There mainly are 2 types of moss – sphagnum moss and sphagnum peat moss. While sphagnum moss is the living top layer of a sphagnum bog, sphagnum peat moss is dead residue beneath this live layer. Hence, before harvesting the sphagnum peat moss from the lower levels of the bog, the harvesters must first remove the top few inches of the live sphagnum 
moss.
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My African violet, fantasy gold, isn’t growing much since I bought it in November last year. After some research that I have done and getting advices from other gardeners, I believe that the problem is due to overwatering and wrong size of container. African violet hates soggy soil. And with a container that is too large, the soil can be kept soggy for a very long period of time.
A few days ago, a friend asked me how often and how much should she water her plants when planting in crystal soil. I would say we should add water to the crystal beads whenever the beads shrink to around half of its size or to a size that cannot stably hold up the plants anymore.
But if you want to grow a plant that needs lots of sunlight with crystal soil, you can cover the crystal beads with a dark cloth to avoid them from drying out too quickly. However, this may have defeated the decoration purpose in the first place. Many plants that thrive in crystal soil are hydroculture plants. For example, many foliage plants that like shade and humidity are the most suitable to grow in crystal soil or to root in water. And here are some examples. Continue reading Suitable Plants for Crystal Soil & Hydroculture
Of course, the hydroculture kit can make your life easier in some degree, but, by ourselves, setting up one that doesn’t have a water level indicator, and using it to grow plants, isn’t rocket science either. Here, let me show you how to pot plants in hydroculture.
A few days ago, I found the leaves of my beet were all weak and sad. At first, I guessed that it might be due to insufficient sunlight. Continue reading They Just Want More Water! Here, let me show you how to pot a plant with crystal soil (aka soil moist).
Put a teaspoon of crystal soil into a container.
Add water and soak them for a few hours according to the instruction on the package. I always add more than enough water for I will drain any excess water with a strainer afterwards. If you use clear crystal soil and want some color crystal beads, you can add food coloring now.
We simply add a small amount of crystal soil (aka soil moist) into the potting soil. In this case, the crystal soil is a soil additive for potted plants. Crystal soil functions as a water storage that retains moisture around the plant’s roots, constantly nourishes the plant with water.
Crystal soil (a.k.a. soil moist) is water absorbent polymer beads, which can absorb and hold up to 80-150 times of its volume of water for a long period of time. As a reservoir, crystal soil stores water and releases the water whenever the plant needs it. Crystal soil can be used . . . → Read More: What is Crystal Soil? |
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I have asked other gardeners in different gardening forums, and it seems that the gardeners in the U.S. (and probably in other western countries as well) uses crystal soil only as a soil additive. 
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