Rambling About Algae

[bekko]

[quote=I can't grow the darn stuff inside or out.[/QUOTE]Dick, you ever try the trick of mixing moss in a blender with unpasturized milk or cultured yogurt and painting it on the trunk and/or soil. Can't remember why the milk/yogurt microbes promote moss growth, but it worked on our waterfall rocks.

Mike T., I hope you are listening to this stuff about innoculating and promoting growth of hair algae.

steve hopkins

[MikeM]

True mosses are unable to contend with high levels of nitrogen and other nutrients. They are evolved to thrive in low nutrient micro-environments where other plants cannot. ... such as on rocks, tree trunks and weathered, packed soils. However, they require nearly constant moist conditions. As a result they are found in shade, although many species are capable of thriving in sun if the moisture can be controlled to be constant w/o being so wet as to encourage algal growth. [There are many species, so there are exceptions to these general staements!] The lactic bacteria seem to be effective in causing slow release of nutrient from the substrate, with the acids produced eroding rock substrate surfaces just enough to create a surface that will hold a layer of moisture. This allows the spores an opporunity. Success remains dependent on maintaining moisture and not exposing the moss to strong nutrient. The buttermilk/yogurt/milk & vinegar technique works best on limestones and brick, as opposed to the hard surfaces of, say, granite.

Dick: Some years ago when there were bonsai folks active in the bromeliad society, I was told that they could not get moss to grow unless they withheld fertilizer. Rather than applying Peters liquid (the favorite around here) to the surface, they would use it diluted to one-quarter label directions and place in a shallow tray, on which the bonsai tree would be placed to absorb the nutrient solution from the bottom. In this way, no fertilizer was placed on the surface of the moss. The bonsai would be watered by misting several times per day. I have been told that soft water w/o chlorine is best, but I've never gotten into it enough to know if there is any truth in it. The chlorine in my irrigation water certainly does not harm moss growing in the garden, and that water is definitely hard! ... I always seem to get moss where I cannot see it w/o making an effort, or on walk areas where it causes slipping, but almost never where I'd like it to be.

A moss covered rock beside a trickle of water. A small fern nearby. The trickle drips into a pond where a brown carp rises to the surface. Morning light reflects in dew. Nature in harmony.

[dick benbow]

Thanks Mike and Bekko for your thoughts and inputs. interesting subject. if only we had more time for study and devotion to learning things. other than the lawn, the house, the job! (lol)