Floating gardens, simple hydroponics with living soil for difficult plants

[partisangardener]

I have a different setting for plants which like it more on the drier side.
Bottomless is one choice, the other one is a wicking system.

I cut a side of the pots bottom. pull a wick through. One flat piece outside the other one on one side up to the surface of the potting soil.
This set on one of the wick coated islands as shown in the pictures.

No maintenance needed.

[partisangardener]

I had several islands with Meconopsis x Sheldonii. Germinated on several, but only one grows well.
All have different soil and mycorrhiza

[partisangardener]

The revival of Cypripedium reginae which was the only one which looked after division awfully is still growing.

[partisangardener]

Germination of different Drosera like filiformis without substrate was very good. But without feeding and no substrate the dwindled an quite a lot died after the second year.
After I put the piece of cloth on some substrate they started to recover.
The ones which I sowed this early spring on several Islands with fresh substrate grow much better.

[partisangardener]

The Lilium seedlings  are L.canadense. They grow on all islands well and are on most of them.

[partisangardener]

Here is an update from some of the islands I started last December.

[partisangardener]

I have some seedlings from the Orchid family on another island from the same time.
Seeds of the following species were sown on all of the islands.

Epipactis palustris, several Dactylorhiza species, Cypripedium reginae and Calopogon. I could not detect them on other island jet.
Germination occurred on life Sphagnum derived from an old artificial  bog without Orchids apart from Cypripedium reginae.

[Rick R.]

Axel, I have  been following this thread since the start, and find it very informative and interesting.  Your photos are instructive as well.  I am very glad that you are still continuing to post.

I suspect your sphagnum moss grows faster than in would in the wild; how fast (or slow ) does it grow for you?  3cm per year?  And how does it multiply - does it branch of the side, or does the terminal growing point divide?

[partisangardener]

On these floating islands is Sphagnum (and other plants) grow certainly faster. The moisture is always the same. The faster species grow certainly more than 5 centimeters per year.
But I have not measured it and I had some which did not grow at all. But these might have been contaminated with salt from the street.
The ones from this thread are pictured from the beginning, and none are a already a year old.
If I pack them tight, they grow through division of the head. If I lay them as threads they grow from all of even slightly greenisch parts new heads, even white one turns green to a degree. I try to find pictures where this is demonstrated, and start some new and document this process.

[partisangardener]

I am not very interested to do this in a scientific way.
I found recently this work about Sphagnum
https://www.coxnature.com/index.php?route=information/blogger&blogger_id=6

I have a very hungry mind and so I choose not to become a scientist. I am an artist who found gardening an interesting field which fits my interests best.
So Floating Gardens is in the end an open source art project.

I try to develop more diverse ecosystems than common planting systems offer. Especially for man dominated areas,where concrete and asphalt rules.
There is a lot to gain (CO2, water retention, city climate, living soil production etc.) but there are problems which have to be taken in account (micro plastic,
chemicals, mosquitos. birds and so on.

My intention is to interest for a start a certain group of humans to have a try (for example gardeners) We like to see things growing and by doing so might do some work for society and science.

One bait is , a simple way to grow difficult interesting plants and their various companions with little maintenance especially for places we have already depleted of its living skin.

[Rick R.]

Thanks, Axel!

[partisangardener]

I have found a picture from an island where I had only single strands of sphagnum left for a starter.
This might help to show how they grow with me.

The strands were laid out between some toothpicks to prevent them to be flushed away by heavy rain. Starting time was early spring.

[Rick R.]

Thanks.  Your pic does show new growth all along the stem when laid horizontal with light.  I think we have about five Sphagnum species that are native in Minnesota.  Have you tried many?  Do you have a preferred one?

[partisangardener]

I have marked this special Sphagnum place and keep you updated.
I have  quite a few different species in my bogs. Most of them grow not divided into each species. I think there will be up to 10 species growing there.

Next time I will start a new island with single strands of different species to have clean sources..  Though there are areas with a single species.
I will make pictures of these areas.


I tried to uncover some of the Orchids, in order to get better pictures.

There is one with thin grass-like leafs, and another one which already divides into several growth points.

[partisangardener]

Several Sphagnum species are fruiting. Some have already exceeded the 5 centimeters after half a year.