Hi, Bev. I am not too sure that there is much difference in sphagnum mosses collected from different locations around the world. Some people swear by Canadian, some like to purchase their moss from Scotland, and some get theirs from the far east (E.g. Malaysia). I generally chose to purchase sphagnum moss from New Zealand, since is has always been the type I like to use, specifically long-fibered sphagnum. I think my moss would be labeled "extra-long fibered" sphagnum. Some of the sphagnum found in big-box stores, such as Lowe's, has been chopped up and the fibers are not very long. The longer the fiber the easier it is to wrap or form wads with. I use my sphagnum moss as backing when mounting staghorn ferns, tillandsias, bromeliads and orchids. Often, when I want to put a potted orchid in a large hanging basket, I will surround the pot with sphagnum moss to keep the pot from tipping over. It is also esthetic. I have found that as the orchid's roots grow out of the pot, they love to grow into the sphagnum moss surrounding the pot. Also, when I ship bare-rooted plants, I always place moistened sphagnum in the bag with the root ball and seal the bag. The sphagnum keeps the roots moist without adding much weight. The last bale I ordered was a 12 cf bale and with shipping, it cost me approximately $55.
I actually grow Spanish moss here in NE Mississippi and use it to drap various mounted plants. It is a live plant and is an air-plant similar to the tillandsia. It is nothing like sphagnum moss. If you wrap the base of a plant with Spanish moss, the moss will quickly die and the fibers are so tough that the plant pups and roots cannot easily grow through it. Therefore I don't use it for backing or wraping plants. Even dead sphagnum is light and airy, and plant pups and roots can grown through it easily.
Ken
