Moss grows from spores and is in that respect different from plants. I started the moss in my tank by removing moss from some of my orchid pots, moss had naturally grown on top of the sphagnum moss growing medium. Those small plugs of moss almost completely covered the floor of the tank in about six months and have since begun to reproduce sexually as well as vegetativly. Others have collected small samples of wild moss and introduced it into their tanks, just remember to take only a small amount and that it must be found growing in conditions similar to ones you are going to provide in the terrarium.

I have noticed moss for sale in pet stores before but I have never purchased it, I would wonder if it would actually come back to life or not. One thing that is certain is that you need a fair amount of light to grow moss, unless you can find a species that does well in deep shade. There are plants that closely resemble moss that may work just as well, java moss is a good example and is found easily in aquarium stores.

Here is a link that might be useful: life cycle of moss

Scotch moss (like irish moss) is a flowering plant: Sagina subulata or Sagina apetala. Personally I spend a lot of time trying to get rid of it, as it is very invasive and will cover everything. You can buy it, or you can ask someone with a greenhouse for some, as no doubt they too will be frantically pulling it out of their pots :) In melbourne it's often found growing in gaps in the footpath.

Java moss is indeed a moss, from the Hypnaceae, or plait moss family. Some mosses require lots of light, but generally mosses grow in their prefered conditions, so if you can match the light of the original location, your moss will hopefully grow well. Some mosses are substrate specific - they won't grow on the wrong type of soil.

Good evening Favorite_Kitty,
I bought 7,000 Irish Moss (really this type is not a moss at all) seeds on ebay to plant around my rock waterfall pond this Spring. Boy! those seeds are tiny. I also bought some dry moss sheets from a local arts & craft store called Hobby Lobby. Honestly this moss is holding up great as a ground cover for my tiny terrarium. I just cut the moss out, to the amount I want and lay it on top of soil. Before I did that, I mist both sides of the moss. I also have Java Moss which I was told only grows inside water with med. light., used for aquariums.
Theresa

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1269092}}

Good evening Favorite_Kitty,
I bought 7,000 Irish Moss (really this type is not a moss at all) seeds on ebay to plant around my rock waterfall pond this Spring. Boy! those seeds are tiny. I also bought some dry moss sheets from a local arts & craft store called Hobby Lobby. Honestly this moss is holding up great as a ground cover for my tiny terrarium. I just cut the moss out, to the amount I want and lay it on top of soil. Before I did that, I mist both sides of the moss. I also have Java Moss which I was told only grows inside water with med. light., used for aquariums.
Theresa

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1269092}}

The sheet moss sold in pet stores does not come back to life, in my experience. And while scotch moss is not really a moss, it is a very pretty little groundcover that gets white flowers in the spring, and it might work in a terrarium, as long as it doesn't need a dormancy period. Check which zone it's hardy to (the highest zone). If it's zone 10 or more, it should do well in a terrarium. Selaginella is another good plant that isn't a true moss, if you get a species that tends to stay lower. Java moss doesn't actually need to be submerged under water, and it can take nearly all light levels (except for very low). And actually, if you are setting up a PDF tank, java moss is ideal, because PDFs require such high humidity, the java moss will be kept constantly moist (if you set up the tank properly), and will do very well, covering the land parts, and growing into the water parts as well.

Irish Moss or Scotch Moss
Hardiness Zone: 4 - 7
I can hardly wait to plant my Irish Moss around my pond. I too think it is very pretty. Not sure if it would do well in a terrarium. The sheet moss, may be completely dead but it does look nice and green. It really gives your terrarium and potted plants a nice effect. A saleslady told me to put milk on it and it would stay green. I haven't done that since I had a hard time believing that.
Theresa

Theresa:
I pick moss from my back yard and grow it on a pot for future use in a terrarium, that way I know is free of insects. You can find moss anywhere's humid.
I came up with a different idea for growing moss 'outside' a pot. First, cut out a firm round plastic lead, make 2 holes, and put a wire thru it and thru the bottom hole of a clay pot (which now is the top), filled with sphagnum moss inside, with a layer outside (I soaked it overnight)then wrapped it with a plastic net. Added the moss, and another plastic net (the net they use on cherry trees to protect fruit from birds). I also added some small ferns, and to keep it moist I water the inside sphagnum moss and also spray the outside. It sounds difficult, but is very easy. You can put it on a humidity tray (with pebbles and water)Here is a pic of mine, it's been about a year now, (I've been "harvesting" always leaving some to regrow)
The plastic at the bottom is to keep the sphagnum moss from coming out and the wire so you can pick the pot up without damaging the moss.
Hope this helps! Here's a picture to give you a better idea.
Ana :)

Here is a link that might be useful: growing moss

Ana that looks amazing, I can just imagine what it will look like when the moss totally covers the surface. I think I am going to have to give this one a try. I have some small maidenhair ferns, some Phlebodium aureum, as well as some unknown species that keep popping up in my Bulbophyllum pots.
I thought about something similar before, more of a cylinder filled with sphagnum moss that was anchored in a large pot full of growing medium. I think I saw it in an old book on houseplants.

That is an excellent idea and I think to make a cylinder out of chiken wire, lined with plastic mosquito screen filled with sphagnum moss, rolled in a cylinder and probably, close the ends with some wire, then make holes and plant small ferns, that would look great..... also, you can bend the cylinder into a circle, an S or a T..... ohhh boy, don't get me going! LOL
Ana :)

The sheet moss that I got didn't stay green, it turned brown and looked very much dead after about two weeks. So if your sheet moss still looks green, then it's been dyed, and I would wonder about the toxicity of the dye in a terrarium that would contain animals.

Don't put milk on moss or sagina (irish, french, italian, scotch, whiskey, tequila moss). It will just make it smelly and increase the chance of fungal attack.

The milk trick is for priming masonry for real moss to grow.

Well ladybug you could go into business with all your talents with plants. Amazing, beautiful and again thank you. How long have you been doing this? I am such a kintergarten gardner.
My sheet moss is still green but maybe dead and dyed green. It looks great for decoration. I have a lot of real live growing moss in my wooded forest backyard. Dah! I should dig some up and go from there. Ha! In the summer my backyard in KY has high humidty, insects that drain your blood and beautiful wild plants. I have no idea what these plants are except the ones I transplanted into my pond planter, and reseach with the local nursery. These wild plants that i picked were Christmas Ferns, Wild Violets and 2 baby Pine trees. Because they are naturaly from my area, they are naturally easy to care for and doing great. Cheap and easy.
Theresa