Any US Pacific NW growers out there? Anyone know if some of our local and abundant mosses may be suitable for orchid growth? I have heard we have a local sphagnum that grows and just curious if I use that...of course then I would have to know which moss in the yard it is :D ! TIA
Lorna

Hey Lorna,

I live in Colorado at the moment, but I used to live up north of Seattle a bit. In my back yard, I had moss that was knee deep (well, ok, ankle deep then). It grows so quickly that it takes over the lawn if you're not vigilant.

In any case, I collected a ton of it about a year ago when I went back to visit my parents for a couple of weeks, and it dried out very nicely, and seems to be just like sphagnum. I haven't actually used any for my orchids, though, mostly because I'm afraid of what chemicals my dad may have put on it either to try to kill it, or fertilizing the lawn. Could be anything :)

Anyway, if anyone else has any experience with local mosses, I'd be interested to know too.

Matt

I've been told it is this kind of regular old woods moss that Lance Birk prescribes in the mix in his book.

I can tell that I've got 3 or my types of moss growing in many of my pots or mounts. Most came in with a pleurothallid or Bulbophylum purchase from Andy's orchids. Some I found locally in the woods. But once started it grows well, and I often transplant it around to various pots and baskets. If you maintain a high air humidity it does very well. It especially loves my Phrag pots since they tend to stay wetter than the paphs.