Moss farming

[+Blue_Ranger]

So I found a really cool video on youtube about making fake rocks, and now I'm thinking about a Hide-a-Key on steroids. In the woods where it will likely end up, all the rocks are quite mossy-- it's in the shade of a ridge. I'm wondering if anyone has any idea how long it takes for moss to grow on a rock, and what can be done to encourage the process? The outside surface of the rock will be cement. Hopefully it won't be too much of a bear to carry out there!

[+Team Microdot]

I read somewhere that smearing live yoghurt on the rock and allowing it to soak in would provide food for mosses / lichens and encourage growth.

 

Not sure it had any impact - it was still a couple of years before any real growth was measurable.

 

The rock did go green within about six months I think.

[+wmpastor]

I read somewhere that smearing live yoghurt on the rock and allowing it to soak in would provide food for mosses / lichens and encourage growth.

 

Not sure it had any impact - it was still a couple of years before any real growth was measurable.

The rock did go green within about six months I think.

 

My concern about this strategy is that the moss is slow-growing and gets damaged or rubbed off when handled. If this moss-covered fake rock is among moss-covered real rocks, soon there will be a patch of rocks with dead moss near GZ.

[+J Grouchy]

Reminds me of the Mythbusters segment...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(2005_season)#Rolling_Stone_Gathers_No_Moss

[+kunarion]

The outside surface of the rock will be cement.

As long as you don't place it in an area that freezes, that might work. Note that the other rocks in that forest are probably not "cement", but moss or mold can grow on it anyway.

 

If there's a chance of water being absorbed and then freezing, you will have to seal the fake rock or it will crack. Frozen water breaking concrete depends on a lot of things, but you must be sure it's fine before toting it out there, and then having to carry broken pieces back and lugging a new one out there.

 

If you seal it, cover it with a textured paint, and paint it to match the moss. This will need touch-ups occasionally. Do that in the dry season.

[+MtnMutt-ProDuckShins]

You can buy FAKE MOSS at Art & Craft Stores or even on-line.

[+Ambrosia]

If you use the yogurt method, it speeds things along if you take some moss and blend it up with the yogurt.

[+Blue_Ranger]

Thanks for the suggestions. Part of the fake rock making process involves using a waterproofing ingredient in the mix. I'll check out what the craft stores have; I know they have actual reindeer moss, but that stuff doesn't grow here.

[knowschad]

I have experimented with it, but found that the cache does need to be hidden (as well as the moss grown) in an area that would support moss anyway. I guess that goes without saying, and it sounds like you've already got that part under control.

 

Some say that beer will work as a food, as well as buttermilk. But you blend it all up with real moss, which contains the spores, and need to keep it moist enough as it grows. I'd love to see your results! Please post an update.

[knowschad]

Thanks for the suggestions. Part of the fake rock making process involves using a waterproofing ingredient in the mix. I'll check out what the craft stores have; I know they have actual reindeer moss, but that stuff doesn't grow here.

Reindeer "moss" is not a moss. It is a lichen. Will it still match where you want to hide this?

[+Blue_Ranger]

Thanks for the suggestions. Part of the fake rock making process involves using a waterproofing ingredient in the mix. I'll check out what the craft stores have; I know they have actual reindeer moss, but that stuff doesn't grow here.

Reindeer "moss" is not a moss. It is a lichen. Will it still match where you want to hide this?

 

Not really. The moss in that area is pretty consistent, a rich green with a sort of velvet texture. I've used reindeer moss before, in scale model scenery- makes great trees and bushes.

 

D'oh! I knew I was forgetting something this weekend... hitting Home Depot for the cement ingredients! I also meant to hit that patch of woods to get closeup pictures of the rocks so I could get the color right.

[+MtnMutt-ProDuckShins]

Remember that after a few pickups and put downs real Moss will begin to fall off.

 

Just thinking your creation should be away from the real but near or slightly under a bush as an added cover for protection from would be non - Cachers.

[+Blue_Ranger]

Remember that after a few pickups and put downs real Moss will begin to fall off.

 

Just thinking your creation should be away from the real but near or slightly under a bush as an added cover for protection from would be non - Cachers.

 

Yes, good point. Sounds like I really should look for a spot where a non-mossy rock would look normal. Getting it to grow in the first place will be time consuming, and the durability issue was one I hadn't thought of. Hopefully I'll find a specific spot where you would only go here because there's supposed to be a cache, and not really any reason to linger and poke around if you aren't a cacher.

