Sphagnum moss is a moss that forms in low nutrient, wet areas. As sphagnum grows, then begins a slow decomposition, it forms mats that sometimes reach hundreds of feet thick. You want this moss before it has started to decompose. If you're not confused yet: When it's suggested you use sphagnum moss as part of a potting mix, or in your case, an air-layer media, it's the long-fiber sphagnum moss that was originally live sphagnum moss that was harvested and dried - like the stuff in the paragraph above, before it begins to decompose. When we say, "Use sphagnum peat", we mean: Use the dried and partially decomposed product, not the long fibered stuff. What you want looks kind of like a nearly intact moss plant. The other looks like dry or dusty decomposing plant matter. You should be able to buy sphagnum moss at most big box stores in the potting medium section (in small bags). If you can't find it after another look, contact me off forum & I'll mail you some. ;o) Al

I was at Walmart yesterday, and FORGOT, so I'm gonna have to use what is left in the bottom of the bottle I have. Glad you found a SMALL bag of spaghnumumum moss. I went looking for a couple of bags. The garden area is a ghost town now. I looked around and asked, the guy pointed at this monstrous BLOCK. I said "WTF? Are you KIDDING me?" So I hauled this compressed monstrous huge heavy BAG brick block of this stuff and put it in the growing room. I'm gonna go put some cuttings up today after my coffee. Thinking I could have, ya know, 3 or 4 bags, instead, I have this monstrous block of the stuff, TIGHTLY packed. I'm scared to open it. Ya ever see what happens when you cut the string on a bail of hay? POOF! It's everywhere. I'm afraid I will suddenly have this explosion in there once I break the plastic.

Sphagnum peat, aka peat moss, is a common ingredient in many potting soils. Potting soils are really soil-less mixes of ingredients designed to accomodate the very specific needs of container grown plants. Peat moss tends to be very moisture retentive, generally of a very small particle size and quite acidic. For these reasons, it should be used sparingly in any potting/container mix. The primary concern of any potting mix is fast drainage and good aeration and too much peat in the mix compromises both of these issues. It is definitely NOT an ingredient I would include in a potting medium to be used for cacti or succulents. For the record, peat is the decomposed remains of various plant products - sedges, mosses (like sphagnum), reeds or assorted other bog loving plants. Sphagnum is a moss that is often used as a decorative item to top off planted containers or to line hanging baskets, etc. Sphagnum peat - or peat moss, as it is most commonly referred to - is the decomposed product, found widely in peat bogs in the upper northern hemisphere. Canada has the world's largest supply of sphagnum peat bogs.

Thanks @tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) for the clarification, very helpful as usual :) , thanks @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK, here in Germany the products are labelled differently indeed, as far as I know, there is the "Gartentorf" which mixed peat with some soil to be acidic , and then there is the "Schwarzetorf" which translates to black/dark peat which comes from the deepest layer of the bog, then there is the "Weißtorf" which translates to white peat, although the color is light brown, this is the top layer of the bog, where you can still recognize some plants remains, labeled most of the time as soil aeration products, and finally there is the "Moostorf" which the the sphagnum peat Moss, it is the hardest to find here, mostly imported and expensive, I am still trying to get some peat Moss for a reasonable price, else I am considering the white/brown peat, which also has high water retaining properties but on the down side a very fine structure I was mainly wondering about the high acidity and whether the peat moss in north America is treated to be pH-neutral (those products are available online), but now this is clarified, the lime is added to the mix to increase pH in the 5:1:1 ! Thanks, Fahmy