Hi all I am trying for the first time to root with long fiber Spaghnum moss, I bought a brick of dried moss and sliced a piece off, wet it, wrung it out and chopped it in the food processor. I then dipped some cuttings in dip n' grow and placed them in baggies at the bottom of the bag surrounded by the moss. The baggies went into my dark boiler room where it is 75-80 F. My question is, have I done anything wrong so far, or have I omitted any important steps here? Thank you all for any advice.


Rafael

Rafael,
Sounds like you've got them well taken care of & good use of the Food Processor!
I'd make sure there is barely any moisture left in that moss and also that they aren't getting cooked too quickly at the 80 degree end of things.
If all goes well, tomorrow you should open it up and see this:



OK, OK, maybe not that soon! :)
But you'll be surprised how quickly they start rooting when everything is "just right" (The Goldilocks Zone)
Have Fun & please keep us updated,

Rafael,
Usually the long fibered sphagnum moss is processed as little as possible. Its left "long" and fluffed to surround the cuttings. Your method should work as long as there is a lot of air spaces in the chopped sphagnum moss and it is barely damp to the touch. Good Luck.
 
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When you say "wet" the moss it sounds like you are dipping it in water and squeezing the excess out.  This is what I did the first time used spanghum moss but since then I have been concerned that I would end up with too much water in the moss.  So what I do now is add a small handful of dry moss to a gallon ziplock bag, use a spray bottle to add moisture to the moss, add more dry moss, spray again, and so on.  Once the appropriate amount of moss is in the bag (or plastic container) I then mix it around by hand and observe (feel) the moisture content.  More water is sprayed on if needed then the cuttings are added.  I usually undershoot the amount of water needed and then spray a bit more the next day.  It doesn't hurt if the moss starts out a little on the dry side.  You can always add more water later but it is harder to take the moisture away.  Like ascpete, I don't chop the moss but use it in its natural state.  This works for me but this doesn't mean other approaches won't work too.

The more natural the state of the moss, the larger the air spaces between the fibers will be. Wet your moss by whatever method you like, but make sure it is wrung out very well. Remember you are looking for humidity, not moisture.

I always keep the moss long. I believe it allows more air for the roots. Its been very successful for me. Humidity is the key.

...On the other hand, I've found that the long fibers get tangled up in the roots more easily, and you're more likely to cause damage to the roots (which are very fragile at this stage) when moving them to cups/pots.  I've never minced the moss, but I did cut it into smaller lengths and didn't seem to have too much trouble with compaction or lack of air space.
  This all presumes that you want to pull off the moss before moving to cups/pots.  I have assumed that it is a good idea, else the moss will start acting like a sponge and keeping too much water right next to the root (leading to rot.)  I'd love to hear other opinions from those with more experience.
Jim

Jim,
Yes, the moss should always be removed from around the roots. Usually the best procedure IMO, is to pot up the cuttings as soon as they start to produce roots in the moss (1/4 to 1/2 inch long). The picture in Post #3 is of a test batch of hormone treated cuttings at around 21 days. It becomes more difficult to untangle once the roots get longer, but with hormone treatement the roots are not as fragile, and less are damage during the potting procedure.

In this picture the cutting from the same batch as Post #3 is actually standing on its roots (@ 21 days).

I like to use a small manicuring scissors to cut excess moss that doesn't want to untangle with a slight tug. I know some people leave the moss or even like the excess moss; but for me moss in the cup just causes problems by holding too much water and makes things soggy. But I have a slightly different approach to the initial cupping stage, which works for me.

I have had a significant amount of loss (I am assuming) due to excess moss in the potting up phase. I prefer to pot up as soon as possible, when the roots are 1/4 - 1/2" long. If you wait much longer it is difficult to remove the moss. I have found that I can spin them like a dog shaking off excess water after a bath. This removes most of the moss, and with a little patience I can remove most of it without too much damage to the roots. It's better (IMO) to break roots to get the moss off, then to leave it to rot the healthy roots.

First of all, thanks to all who have responded, the breadth of information to chew on here is truly helpful.

Rewton and Adelmanto-I dig your point about humidity, not wetness. I noticed some of the baggies contain moss that is still a bit wet-can I air dry it in a bowl instead of trying to wring is out? I get the feeling the less my hands touch the moss the better (yesterday I had disposable gloves on).

Thank you again.

Just wash your hands with soap and water. Sphagnum has antimicrobial properties naturally, that's one reason it is a good choice for rooting.

Thx Calvin!

Pete am still shovelling out snow will get you a detailed response later today, for now a pic of molded col de dame cutting in moss.

In any event a member has recommended I bathe my cuttings in a fungicide called Chinol (8-Hydroxyquinoline) he says it works very well for him.

Pete

To answer your questions. The rotted cutting in the bubbler was because I left the cutting too deep in the water. Also, the cuttings may have been poorly preserved, they spent a long time in transit.

As for the moldy cutting, that stayed in the chopped long fiber spaghnum, I tried to dry it out and fluff it, but the ziploc turned into a hive of mold. The ambient temperature in the basement is around 71 F. The cuttings were stored on a t-shirt (buffer) right over the hydroponic lights to take advantage of the radiating heat emanating from the light bulbs, sort of like a heat mat I thought. The cuttings were in the baggie about a week, before I discovered how bad it was in there. There was some condensation on the upward facing section of the ziploc bag. I have given up on the moldy cutting because it had previously been in the bubbler and I cut off the rotting portion to save the cutting (it was a very long cutting). If I were to try no chopping, would I just dip the spaghnum block straight into water and pick off fibers directly from the block, squeezing them out?

Thank you for your suggestions, I await your thoughts. I also bought a system similar to root riot but I am thinking of returning it and just going with paper towels.

Rafaelissimmo,
Its possible the bubbler may work if they are kept completely out of the liquid. Fig cuttings need humidity (85%-90% RH) and warmth (72-78 degF) to develop healthy roots quickly.

If you measure the temperature on top of the T-shirt, its probably very warm, and it was acting like a heat mat and cooking the cuttings.

a large piece of long fibered moss is broken off the brick and soaked in a basin of water, it will expand, its then sqeezed completely dry, with as much force as you can muster. The moss is then fluffed up, the cuttings are then layered in the container or bag completely surrounded by the moss. This procedure has been documented in the forum archives and I have an over 98% rooting success rate following those documented procedures with almost 700 cuttings both with and without hormone treatment.

The Rootriot system works not because of the cubes, but because of the hormone. I Used a coconut coir seed starting mix in seedling plug trays and achieved an almost 100% rooting success rate for almost 400 hormone treated cuttings, following a simple daily misting procedure to maintain the 85%-90% Humidity while maintaining 72 deg F - 78 deg F and it was documented.

If you have had success with the paper towel method, my recommendation would then be to continue using it, since you have already mastered the required procedures.

Good luck.

<edit> Most of the cuttings were used in experiments designed for either rooting or growing fig cuttings. The experiments were designed to test the different procedures and mix recipes used and documented in the archives.

here I attached my experienced used sphagnum moss, the root more after 7 days 
 

Regard

Aik Djogja

Jon

Thank you for the pictures, I ordered the Chinosol today, and hope to begin rooting soon. Good luck with the Preto!