PSA: That moss I thought was dead in my terrarium was just dormant - 6 months later it greened up

I built a closed terrarium back in March with some moss I collected from a shady spot near my porch in Austin, and after 3 weeks it turned brown and I almost threw the whole thing out. Turns out moss can go dormant for months if the humidity dips below a certain point (I read 70% is the magic number on a botany blog last night). Has anyone else had moss bounce back after looking totally dead, or did I just get lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

barnes.brian1mo ago

I saw that bit about "humidity dips below a certain point" and it reminded me of this weird thing I did once with a piece of moss I found on a sidewalk crack in the middle of a drought. I stuck it in a jar with a wet paper towel and forgot about it for like 8 months. When I opened it back up the paper towel was bone dry but the moss was totally green again. I have no idea if that's normal or if I just got lucky but it felt like magic when I saw it. Makes you wonder how many plants we give up on too early.

charlie_roberts871mo ago

nah but that's just moss being moss. people act like finding a dried out plant means it's dead for good when really a lot of them are just in survival mode. you see the same thing with ferns and succulents all the time. the whole "give up on them too early" thing is just sentimental fluff honestly. if a plant looks dead and stays that way for weeks, it's dead. nobody's reviving a dead fern by sitting around hoping it'll magically turn green again. moss is literally designed to do that, it's not a sign you're some plant whisperer.