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Moss drip wall


gjcarew
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Sorry @Odd Duck, that's awful. I wish you a speedy recovery. On this end of taking care of COVID patients it is always frustrating, and the patients are always feeling so much worse either mentally or physically it is a hard balance as they are so connected. Bummer. 

@gjcarewI think the open nature of this is difficult and without a constant source of humidity it could be difficult. Perhaps a humidifier like setup like @Odd Duckis suggesting could be part of the magic sauce. 

Could you need to wrap the foam in something to get a better constant moisture? Is that epiweb stuff expensive?

 

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On 2/4/2022 at 1:22 PM, Odd Duck said:

Maybe tomorrow I’ll have enough energy to do that.  I’m stir crazy, but get up to do the smallest project (zap food) and I’m tired before I sit back down to eat.

Sadly, this is a new reality for a lot of people. 

If you want, I have a whole protocol that was developed with the Eastern Virginia Medical School, a bunch of us long haulers, and information from Australia's huge study on post-viral syndrome (myalgic encephalomyelitis).

Post viral fatigue is miserable. Combination of life changes, dietary changes, and shifts in expectations make it easier to work with. 

@gjcarew I had forgotten a mist wall we helped our son build. There's a felt pocket system that is designed to keep the water on the front side of the felt, and small pockets allowed sphagnum moss to wrap the roots and wick moisture to plants. I wonder if the felt could be used with the sponge to generate a more uniform moisture? Especially if the pump is now protected from debris?

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On 2/4/2022 at 3:49 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

Sorry @Odd Duck, that's awful. I wish you a speedy recovery. On this end of taking care of COVID patients it is always frustrating, and the patients are always feeling so much worse either mentally or physically it is a hard balance as they are so connected. Bummer. 

@gjcarewI think the open nature of this is difficult and without a constant source of humidity it could be difficult. Perhaps a humidifier like setup like @Odd Duckis suggesting could be part of the magic sauce. 

Could you need to wrap the foam in something to get a better constant moisture? Is that epiweb stuff expensive?

 

I got a lot of recommendations to use hygrolon, which is a wicking material. At this point the milled sphagnum is constantly wet so hopefully that will work in place of hygolon/epiweb. I was hoping to get away with using cheap materials (the Aquarium Co-op sponge filter mat). I'm gonna give it another month or so to see if the new moss slurry grows, if it doesn't start growing by then I might just need to tear the whole wall down and come up with another plan.

@Odd Duck my sympathies on Covid, most of my family got it and despite being "mild" it still sounds horrible.

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On 2/4/2022 at 5:49 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

On 2/4/2022 at 6:07 PM, Torrey said:

If you want, I have a whole protocol that was developed with the Eastern Virginia Medical School, a bunch of us long haulers, and information from Australia's huge study on post-viral syndrome (myalgic encephalomyelitis).

Thank you both, but I only started symptoms and tested positive on Monday.  I’ll give it a bit more time before I feel like I need to worry about long term symptoms.  Tuesday was the only really BAD day.  Since then it’s just some cold-like symptoms that are slightly lingering and I get a bit shaky and blah even after a short walk about.  Overall, really not feeling too bad.  I’m still confining myself to the bedroom 99% of the time since my hubby has multiple risk factors and I don’t want to give it to him.  Doesn’t help my strength to be stuck in the bed so much.  I’d normally be up and walking around a lot more after an illness has mostly passed.  I think that’s slowing down my recovery.  I’ve been working a little harder today at opening up my alveoli.

On 2/4/2022 at 6:16 PM, gjcarew said:

my sympathies on Covid, most of my family got it and despite being "mild" it still sounds horrible

Thank you!  I’ll be better soon.  I’m reasonably sure being fully vaccinated helped me have less significant symptoms.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Four weeks since the last update and things are going.... OK. You can see some of the aquatic moss is green and appears to have grown at least slightly. The sphagnum mix, despite the new watering regime, does not appear to have sprouted.20220225_110238.jpg.561fe30262a56844f23da025572e138f.jpg

There is some moss growth on the wood, but I don't know if that is new growth or just the existing aquatic moss growing upwards.

20220225_110456.jpg.1a4287b2b741edb678232c9759de34b2.jpg

The raphidophora hayi has some new growth points, but growth so far is still fairly small and weak.

20220225_110304.jpg.7dbb64bd4363645386b03034d2a1c03f.jpg

One of the frustrating things is that on the same day I did this moss, I threw some dried  long fiber sphagnum and the remaining dusk moss mix into a deli container, and it is doing great.

20220225_110035.jpg.1faefdb73c32ea93babcf34c73caa04e.jpg

This tells me either I need the light to be shining more directly on the wall (rather than at an oblique angle) or that I just need humidity, in which case this setup just isn't gonna happen.

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  • 3 weeks later...

PXL_20220318_003047669.jpg.87aee3e2117dbd4060f30cbbae706c2d.jpg

I added a baby nepenthes because I can't help myself, I just love carnivorous plants. Unfortunately they tend not to grow pitchers in fish tank water but it's still a nice little pop of foliage.

The moss is looking a little more green because i've been attaching spare aquatic grown and terrarium grown moss. It's not exactly "growing" a moss wall, but I'm more of a results oriented guy and the moss that I add is surviving and staying green.

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  • 1 month later...

Quick update! I added some adiantium "Little Lady" because it's one of my fave plants. It's a type of maidenhair with lots of tiny green leaves,  it's almost like a cloud of foliage.20220506_150535.jpg.02721f9ad36a6503129fed89e82038c0.jpg

I stopped fertilizing for the nepenthes and let the salvinia take over to help stop algae. The fish certainly don't mind the dimmer light. The reward?

20220506_152613.jpg.c70719e7272ca560247f73e7178d78ff.jpg

Pitchers! I didn't think the nepenthes would put them out but it's doing great.

As a side note, this tank is in my office and I'm leaving my current job. I will have to break down this setup. If anybody in the Seattle area has a 60 cm rimless tank and wants to add a self-watering living wall to it, I'm happy to give this away. I'm worried it's too niche of an item to sell. Just send me a message if interested.

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May your transition to a new job exceed your expectations, reduce your stress, and improve quality of life. 

Will miss the updates on the pitchers, hopefully someone in here can oblige our curiosity 🤔

I know that a lot of members are in the area, I wonder if Mr Peas would appreciate something he doesn't need to haul gallons of Puget sound water to maintain 😁

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