Looking for very small, very light plants, nothing over 1 inch in height or
width at maturity, or very light mosses. Any and all suggestions very
welcome. Beauty is important but not necessary. Must be able to grow these
plants hydroponically in styrofoam.

If anyone knows of an online source that arranges plant life by height and
weight (accurately speaking, most sites are very, very wide ranging in what
they consider to be a 'small plant'), I would be incredibly grateful. Are
there any e-Businesses that specialize in wee, teeny plants?

"Anne Hedden" wrote in message
...
Looking for very small, very light plants, nothing over 1 inch in height or
width at maturity, or very light mosses. Any and all suggestions very
welcome. Beauty is important but not necessary. Must be able to grow these
plants hydroponically in styrofoam.

Sounds like you need to get in touch with NASA :~)

If anyone knows of an online source that arranges plant life by height and
weight (accurately speaking, most sites are very, very wide ranging in what
they consider to be a 'small plant'), I would be incredibly grateful. Are
there any e-Businesses that specialize in wee, teeny plants?

There are very few plants that will fit your bill. Moss seems to me to be the
only possibility:
Jenny

"JennyC" wrote in :


"Anne Hedden" wrote in message
...
Looking for very small, very light plants, nothing over 1 inch in
height or width at maturity, or very light mosses. Any and all
suggestions very welcome. Beauty is important but not necessary.
Must be able to grow these plants hydroponically in styrofoam.


There are very few plants that will fit your bill. Moss seems to me to
be the only possibility:


What about the very tiniest sedums? corsican mint? a prostrate thyme ?
a tiny lithops or cacti ? the smallest sempervivums?

The ' nothing over 1 inch in width at maturity ' is a bit of a problem -
most things that tiny tend to spread sideways eventually, at least if they
get fed.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

In article . 23,
Victoria Clare writes:
| "JennyC" wrote in :
| "Anne Hedden" wrote in message
| ...
| Looking for very small, very light plants, nothing over 1 inch in
| height or width at maturity, or very light mosses. Any and all
| suggestions very welcome. Beauty is important but not necessary.
| Must be able to grow these plants hydroponically in styrofoam.
|
| There are very few plants that will fit your bill. Moss seems to me to
| be the only possibility:
|
| What about the very tiniest sedums? corsican mint? a prostrate thyme ?
| a tiny lithops or cacti ? the smallest sempervivums?
|
| The ' nothing over 1 inch in width at maturity ' is a bit of a problem -
| most things that tiny tend to spread sideways eventually, at least if they
| get fed.

Yes. I would expect that to rule out all of the sedums and most
labiates (definitely including mints and thyme). There may be
some epiphytes that fit the bill, and there are certainly some
lichens - if you call them plants.

There are fair number of 'larger' plants that will reach maturity
at that size in hostile conditions - hairy (?) bittercress, to
mention just one common example.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

| "Anne Hedden" wrote in

| Looking for very small, very light plants, nothing over 1 inch in
| height or width at maturity, or very light mosses. Any and all
| suggestions very welcome. Beauty is important but not necessary.
| Must be able to grow these plants hydroponically in styrofoam.
|
I would REALLY like to know what you need them for ?
Jenny

In article , JennyC
writes

"Anne Hedden" wrote in message
m...
Looking for very small, very light plants, nothing over 1 inch in height or
width at maturity, or very light mosses. Any and all suggestions very
welcome. Beauty is important but not necessary. Must be able to grow these
plants hydroponically in styrofoam.

Sounds like you need to get in touch with NASA :~)

If anyone knows of an online source that arranges plant life by height and
weight (accurately speaking, most sites are very, very wide ranging in what
they consider to be a 'small plant'), I would be incredibly grateful. Are
there any e-Businesses that specialize in wee, teeny plants?

There are very few plants that will fit your bill. Moss seems to me to be the
only possibility:

Mind your own business (Soleriola) definitely. Possibly mentha
requienii. Although both those, like moss, have the capacity to spread
infinitely sideways.

I'd have thought there'd be lots - a plant which only grows an inch in
height is doing that because it hasn't competition for light, and so it
is likely to be growing in pretty poor conditions with minimal soil
depth.

But then, they're going to spread sideways as the most likely route to
success.

Alpines and rock plants would be the best place to start the search. And
there are a few very, very tiny cacti, but the mind boggles at growing
them hydroponically.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article , "Anne Hedden" writes:
| Thanks everyone, I'll definately look into the families you suggested. Yes,
| I consider lichens plants. Maybe I should have said "plant life" to make it
| sound more general.
|
| I'm making a floating garden, based around magnets. Floating in the air,
| that is. My own little, floating world on my desk. And to think they said
| I had a God complex. Hence the styrofoam. The magnet part is coming along
| slowly, need some more equipment next paycheck, but the design should work
| in theory.

