Moisture Retention Layer / Top Soil

[Potawatomi13]

Wouldn't filter out fertilizer would it?

No. Fert still seems to do job for trees. Each fertilizing moss turns brown. After couple days/watering begins to green again. Here(putty knife/spatula)we scrape off sidewalk in shady areas anywhere found. This kind normally fine "short" moss is kind to use. Sphagnum or dead moss cover etc can silt into and clog soil. Also does not need to be complete cover.

 

[just.wing.it]

You say it retains moisture well, does it wick moisture from the substrate below?

I dunno yet.

 

[just.wing.it]

You say it retains moisture well, does it wick moisture from the substrate below?

I thought about that...
Would sphagnum moss wick moisture up from soil below?...I don't think so...
I think that having something is better than nothing...
I'll see how my elm does this year, see how many roots fill the top of the soil.

 

[rockm]

Mizu goke--chopped sphagnum layer on newly-repotted trees.

I've done this for a few years now. works very well, especially with trees in fast draining soil like AK.
It can get nasty looking and bugs can get underneath, but it's not a permanent set up. Never meant to be. I have found more even root distribution the top layers of the pot than without such treatment.

https://yamadori.co.uk/category/fresh-sphagnum-moss/

 

[Anthony]

We have a moss that is sun immune.
Will dry during the day, but re-wets in the evening.

However even with wind and 45 to 55 % humidity the soil mix handles
moisture loss..
We also balance leaf mass to soil amount

Now the moss comes alive with the rain and can take over a pot and then
build upwards. The dead moss underneath starts to make soil [ compost ]
Causes problems for our will leaf ficus.

So I spent a few days with the others, removing moss completely.

Since we fertilise at 1/3 strength into moist soil, the moss suffers no damage.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[hemmy]

As far as I can tell, haydite (expanded shale) is just like Diatomaceous Earth, but I get a larger variety of particle size, than with DE...haydite is generally larger.
It also seems to have less dust than DE, when sifting.

Interesting, I would say expanded clay/shale (ECS) is more similar to scoria/pumice. They are all mined products so their attributes can vary substantially dependent on source and processing. From my research, DE, ECS, pumice/scoria all have high porosities, but ECS (particularly expanded shale) tend to have less interconnected porosity than the others. But I would still use it as a cheap aggregate for a nursery can mix.

And I also use grated spaghnum for substrate cover. I dislike grating it, dislike the look of it, and dislike how birds mess with it!

 

[hemmy]

In this neck of the woods the shale products available seem to break down quickly to very fine particles and interfere with drainage. Although many have tried, most have quit.

Hmmm, that sounds different than kiln expanded shale (haydite) or kiln expanded clay (Leca). They are fired hard and can be crushed but don’t realistically breakdown from water or freeze/thaw. Maybe it’s a different product or processed differently?

 

[Adamantium]

And I also use grated spaghnum for substrate cover. I dislike grating it, dislike the look of it, and dislike how birds mess with it!

Wait, so do you mean to say you *don't* use it?

 

[hemmy]

Wait, so do you mean to say you *don't* use it?

No, I DO use it. I just wanted to complain! Lol

I’ve also tried bark mulch/soil conditioner as a cover while on vacation with auto-watering. But it is messy and some was even hydrophobic.

 

[Giga]

minced sphagnum with moss spores - works perfectly

 

[River's Edge]

Hmmm, that sounds different than kiln expanded shale (haydite) or kiln expanded clay (Leca). They are fired hard and can be crushed but don’t realistically breakdown from water or freeze/thaw. Maybe it’s a different product or processed differently?

Probably is.

 

[namnhi]

I see a lot of people mentioned moss. I vaguely remember reading somewhere in this forum that @Walter Pall didn't think moss is a good idea.

 

[GrimLore]

I see a lot of people mentioned moss. I vaguely remember reading somewhere in this forum that @Walter Pall didn't think moss is a good idea.

Correct it is for show or pictures only

Nobody here mentioned more frequent watering...

Grimmy

 

[Soldano666]

35% chopped spagnum, 35% broken up live moss (try to remove as much dirt as possible) and 30% de, or somewhere around those percentages. You should have a nice bed of live moss by mid summer. At least around my parts it works well. No problem with birds either, but I chop up the spag pretty small. I've found just live moss by its self dries up pretty quick with inorganic soils, the spag helps it hold a little extra moisture. And the de helps it look tidier in the meantime

 

[Adamantium]

So are you growing that on it’s own, or do you pour that onto your trees?

 

[just.wing.it]

Correct it is for show or pictures only

Nobody here mentioned more frequent watering...

Grimmy

Really?
Because of the moss?
That defeats the whole purpose in my mind.

 

[M. Frary]

I see a lot of people mentioned moss. I vaguely remember reading somewhere in this forum that @Walter Pall didn't think moss is a good idea.

In order to keep the moss on your bonsai healthy you will probably be overwatering it.
The main reason is it hinders air flow through the pot.
Also massive doses of fertilizer turns moss into black sludge.

 

[M. Frary]

Nobody here mentioned more frequent watering...

So simple,yet so hard to figure out.

 

[Anthony]

Our moss response is simple, rain falls, it expand or rather colonises.
The fertilising, we do, does it no harm, no does it harm the pillbugs.

Normally we remove, or pop holes in it.

Plants are first sprinkled, with a fine watering can rose, left for
five minutes, second pass is rapidly absorbed.

And yes, you only use moss for shows.
With our moss producing compost, soil can stay too wet.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[sorce]

cotton cloth

This is THE simplest most effective solution IMO.

Hell, if one needed to get fancy.....

You could cut 2 peices of that basket material to the exact shape of the top...left and right side with the base notch...
Wrap the cloth on tidy like....
And grow moss on the cloth..

Just pop it on then for show time.

Leave it off for heavy fert regime.

I really gotta purposefully repurpose some old white tees this year.
If at least to keep the soil from getting algaeified.

I got one ficus inside in a glass dish that I haphazardly threw a cloth over the "out of basket from in the ground" roots and it is friggin wonderful.

T-shirts +6

Sorce