# Moss and yogurt trick



## Creepypasta

I've searched and found some information but I figured I'd flat out ask.  Has anyone had luck with blending moss and yogurt and getting it to grow?  I have several vivariums I would like to put it in but I would like to know what luck anyone has had and what their recipe was.


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## The Snark

You can use yogurt as a growth medium for moss, yes. It's a pretty common trick used by commercial potting companies. The general idea is it provides a low ph habitat that tends to retard many bacterias while providing the nutrients for the moss. You can also use other yeast bearing materials like beer. 
The easiest way to do this is take some viable moss and toss it into a blender with some yogurt. Mix until creamy. Then paint it on the porous surface you want the moss to grow on. Keep the moisture at the recommended level for that species of moss. Watch out for dead moss. Lots of companies paint clay flower pots with spore and medium material then when the proper appearance has been achieved they bake it, killing both moss and yeast then treat it with a preserving agent. This makes for attractive displays that can stay good looking for a period of time but will never grow.
Recommended reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_medium

Reactions: Like 1


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## josh_r

Moss spores are everywhere. If you set up an aquarium properly with adequate light, you will automatically get moss growth in your viv. sphagnum peat is full of moss spores also. Given moisture and light, it takes off. The yogurt or beer trick does work as well, but it will be pretty nasty in your viv for a while....


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## The Snark

josh_r said:


> Moss spores are everywhere. If you set up an aquarium properly with adequate light, you will automatically get moss growth in your viv. sphagnum peat is full of moss spores also. Given moisture and light, it takes off. The yogurt or beer trick does work as well, but it will be pretty nasty in your viv for a while....


True. The plan behind the yogurt or other medium is to get a certain kind of moss growing while precluding other growths. A non preclusive medium just left out for random spores is going to grow the most opportunistic, molds and fungi, before moss can get going. Yogurt works pretty darned good in that it makes a credible glue, resists a number of molds due to the nature of the beast, and looses the undesirable odor within a few days.


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## josh_r

The Snark said:


> True. The plan behind the yogurt or other medium is to get a certain kind of moss growing while precluding other growths. A non preclusive medium just left out for random spores is going to grow the most opportunistic, molds and fungi, before moss can get going. Yogurt works pretty darned good in that it makes a credible glue, resists a number of molds due to the nature of the beast, and looses the undesirable odor within a few days.


not sure if you have ever set up a dart frog or other planted vivarium, but fungi and molds are really not a big issue. molds form whether you use yogurt or not (i have done both methods) but they disappear as soon as the nutrients is used up and the moss begins to grow after that. and to target a certain species of moss... all you have to do is get that particular species spore and provide the right ph levels and temps. i have successfully grown many species of mosses in vivariums from temperate and desert species to tropical species. some prefer alkalinity. some prefer acidity. others do not care. some prefer only growing on rock. others prefer only growing on wood. others prefer only soils or clays. it all comes down to proper medium, proper lighting, and proper temps... even then... many species gradually adapt to a change in temps. it all comes down to what method you prefer as both can work just fine... i prefer to stay away from the yogurt method as it doesn't work with many species of moss.


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## Smokehound714

IMO the easiest moss to culture is the common sidewalk moss, you can find it where people urinate outside.

  you dont have to sample where people are peeing though lol

  It tolerates dry conditions really well, too.  I got some growing on the side of my chimney, actually.  (beyond my range of urination bahaha)


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## josh_r

Smokehound714 said:


> IMO the easiest moss to culture is the common sidewalk moss, you can find it where people urinate outside.
> 
> you dont have to sample where people are peeing though lol
> 
> It tolerates dry conditions really well, too.  I got some growing on the side of my chimney, actually.  (beyond my range of urination bahaha)


HAHAHA!!! it's crazy how well moss grows where people have urinated. When I lived in washington, some friends and I had built some really nice dirt jumps in the woods (we ride freestyle BMX) and everything was green out there except the jumps.... We would pee on the backs and sides of the jumps to encourage moss growth. It worked very well... so well that you could pee a pattern or your name on a jump and the moss would grow 10 times faster on the pee trail and you would even tually have your name or whatever growing on the jump... strange but true...


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## kellakk

The reason for the quick moss growth in areas people have urinated is that our urine contains many nutrients that are beneficial to plant growth, such as nitrates.  But don't start peeing in your plants now, the ammonia in your pee will cause chemical burns.  I've heard of people using their pee as fertilizer by diluting it with water, works well I guess.


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