Pet moss #2

I found mini moss terrariums - so mini they're pendants! This is so awesome! An absolute must-make-have for my list of projects. I would buy one...but somehow I don't think I would get away with importing organic jewellery into Tassie, not that I even want to do that to our amazing environment! You can find this and more at WarmCountryMeadows.

I have been reading up on how to make terrariums, and I am suprised how much stuff people put in for the moss to grow on. Mine will be minus a few unsightly layers of dirt methinks. Mosses by their very nature have the ability to grow on substrates that have virtually no nutrients. That's why they can be found on rocks and in pavement in urban areas. They do looove water though. That's why they can be found in abundance in forests, especially rainforests and old forests. Keep them moist (but don't drown them) and you pretty much can't go wrong - plus, mosses are plants that can tolerate dessication. They can dry out and very happily stay that way for aages, and the next time they get wet they're all happy again.

That's why terrariums are such a neat idea, they only need to be sealed so that they retain water. Great for kids because they will rarely just die. They don't really even need regular sunlight. For example - I have had a small snap lock bag of moss in my fridge at home for about 4 months. Its still alive and well, and I haven't taken it out or given it any more water. It helps that the cold slows the metabolism (which is why its in the fridge - something I learnt about storing samples at uni), but I imagine it would also be doing well without being in the fridge! I also keep a sample of every moss in my study in a fold of paper in a cupboard. Nothing fancy. They've been that way for about a year now, but still, whenever I want to check a sample I just let it sit in water for a few minutes and its like I just collected it from the forest :) cool huh?!

Ok, ok, you may not share my fascination, but you have to admit - they're clever!