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That moss collection at the Portland Garden Expo almost ruined my greenhouse setup
I was at the Portland Garden Expo last month and saw a guy showing off a massive moss wall installation. He said he collected all the moss from a single forest patch in the Columbia Gorge. Then I found out he never quarantined it and it was full of invasive springtails that spread to three other vendor tables nearby. Has anyone else had a bad run-in with wild-harvested moss before?
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lilykelly22d agoMost Upvoted
That expo story is rough. I'd be sick if I accidentally spread pests to other people's setups, especially at a public event like that. I had a similar thing happen with a bag of sphagnum moss I bought off a guy at a farmers market. It looked fine but two weeks later I had fungus gnats crawling out of every pot in my propagation tray. Now I treat everything like it's a biohazard even if it looks clean.
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thomasshah10d ago
You're right @lilykelly, it's crazy how one little mistake can make you paranoid about everything you bring home.
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lewis.troy22d ago
Man, I feel like a walking cautionary tale on this one. I once brought home a clump of moss from a roadside ditch that looked so perfect and fluffy, I thought I hit the jackpot. Turns out it was basically a free Airbnb for mites and some kind of slimy fungus that nearly wiped out my little greenhouse of ferns. Now I'm the guy who bleaches every stick and pebble I bring in from outside. Your story is way more public though, I'd be mortified if my pest party crashed someone else's table at an expo.
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