# Shortcuts to getting moss to cover driftwood?



## Sake (Mar 30, 2012)

Chop it up in a blender add a bit of buttermilk, or yogurt, paint it on with a brush. Do a dry start and watch it grow. Just have to mist it a few times a day and keep the tank covered to keep the humidity in. You can also add ferts to your mist water to help stuff grow a bit quicker.


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## jrh (Sep 9, 2007)

AWESOME!

Now I just need to get bit if different types. Does this work with fissidens? subwassertang?


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## Sake (Mar 30, 2012)

I haven't tried it with either of those, but xmas, java, and a few others it worked fine. Should do fine with fiss. Subwassertang..I dunno It does grow out of water, I know that for a fact I had it in my emersed set up. Not really sure if it would work on it or not. Try a little bit and see?


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## jrh (Sep 9, 2007)

Oooh, any idea if this would work with marimo balls too?


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## Sake (Mar 30, 2012)

Marimo balls are algae so I don't think it would work. Perhaps if you kept it moist enough, but I doubt it. Are you looking to make a carpet from the marimo or just wanting bigger balls?....Yeah you read that right lmao!


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## jrh (Sep 9, 2007)

Hahahahahaha, just carpets.

Are all aquatic mosses terresterial, but not the other way arround?

I found a site the sells mosses for terrariums where I could get a variety, but fat lot of good that does me when they just die underwater.


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## Sake (Mar 30, 2012)

A lot of the plants and mosses we use can grow submerged or emersed. Emersed is a great way to grow out your plants and moss quickly a lot of members use it.

As far as the marimo balls, I believe there was a guy who cut up some and used it as a carpet. Try to do a search and see if you can find out how he did it I just can't remember the details anymore.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

NO experince with this myself, but I've seen 2-3 tank jouransl on here where peopel tried the yogurt/blender method. I know at least 1 of them had a horrible mold issue with the paste after it was submerged, but don't know what caused it (could be the wood, or maybe the specific brand of yogurt?). I beleive the person said it(the mold) killed all the moss and other plants it touched/covered.
Hopefully you have good luck with the method.


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

brown cotton thread or superglue


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## Sake (Mar 30, 2012)

AquaAurora said:


> NO experince with this myself, but I've seen 2-3 tank jouransl on here where peopel tried the yogurt/blender method. I know at least 1 of them had a horrible mold issue with the paste after it was submerged, but don't know what caused it (could be the wood, or maybe the specific brand of yogurt?). I beleive the person said it(the mold) killed all the moss and other plants it touched/covered.
> Hopefully you have good luck with the method.


I seen that journal, and it's my opinion that he used too much yogurt. You're just wanting a thick paste mostly moss and a little bit of yogurt or buttermilk to make it stick and to feed the moss.


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## jrh (Sep 9, 2007)

oh, and someone said bit of surgar, and maybe some cornsyrup if you needed to get the consistency right.

I think I'll keep an inch or two of water in the bottom of the tank (to keep water wicking up the wood), apply the mosses, saran wrap it closed, and mist a few times a day.

Hopefully it's cool, might be a big stinky mess. Oh, someone said beer--- would that produce co2 in the sealed up environment?


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I know the yogurt method has become popular but if you are scared to try, you can just skip that. Just keep the wood moist. You may even want to keep the wood submerged for awhile so it's totally water logged. I find that even if the moss turns brown, it often comes back fine. This would be dry start as well.


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## Orangespotted (Oct 14, 2013)

Won't that smell... awful after a few days? Is it possible to grind up the moss in plain water or perhaps a diluted fertilizer first instead?


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

i suggest keeping it to 1 species on the wood. eventually, one will overtake the other and it might not be the one you want.


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## DTDPlanted (Apr 2, 2012)

Hey I plan on tying some flame moss to my driftwood, was thinking fishing line but I saw the brown cotton thread suggestion, winrar! I think the blender method will be faster for coverage but at least with attaching the moss there wont be any problems with too much yogurt/buttermilk/etc.


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

dtd, look into using superglue gel to attach moss.


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