How to grow moss at home. Video: creating a living wall from moss

How to grow moss at home? Just don't ask why. And don’t say that it grows well outside. Outdoors - not in a pot on the windowsill.

First, grow it in a large round aquarium with the appropriate surroundings. Admire it. Then we’ll see why, or go nuts, give me two!

Moreover, where it grows itself, let it be there. But at home you still need to work hard to grow something like this. Strict regulations on humidity and amount of light will not allow you to stuff a piece of moss from the forest into a jar and sit and wait for a beautiful picture.

So. We plant moss at home. Stop. How do we plant? Neither species has roots or seeds. How will we reproduce? Disputes, just like in nature. And where can I get them? You can’t wander around with a microscope in search.

It's actually simple. Go for a walk. We don't go into the forest. Forest moss that grows on trees is very aggressive and shaggy. Instead of an alpine idyll, you will get the ruins of a count after a bombing. We need the kind of moss that grows on stones, snags, and old walls. Even just from the shaded side of buildings.

Let's pinch ourselves a little. You can simply remove the plate. Who writes there: be careful not to damage the roots? You would like a bonus. Nobel Prize. After all, for the first time in millions of years, moss roots were discovered!

And we calmly stomp home. By the way, in nature, the time for spores to ripen is approximately July and August.

Vegetable cocktail

If you simply put the plant plate on the bottom of the aquarium, it will dry out. And you won’t get a beautiful landscape. So we'll make a cocktail. No, not for drinking. For lubricating surfaces. To prepare it you only need a blender. Here are some recipes:

  • 100 g moss, 2 tbsp. l. sour cream, 200 ml of clean water.
  • 200 g of plant, 400 ml of any beer, 1 tbsp. l. granulated sugar.
  • 1 tbsp. moss, 2 aspirin tablets, 2 tbsp. plain water.
  • 200 g plant, 200 ml kefir, 300 ml water, 1 tsp. Sahara.

We take ingredients from any recipe. Well, those that are at hand. Together and cheerfully we put it in a bowl or jug. Then vigorously grind with a blender. Let me warn you right away: the smells of cocktails using dairy products are disgusting. Well, nothing. Beauty always requires...

Applying the composition

Of course, even before preparing this wonderful liquid, we placed pebbles inside the aquarium. They put up an artificial lock and put some old snags on it. Sand was added to the bottom and a little fine gravel was poured. Didn't it turn out lovely? But something is missing.

What did the famous cartoon character say? It won't be enough. Not enough! Let's add aesthetics. By the way, they have already sniffed the stench from the jug. Now take the old brush. We dip it well in the cocktail and start writing. Over the stones, over the castle, over the snags. We smear from the heart, we don’t regret it. You can even splash a little.

What remains we carry to backyard. There we select the darkest and dampest corner. And we paint directly on the walls with slurry. Everything that came to mind. At least your autograph. Good results are obtained when drawing through a stencil. Guests will wonder for a long time how the moss could grow so much. Naturally, keep them in the dark until the last minute. After all, this is your exclusive!

Of course, then the moss will fill all the free space. But even just fluffy soft wall attracts the eye. And don’t be afraid to damage buildings. Moss does not destroy the base, but only covers it, like a carpet.

The eerie color mixture is over. But our business is not there yet. Let's move on to the next stage.

Care after sowing

Yes Yes. Our smearing of the slurry is scientifically called spore sowing. And if there is sowing, then there must be a harvest! And what else is required to get it? That's right - care.

Basically, at home it involves periodically moistening the moss and dragging the aquarium into the sun, then back. Just for two hours, early in the morning, but definitely every day. Otherwise, our pet will not have that desired juicy green shade. The rest of the time it can be kept shaded. But not quite in the back of the room. It's better somewhere near a window, but with shelter.

About hydration. We got up in the morning and looked at the glass. Is there condensation? This means there is no need to water today. Is the glass completely dry? We stomp behind the spray bottle. By the way, the water in it is exclusively melted. Or filtered. Otherwise, an ugly one will appear on the moss white coating. We don't need it at all.

Why a spray bottle and not a watering can. Because moss drinks from the surface of the body. He has no roots. Therefore, we spray the plant a little. Carefully, without fanaticism. Overwatering threatens darkening and death. Bald spots and mold will appear. All the beauty is down the drain.

Of course, these procedures are carried out only after you see the result of your liquid painting. This usually occurs within about 10 days. Until this point, it is better to simply cover the aquarium with a piece of glass or thick film. Do not wear it in the sun during this period! But be sure to ventilate once a day.

Then, after the microsystem has adjusted its climate, all you have to do is admire the mini-alpine lawn on your table.

