may have beneficial organisms, so does sphag. If you offer suppliments (my latest treat is seaweed extract in small amounts), it should be enough.

This is my take on live moss...which may be very different from others, especially those who grow indoors. I grow outdoors in a gh, and have many mounted orchids in my collection, and those in baskets. I encourage live moss in these plants, and "seed" new mounts with the sheet moss that I cultivate in a shady corner.

The first reason I like it is that it's like the proverbial "canary in a coal mine." It instantly tells me that the health of the mount is good, and probably even contributes to the health of the mount. (More on this below.) It tells me if the moisture is where I'd like it to be, and if the light is about right. Mycorrhyzal fungus prefers live moss, and this, of course, contributes to a healthy mount.

One problem I have with some of my mounts/baskets is a dark-colored fungus or mold that grows on the sphagnum. It's not particular malevolent, other than it speeds the decay of the sphagnum. I have seen plants very quickly improve after I clean up a mount and replace with fresh sphagnum. Anyway, if I have a healthy covering of sheet moss, it keeps the sphagnum underneath in good shape, and keeps the mount fungus/mold-free.

Now, what I just described is different than live sphagnum in a plastic pot. Living sphagnum needs pretty wet conditions, and this would not be a good thing unless you're growing disas or something. A pad of living sheet moss on top of the medium in your pot is different than living sphagnum.

So, I guess to sum up: in most cases, living sheet moss = good, or at least, "OK." Living sphagnum = probably not "OK."

-Bruce

Kevin, some of my plants in plastic and sphag have had moss on top w/ no apparent damage, but I waited till the moss was bone dry before watering.

The commercial grower from whom I bought the Phrag kovachii said moss growing on top of the diatomite - in plastic pot - is a very good sign and gave me a couple of plugs for my pot.

All that said, maybe your Den mon will recover in sphag & clay w/ no moss.

Whitecat8

I love it, and to me, it is a good sign of growth, fresh medium, good humidity...
I would love to get a hold of live sphag for Cochleanthes and Zygos

Olya

These are interesting thoughts. Thank you.

I would love to see this stuff on my mounts. In that kind of situation, I can't possibly see any problem with its presence. In fact, I'm sure it would provide a healthier environment for the plant. So far none to be found. (sigh)

As I mentioned, it's just that darned combo of plastic and sphag that had me concerned. With the live moss on top, it almost seemed like a cap on a bottle. In a way, I hope it grows back now that the plants are in clay. That wouldn't worry we since clay seems to suck the moisture out of sphag in a reasonable amount of time. You can always add more water, but it sure is hard to take it away.

I should probably just Google this, but doesn't sheet moss like this speed the decay of whatever it's growing on? Seems like I remember reading that somewhere.

K

Kev you've inspired me to do some experimentation. Mine is only in plastic pots too
{{gwi:154083}}

so I pulled some off
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...and stuck it behind a mount
{{gwi:154085}}

Lets see if it does anything
-Cal

Brilliant Calvin!! Why didn't I think of that?

(Am now running to orchid room to do the same)

K

I've found that live moss will grow on just about any horizontal surface that is covered with sphag and gets regular waterings. Pots of both plastic and clay will get it and cork mounts that are horizontal (rafts), if they have a layer of sphag for the moss to grow on. In my conditions, it really doesn't grow on bare cork or bare wood. This kind of moss can smother carnivorous plants and needs to be plucked often to avoid that. I like it on orchids. Bruce took the words right out of my fingers. It is a good canary.

When you get live moss in your pots and on your mounts, it will produce seeds. You can then reseed other pots and mounts with it. I love it.

Brooke

Live moss is ALWAYS a good thing, NEVER, EVER, EVER, remove it. It helps to create the micro-climate within the ot that the plant may need to grow and flourish....
Remember, they grow sybiotically in nature for a freason...

Hi
How do you tell one type of "moss" from another?? Since "moss" is by far the oldest terrestrial plant the have evolved into countless species If you think orchids have a lot of species check out moss sometime .Some can't even make up their mind if they are a moss or a fern or just plain mildew lol. For fun google "Lichen" some time
Give you a 100 bucks to positively identify onelol
When I went to Costa Rica and saw my first "wild "Cattleyas the first thing that hit me was the number of different kinds of plants living either touching,sprouting vining what have you nearby . I climbed a tree and counted 30 different kinds of plants that were NOT part of the Catt. Not a one of which I could identify as a species particularly the "mosses" lol The one thing I did not see is a Catt growing alone in fact was always the minor part of the group.
Did note that "green "plants nearby the Catt seemed healthier while brown and gray plants suggested the Catt was stressed if not downright unhealthy..
Not a single one of the orchids that I saw were growing anything like I grow them. Maybe mother nature made a mistake?? lol gary

Can we really say for certain that live moss is ALWAYS a good thing? Yes, I can see why it would be in nature, but we're growing orchids in a very unnatural way especially when they're in pots and sometimes plastic pots no less. (Talk about something unnatural!!)

I absolutely love the look of the stuff, but I still continue to wonder.

K

I generally encourage the moss, but I don't grow much potted in sphag. Doesn't seem to do any harm with well-draining bark mixes or on mounts.

A bit OT, but for mounted plants with sphag, that sphag will get ugly and become detrimental to the plant over a two or three-year period, just as it does in pots. If I see one of my mounties beginning to decline a bit and the sphag is old, I pick and poke out as much of the old moss as I can and replace it with fresh. Almost always, the plants perk up quickly and start to grow like little weeds again.

yeah, we can generally say tht live moss is always a good thing.
Remember, when growing in a pot or mount, we are creating a "habitat". The moss adds humidity and keeps it constant.

An orchid grower recently said something to me about moss along the lines that it can act as a buffer for fertilizer- that it absorbs the excess, protecting the orchid somewhat, and that it can retain some amount that is usable by an orchid when there is not enough in its environment.

My understanding is that as far as moisture goes, moss will rot very quickly under less than optimal conditions - it's very touchy - so it would seem to be a good sign that the substrate it's growing on is not too wet, and not too dry. Moss is not a vascular plant, and has no means of its own of transpiring moisture, so it depends directly on conditions in its environment. It's sort of analogous to cold-bloodedness.

Here is a link that might be useful: Poikilohydry