Dennis I like the looks of this stuff . I have the Mosser and find it hard to extract with some of the finer roots- I hate to lose any roots . With my 60+yr old hands and having carpal tunnel for years , I don't have the dexterity I used to . I'm going to order some to try it .

Pattee,

I don't even bother extracting the moss.  I just plant the roots with it clinging to it.  So far, no problems!

Suzi

This is the stuff I get at Lowes.  The HD here at least only has the bad stuff.



It turns into this:

Bob, that is the decent stuff I use. it is fluffy and spongy. I used the Mosser Lee once and it killed the roots of orchids I used it with, it does not have the same healthy smell / look. They are about the same proce so it is a no brainer.

I root my cuttings in clear cups with this Better Gro stuff, and it is the best thing I tried.

Suzi , I have left some on when repotting- guess I was being too nosy and wanted to see all the roots LOL! I do find the Mosser's  a bit dirty with lots of fine material and the type Dennis uses definitely looks cleaner . I'd like to compare the 2 . Wish I had seen the "Amazon" type when I had orchids way back then !!

I shopped for it today. I found some from Chile and it is green like a evergreen juniper color. Anyone ever used that?

I guess I looked around at enough of it this morning that the ads I'm seeing when I travel the net are now for sphagnum moss, lol.

I just spray mine with mist and bunch it up.  It's not wet.  Just moist  There is a lot of air between the strands of moss, so the cuttings get both air and dampness. 

Suzi

You do have to be careful even with the good stuff.  If you pour water on a clump of it it will hold water and not let air in.I used to use it at the bottom of my baggies but the weight of the material above compressed it enough so it would be just like a pool of water and no air got in.

Suzi,
Thank you for the timely post.  I just picked up two bricks of sphagnum moss (Tropical Forest  Brand) from my local garden center in the orchid/ bonsai section. Looks very clean!

The lady at the store said that it is very acidic and wanted to make sure that I added lime. I explained that it was for starting fig cuttings and was not being used for a growing medium.  She thought that was pretty cool and wanted to know more.

Dennis, thanks for the tip. I ordered me some of that yesterday.

If you are in the Toronto, Ontario area and have difficulty finding them.

I have bought the long fiber ones in orchid society meetings or agricultural fairs.

http://www.soos.ca/

Well, at first I thought you were all a little hard on MosserLee.  I bought a bag of it at HD since the Better Gro orchid moss actually looked worse.  2/3 of the way through the MosserLee bag and it looks like garbage. Really, I think street sweepings would be cleaner.  I'm going to try the type snaglpus provided the link for.

I grew up in southeastern MA and the swamp bogs tend to have large areas of real Sphagnum Moss so I gather several bags of it each year.  If left undisturbed for years, the bog beneath is made of fine layers of partially composted fibers and the living moss above is the "long fiber" stuff.  When I visit my sister I usually take a walk into the swamp and I take both types and steam sterilize.  the fine stuff is good for orchids and rooting african violets. I usually have enough to do any fig work I have where I use it for rooting rare ones where every cutting matters, and also use it for making soil mixtures for first year plants. I perfer getting the smelling swamp stuff so i can gather the texture and lower layers and separate the types for my needs.

Wow Jack!  You get your own from a real bog!  How cool is that!  I don't think we have bogs here in Southern California.  But we do have Amazon and the big box stores.  I guess that will just have to do!  Thanks for sharing that neat story!

Suzi

Sphagnum moss is my go-to when I'm amending my soil, it's such a succulent green plant that keeps the soil of all my home plants cool and moist. I prefer to buy moss in bulk from a supplier based in Oregon, where the moss is richest, instead of expensive name-brand moss.