  1. Instead of an aquarium, you can take a wide bottle. And even with a traffic jam. There is a known case when one man planted moss in such a bottle and watered it. I closed it with a cork and never opened it again. This was over 40 years ago. And the microsystem is still alive today. With its own climate, humidity level and, of course, moss. Try again!
  2. By the way, the scientific world still does not know of pests and diseases that would like moss. Except that mold fungi sometimes taste it. And even then, only after severe waterlogging.
  3. Do not keep your plantings near the battery central heating. Too dry air is detrimental to moss.
  4. The rougher the stones in your composition, the easier it will be for the plant to stick to them. Smooth pebbles will remain bald. By the way, they can be perfectly replaced with broken shards from ceramic pots. Just without glazing.

How to grow moss at home? It's very simple and fun. It's even fun at times. It doesn't require much effort and material costs. Well, maybe for the purchase of an aquarium.

Video: creating a living wall from moss

These ancient land plants are very unpretentious. For comfortable growth they need a lot of moisture and some light. And to the question: is it possible to grow moss in an apartment, the answer will be unequivocal - it is possible, and with great success.

How to grow moss at home?

As you know, mosses have no roots, that's all nutrients they receive by absorbing moisture over their entire surface. Caring for moss is not at all difficult, but with their help you can create amazing living compositions, mini-gardens, and forest landscapes.

You can grow mosses in any containers, but they look most impressive inside transparent glass bowls, vases, or in small ones.

Growing moss inside a vase at home

So, to grow moss in a jar, vase or other container, you need to pour a layer of small pebbles or expanded clay at the bottom. This is necessary to prevent moisture stagnation. The next layer is granular carbon. Only after this the substrate is poured.

It's time to start landscape design. It is not necessary to strive for a flat surface - hills and depressions will only add naturalism. You can add pieces of wood, pebbles, and plant moisture-loving plants to make the composition look like a real forest landscape.

The moss itself can be taken from the forest by cutting it along with the turf. Or you can buy it in a specialized store. In the first days after planting, the pads need to be sprayed daily. After the end of the adaptation period, watering should be reduced so as not to cause an excess of moisture. It is optimal to moisten the moss once every 3-5 days.

As you can see, growing moss at home is not at all difficult. Very soon after planting, the moss will begin to grow. For normal development, bryophytes need to be provided with access to cool fresh air and partial lighting. It is enough to expose them to the morning sun for 2-3 hours. This lighting makes the color of the moss more intense and beautiful.

Not everyone likes to tinker with indoor plants. Not everyone has a talent for this, and the flowers die before they have time to take root. However, without greenery, the window sills look lonely and the interior looks boring. And if you share this point of view, you should find out how to grow moss at home. It does not cause allergies, is very unpretentious, resistant to the vast majority of diseases and pests, and does not require fertilizers, pruning or hilling. You can also create wonderful mini-landscapes and amazing compositions with it.

How to grow moss at home: basic principles

Before you start breeding mosses, you need to understand their needs and needs. First, mosses growing on trees will not survive on rock or soil, and vice versa. So you need to place the brought “shred” on a suitable base.

Secondly, mosses need diffused and indirect light. If the sun shines on them only in the mornings or evenings, the mosses will delight you with their bright colors. But the midday rays will make the moss pale, dull, and may even completely destroy it.

Thirdly, the source of planting material is important. Before asking yourself how to grow moss at home, ask specialty stores if they sell it. This way you will definitely be dealing with healthy specimens and will not infect any existing plants at home. If there is no moss on sale, go to the forest. Just clearly remember what came from where, and remove the moss with a layer of turf.

Landing

It must be taken as seriously as possible, since it is unrealistic to grow moss at home that was initially placed incorrectly. Any vessel can be used for plantation. But it will look most impressive in a glass bowl, rounded vase or spherical aquarium. In addition, it is easier to create and maintain the desired microclimate in such containers.

To make moss feel comfortable at home, small expanded clay or washed pebbles are poured into the bottom of the vessel. Granulated coal is placed on top of the drainage, and the substrate is placed on it. For soil, take one that is intended for epiphytes and marsh plants, then the mosses will settle in faster. A landscape is formed on the ground and moss is laid out, with light pressure from above. After the landscape is formed, it is watered abundantly to stimulate survival.

Care

The moss composition does not require special attention. But only after the “greenery” takes root. Therefore, the main subtlety of how to grow sphagnum moss at home is to provide it with abundant moisture at first, and then maintain this at a constant average level. The pads should be sprayed daily for a week or two, while monitoring to ensure there is no flooding effect. Condensation should form on the walls of the vessel only in the morning. If the moss covering begins to darken, it means that the intensity of watering needs to be reduced. When the mosses begin to grow, spraying is carried out less frequently, once every three or even five days.

Growing moss at home may also involve fighting mold at the first stage. It usually appears if the “rugs” were not brought from the store. In this case, problem areas are treated with phytosporin. Although some moss growers believe that the plantings themselves will cope with this scourge. But it seems to us that it is better to help them: the moss is weakened until it fully adapts, and it does not need additional stress and load.

If you created an installation in an open flowerpot, then you need to spray the moss daily. Otherwise, it will quickly dry out and lose its decorative effect.