[+wmpastor]

I read somewhere that smearing live yoghurt on the rock and allowing it to soak in would provide food for mosses / lichens and encourage growth.

 

Not sure it had any impact - it was still a couple of years before any real growth was measurable.

 

The rock did go green within about six months I think.

 

The damage from handling is real, but more so for moss than lichen. Something to consider.

 

As for encouraging moss and lichen growth, the case for yogurt is not as cut-&-dried as it is for dihydrogen monoxide. Hit the rock with some of that.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Remember that after a few pickups and put downs real Moss will begin to fall off.

 

Just thinking your creation should be away from the real but near or slightly under a bush as an added cover for protection from would be non - Cachers.

 

Yes, good point. Sounds like I really should look for a spot where a non-mossy rock would look normal. Getting it to grow in the first place will be time consuming, and the durability issue was one I hadn't thought of. Hopefully I'll find a specific spot where you would only go here because there's supposed to be a cache, and not really any reason to linger and poke around if you aren't a cacher.

 

Sometimes the camo on a container doesn't *have* be completely natural. Putting some fake moss on a rock might be enough to hide it in plain sight such that a casual observer might not notice it, but a geocacher searching for the container will be able to notice something that's not quite right. A non-native species of realistic looking moss might actually be an interesting cache. Sort of like putting a fake apple in a pear tree.

[+Blue_Ranger]

By the way, the aim for this cache is to make it pretty hard to find. I'm hoping to make a dead-on match for the surrounding rocks, with a 5-gallon bucket incorporated into the "rock." Imagine getting to GZ for a cache listed as "large" and there's NOWHERE-- apparently-- to hide something that big, and who would even try to flip that rock, it must weigh 500 pounds... wait, it moved when I kicked it in frustration!

[+wmpastor]

Fast Moss

 

Need quick results and don't wish to experiment with slow-growing moss coaxed along with beer, buttermilk & yogurt?

 

I quickly found a half-dozen online sellers of live moss.

[+Blue_Ranger]

Woah, cool! Never occurred to me that real live moss might be available somewhere! The local moss coverage looks like the carpet moss they offer. I just came back from that patch of woods after getting a good close look at the rocks there, and I'm ready to get cracking on Project DUANE. The cement will need to cure for a month before it gets its coat of sealer, so I'll have time to decide whether to order the real stuff, or fake it with glue, sawdust, and green paint. The area is an extension of the Niagara Escarpment, but here it's only about 30 feet high. Some of the rocks that have tumbled farther away get some sun and have only a light covering of moss, so sawdust glued on and painted should look pretty convincing. I'll take pics as I go, I should have some this evening.

[+Blue_Ranger]

Okay first couple of pics... looks like this may take a while, because I've used cement exactly twice before-- for a post hole, and a simple base for some front steps. Both of those times it was the premixed stuff that just needs water.

 

Here's what I started with, a big kitty litter bucket and some styrofoam junk.

 

And the first attempt at the cement. The batch was much too small, and also too much water. Bit of a learning curve here!

[+edscott]

Problem is that even if you get moss or algae to grow on the rock it will only survive on the upper or sunny slide. You can't depend on all the finders to replace the rock sunny side up. My strategy for finding caches like this is to look for the rocks that are "upside down".

[+MtnMutt-ProDuckShins]

Seems you're planning a heavy cache. Hope you don't have a long distance to carry it in and folks which happen to see carrying it don't get the wrong idea about you and your creation.

 

That things going to be huge as in BIG. Good luck.

[+kunarion]

And the first attempt at the cement. The batch was much too small, and also too much water. Bit of a learning curve here!

Are you sculpting the cement around the outside of the Styrofoam? Or filling the area inside, around the bucket? If you develop a decent process, post the steps!

[knowschad]

And the first attempt at the cement. The batch was much too small, and also too much water. Bit of a learning curve here!

 

Are you sculpting the cement around the outside of the Styrofoam? Or filling the area inside, around the bucket? If you develop a decent process, post the steps!

 

Excellent question! I assumed he was covering the styrofoam, but I can see now that the foam may be intended as the outside of a mold for the concrete. I do think that he is covering the whole thing, though.