Then DEFINITELY look at epiphytes and plants that grow on rocks.
Spanish moss (a bromeliad, though it looks much like a lichen)
will stay small for a long time.

It could certainly be the next thing for executives to upstage
their competition with :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Thu, 20 May 2004 06:58:19 -0400, "Anne Hedden"
wrote:

I'm making a floating garden, based around magnets. Floating in the air,
that is. My own little, floating world on my desk. And to think they said
I had a God complex. Hence the styrofoam. The magnet part is coming along
slowly, need some more equipment next paycheck, but the design should work
in theory.

Are you saying that they are to be grown indoors? Mosses and lichens
and the mind-your-own-business and mentha requienii which I was going
to suggest (but Kay beat me to it) would not be ideal indoor plants.
they all thrive in damp conditions. The mint is the lowest gowing
(but spreading) plant I have come across but soon dies out if not kept
damp.

Pam in Bristol

"David Hill" wrote in message
...
It would be helpful if you could say where in the world you are as you are
asking this in UK and in the USA.with rec.gardens

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk


Anne's email address ends in .ca = Canada :~)
Jenny

The message
from "Anne Hedden" contains these words:

Thanks everyone, I'll definately look into the families you suggested. Yes,
I consider lichens plants. Maybe I should have said "plant life" to make it
sound more general.

I'm making a floating garden, based around magnets. Floating in the air,
that is. My own little, floating world on my desk. And to think they said
I had a God complex. Hence the styrofoam. The magnet part is coming along
slowly, need some more equipment next paycheck, but the design should work
in theory.

The styrofoam is a styrofoam ball, with magnets under its surface so they
repell against an electromagnet plate. It's somewhat complex/silly, but in
the end, I think I'll produce an interesting piece of art, or at the very
least, a curiousity to impress brainy chicks that I bring home from the bar.
It's an expensive ornament, as magnets lose their charge over time, so you'd
have to replace them. If the magnets don't work, I'll still have a sphere,
a ball o' life, to hang from a string, as it will be feather-light.

There, now you competent gardeners can go off and make it faster than I
can... damn skilled folk...

If you can restrict the roots you'll end up with (effectively) bonsai
plants. If you use one of the stronger plastics which are porous but
stiff enough to prevent roots forcing their way in very far, you might
be able to (say) burn/melt holes for pockets of soil and plant them in
those, and drip water on to the sphere, and occasionally add a treat of
a little fertiliser.

Do keep us informed of progress!

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In message , JennyC
writes
I think I'll produce an interesting piece of art, or at the very
least, a curiousity to impress brainy chicks that I bring home from the bar.

OH :~) I assumed that Anne was female ................ Another
preconcieved idea bites the dust.

This struck me too - but of course, Anne might still be female.

--
dave @ stejonda

"To materialist eyes, India is a developing country;
to spiritual eyes, the United States is a developing country."
Ram Dass (an optimist)

The message
from "JennyC" contains these words:

OH :~) I assumed that Anne was female ................ Another
preconcieved idea
bites the dust.

Anne was originally a male name - or, (IIRC) Ann.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Thanks everyone, I'll definately look into the families you suggested. Yes,
I consider lichens plants. Maybe I should have said "plant life" to make it
sound more general.

I'm making a floating garden, based around magnets. Floating in the air,
that is. My own little, floating world on my desk. And to think they said
I had a God complex. Hence the styrofoam. The magnet part is coming along
slowly, need some more equipment next paycheck, but the design should work
in theory.

The styrofoam is a styrofoam ball, with magnets under its surface so they
repell against an electromagnet plate. It's somewhat complex/silly, but in
the end, I think I'll produce an interesting piece of art, or at the very
least, a curiousity to impress brainy chicks that I bring home from the bar.
It's an expensive ornament, as magnets lose their charge over time, so you'd
have to replace them. If the magnets don't work, I'll still have a sphere,
a ball o' life, to hang from a string, as it will be feather-light.

There, now you competent gardeners can go off and make it faster than I
can... damn skilled folk...




"JennyC" wrote in message
...

| "Anne Hedden" wrote in

| Looking for very small, very light plants, nothing over 1 inch in
| height or width at maturity, or very light mosses. Any and all
| suggestions very welcome. Beauty is important but not necessary.
| Must be able to grow these plants hydroponically in styrofoam.
|
I would REALLY like to know what you need them for ?
Jenny

It would be helpful if you could say where in the world you are as you are
asking this in UK and in the USA.with rec.gardens

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk