More Plant Questions

LawnShrimp

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 9, 2016
Messages
907
(I tend to ramble, important questions are bolded if you tl;dr)
So my moss that I posted last time has been set free where I found it or planted in my garden. Being temperate acrocarps, I don't think they adapted too well to living indoors. The mosses left out in a tray browned at the tips of the leaves(?) and the ones in sealed terrariums grew mold.

I kept my Weissia, which is growing beautifully and might be good for an open-air terrarium (kinda oxymoronic) with some arid-tolerant species. However, I just keep it as a potted moss, and it grows quite quickly and enthusiastically even in the dry of a house. I mist it once a day.

I also found some fleshy liverworts by a river in sandy, loose soil. I collected six thalli with a few gemmae. I planted them in the same soil as where I found them and kept them moist. They dried out exactly twice and after that I flooded them. I found them yellowing and browning a day later so I fed them to my isopods. Are there any liverworts that look good and grow well in a terrarium?

Anyway, I'd like to acquire some more heat-resistant, tropical bryophytes for a hypothetical terrarium. The site SiamGreenCulture at http://www.siamgreenculture.com/index.html
appears to have some nice Thai and Malaysian mosses for sale and even a liverwort from Japan. Their spikemosses are also amazing, such as Selaginella siamensis, S. picta, and S. erythropus. How trustworthy do these guys sound? Would shipping to the U.S. East Coast from Thailand be expensive/tedious/dangerous?

Also, what kind of plants, especially nonvascular/primitive, would be good for a viv?
I'd love to keep a centipede or vinegaroon in a planted terrarium but it'd probably dig up all the plants. A millipede, roach, isopod, or colony would just eat them. The only creature I'd conceivably keep in a planted terrarium is a mantis or an amblypygid.

Wew, sorry for the ramble. Thanks if you can answer my q's.
 

schmiggle

Arachnoking
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
2,220
@AbraxasComplex I know you've done some herbaria with mosses...

This is a question that is of interest to me as well.

By the way, lawnshrimp, you could definitely keep a variety of other predatory arthropods in there that don't burrow.
 

AbraxasComplex

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Messages
1,145
I've ordered from Siam Green Culture and they were great. Just ask them not to spray their mosses with insecticide or fungicide when they send them out. I'm not sure on the regulations are for the US though. Also it's always best to use tropical mosses and liverworts as they are more likely to handle the heat and humidity found in terrariums. They are less likely to die with the lack of seasonal and nightly temperature changes. As for inhabitants I have crabs, tailless whip scorpions, isopods, small millipedes, velvet worms, and scorpions in my planted terrariums. You have a lot of options.
 

LawnShrimp

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 9, 2016
Messages
907
I know I can keep all sorts of inverts in a terrarium - just the ones I currently own and the kinds I am interested in - don't really work well in a planted terrarium. I'd also rather keep my photosensitive inverts away from bright artificial light. And besides, millipedes, centipedes, and others don't benefit from a planted terrarium, whereas something like a mantis or an arboreal T would need plants to climb on and molt from. The mantis would also benefit from the light, as most pet species are diurnal.

Thanks for the info about Siam Green Culture, they seem pretty trustworthy to me as well!
 
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