How to make fluffy sphag granules

This may scare some people - so it is easier for me to make and give away rather than teach =p

Sphag courtesy of Dr SexaeButt. NZ sphag AAA grade. I prefer the "lousy" China sphag - easier to cut and remove the stems.

This is the first time I'm using AAA NZ moss to granulate - usually use the cheaper China moss. So far the results are good with the sundews and it is incorporated into the my paph potting mix as a binder for the fine powder ingredients to prevent rapid settling.

Pictures span 2 weeks +

Start with your dried sphagnum moss


Pick through the sphagnum moss to remove the exposed stems or litter such as pine needles or grass blades.


All the rough bits here. For Chinese moss it would be easier to pick through the moss when it is wet as the contaminants would be plumped up to pick.


Placed into a covered container for soaking.


I usually use distilled water. Not endorsing the brand - any distilled water will do. Tap water tends to be harder and contains a lot of minerals - may cause algae growth.


Add enough water to soak. Some would advise using just enough water to retain the tannins and other substances found within the sphag - good stuff for the plants being grown but I usually wash these out when growing terrestrials. Epiphytes would be a different matter to prevent algae growth.


Soak covered for a few days to make sure the moss is thoroughly hydrated.




Next step after soaking the moss, get ready cutters and a tray. Some people may want to cut the moss dry - but I find it more cumbersome as the moss will be moving about and flying everywhere as you cut it. Wet moss cut easier and stay in place better. On the other hand, easier to sieve out the fines (<1mm)

Protect your fingers if you do not want to introduce extra iron into your potting mix.


Grab a handful of your moss and squeeze out excess water.


Mould a handful of moss in your hand to facilitate cutting.


Snip away. I tried a blender in the past but ended up with either a slurry of mush or very unevenlyt cut up moss.




You will get fragments of moss like so:


A heap after 2 episodes of Jewel in the palace.


As the first cuts tend to be very coarse, go through another round of snipping if you want a finer mix for terrestrial potting or as a germination mix. The moss tips tend to be missed, so look out for those to cut.


After 4 episodes:


The water contains a lot of tannins (may inhibit growth of certain plants). Tannins may help prevent algae though.




Change water.


Add back the moss for rinsing




The cut up moss tend to be foamy as there are air pockets in the moss.


Gums start to come out as you cut and resoak - so the moss starts to stick - good for binding fine powders.


Geh-poh in my midst.


Soak the moss for another few days to allow further leeching.

The mixture will start to smell like molten plastic after a few days' soaking. Rinse and wash with a 1mm sieve. - No picture for the safety of the camera.

Remove the excess water. You may want to allow the moss to dry out partially before passing through another sieve - if not you'll end up with pushing out water instead of passing out moss.


Very lumpy moss - may cause compaction on watering. Air pockets are desired in most potting media.


When granulating, store the moss in a bag to prevent addition water loss just in case you can not complete sieving in time. Dry sieving of moss will end up with very fine flakes.


Use a 5mm sieve to sieve the wet moss


Use your hand to pass the moss through the sieve.


You will get granules like so:


At the same time, remove any missed out stems.


As the granules are fragile, move them about with a fine stiff stick. You may store it moist or air-dried until they become crispy and changed colour.


If you are using for binding purposes, store the moss while it is still moist.

If using as a straight media for sundews, you can store this dry. To reconstitute, add sufficient into a cover container, add a bit of water and shake. Repeat until it is moisten sufficiently. If too much water is added at one time, the dried moss will float up.

Alternatively, add sufficient water and allow the moss to rehydrate overnight - but there is a danger of adding too much water.

Green green Eulophia squalida

Got some bulbs from the Philippines through Anna. I love the shade of green the Filippino strains come in. They also have a lucious purple one that does not flower well here.

I've tried the Thai strains too but they kept producing leaves only =.= See the tallest chunk behind:



Managed to get the flowering sequence but the greatest fear I have now is that the plant is flowering so early before the leaves start growing that the plant may die a bit too soon before a new bulb is produced. May be I just take Anna's advice and force-feed during active growth ^^

A little extra

A signal to change potting mix for my Cynoches herrenhausum seedlings. Or should I carry out another randomised cultivation trial?

Dendrobium canaliculiatums - super dark purple lip!!

Got this from Murray the last last time he came down for the Johor show, when the rules for cross border transport of orchids were still not in place.

The plant initally rotted and died down to the backbulbs but it eventually survived.


It bloomed recently along with the Dendrobium canaliculatum that a friend got back from QLD for me.

These were night shots, so the colour isn't so shiok




Here's a day shot:



Here's the plant from QLD









Here's the contrast (Murray's plant on the right - see the lip colour of the beauty):

Blog response: Wenky's eye drop misadventure

http://wenkyland.blogspot.com/2007/04/amidst-swelling.html#comments

How to apply eye drops - the better way.

A lot of people apply eye drops using the following method:
1. Open eye
2. Drip the amount stipulated
3. Close eye
4. Shake head

- This will cause poor adsorption/absorption and some of it will run down into your mouth.

Proper methods should be used to instill eye drops especially those on anti - HTN and have glaucoma as well. I.e. Patients using timolol eye drops may experience drug-induced heart failure or orthostatic hypertension as the drug starts working systemically instead of just within the occular region.

The correct way:

1. Place thumb and index finger at the top of your nose.
2. Press down on lower eye lid and pull gently down
3. You may be able to see a tiny hole in the edge of the eye lid (in the mirror), that is a duct which you should press on if not the drug will flow into your mouth instead of staying on your eye.
4. Practice a few times holding down your lower eye lid to form a cup for holding your eye drop while maintaining a good amount of pressure on the duct.
5. When applying eye drops, always apply only 1 drop every 5 mins - this is the max amount your eye can take at one go.
6. Carefully drip one drop into the cup you form from the lower eye lid and slowly close your eye. If you close too fast, you may extert too much pressure, causing the eye drop to spill out.
7. Move your eyes through 6 cardinal points while closing your eye to distribute the eye drop evenly.

You may wish to do this one eye at a time and remember - only 1 drop per eye per 5 minutes while pressing on the duct.

With the eye drop flowing down the throat, the taste would be usually horrendous as the formula for eye drops do not allow flavourings or masking agents. =.=.

It STINKS

Initially thought that Brassavola scents were nice until my Little Stars start flowering like mad constantly.

Smelt it from downstairs when coming home

Smelt it during midnight gardening

Smelt it during drama serial - thought got smellavision from Condor Heroes' Yü feng zhen.



Can only take the butt shot as the plant is now attached to the wall. I may be killing my nose as on the other side I had already attached Brassavola Singapura