Moss in the garden

The situation is much simpler with the cultural cultivation of moss cover on outdoors. Here you don’t have to painstakingly create the necessary conditions and plant pads. You need to get a sufficient piece of moss, healthy, without dried or suspicious areas. Two glasses of water and milk are loaded into the blender, plus extraction from the forest. Having obtained a cocktail consistency, you “paint” the intended area with this composition. Thanks to milk, moss takes root over the entire treated surface with a probability of 90-95 percent.

With some hard work and expressed artistic talent, your fence, wall or house can become a real work of art. Your immediate task will only include regular watering of the “picture” until the moss is firmly established in the territory provided to it.

Mosses are common on all continents, right up to Antarctica. These green carpets can be found on stones, trees, and any soil, which is what landscape designers are interested in. The plant can fit perfectly into the garden decor or decorate a room with an unusual composition. Let's look at the features of growing moss in this article.

Fundamental Principles

Mosses, or bryophytes, are those without root and vascular system higher plants. They appeared more than 400 million years ago; they do not grow only in deserts and semi-deserts due to the lack of water there. Accordingly, the first condition for growing a plant is sufficient quantity moisture. Water also serves as a source of nutrition for him.

The second condition for the development of bryophyte is the absence of direct sun rays: under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, the plant loses its color and gets burned.

Bryophytes, as has been said, do not have roots and reproduce like mushrooms by means of spores. The approximate time for spores to ripen is late summer.

Did you know? Interesting experiment carried out by scientists with a sample of bryophyte found frozen in Antarctica. Having defrosted the plant, it was placed in an incubator and, despite the fact that the sample, according to biologists, froze fifteen hundred years ago, it returned to life.

How to plant at home

Mosses have been used in design for a long time and in a variety of ways: they are grown for bonsai, used as a decorative substrate around other plants and indoor mini-gardens. Bryophyte can be grown in any container and on any surface. For indoor plantings You can use decorative glass bowls with a wide bottom and neck, small aquariums, florariums and containers, glass jars.
Buy planting material possible in garden store or a nursery, or you can dig it up in the forest.

Drainage in the form of small river pebbles or expanded clay is placed at the bottom of a selected container. The ideal soil for growing moss is coconut substrate for the following reasons:

  • it has neutral acidity;
  • it retains moisture well;
  • is natural and environmentally friendly;
  • it is a breathable material.

Important! When searching on your own, it is advisable to choose clean forests away from the road. It is better to collect the material itself from trees, since bacteria can be brought into the house with the soil.

We thoroughly moisten both the soil and the planting material, lay out the seedlings, slightly pressing them into the substrate. You can see the landing process in detail in the following video:

Care

In the first few days, seedlings should be sprayed with a spray bottle daily. The water must be clean: filtered, rain or melt. Regular tap water may give a white coating on the planting surface.

Did you know? Reindeer moss (Scandinavian moss), which is practically the only food for reindeer in winter, has healing properties. Usnic acid, recently isolated from the plant, is a strong antibiotic that, in minute doses, destroys entire colonies of pathogenic microorganisms.

When you see that the seedling has taken root and begins to grow, reduce watering to twice a week. The moss should be kept shaded, but in the morning when the sun appears, expose it to the rays for a couple of hours.

How to plant a plant on the site

On garden plots bryophytes serve not only decorative decoration, but also bring benefits:

  • in flooded areas absorb excess moisture;
  • on rocky soils they are used instead of a lawn.

How to grow on the ground

Let's look at the detailed steps for planting bryophytes:

  1. Prepare the area in advance: level and clear of weeds and plant debris.
  2. Bring the soil acidity level to neutral. Acidic soil is limed; aluminum sulfate is added to soil with a low acidity level (both components can be found in the store).
  3. Using a spray nozzle, generously moisten the prepared “bed.”
  4. The optimal planting method is to divide a larger piece of moss into small pieces and plant them at some distance from each other, pressing them into the soil.
  5. Water the moss daily after planting for two weeks. During this time, the seedlings adapt to the new location.

How to grow on rocks

The instructions given above will not work when planting on rocks, since this requires some kind of adhesion to the surface. Several mixtures can play this role - use the one that is more convenient for you:

  • 200 g/ml each of moss, kefir and water;
  • 200 g of moss, 0.4 l of beer, 20 g of sugar;
  • 200 g of moss, powder of two aspirin tablets, 200 ml of water.

Important! If the color of the plant is too dark, this means an excess of water; if it takes on a light green tint, there is not enough moisture.

Any of the three proposed mixtures must be crushed with a blender, then applied to required surface. Treated stones should be sprayed with water twice a week.

How to grow in a decorative pond

To grow a green carpet frame on a pond, you need to purchase water- and breathable geotextiles, which are used in landscape design. On the surface of the water, in the place where landscaping is planned, lay strips of fabric and pieces of moss on top of it. There is no need to water, since the fabric immediately absorbs and retains water, and accordingly, the seedlings are also sufficiently moisturized.