# xaxim!?



## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

I have bought some xaxim to plant a brom on because the last one didnt survive when I planted it in the soil blush but I cant find much info on it. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Also I have read that if kept wet enough it can sprout little ferns? Is this right? I'll be spraying the viv it will be in once a day, Would this be enough to keep in moist?


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

Its also called Tree fern root! 
Lucky Reptile Xaxim Treefern Trunk - Super Pets Direct

Anyone?


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## sambridge15 (Nov 22, 2009)

for keeping it moist depends on ventilation heat humidity amount of water you mist with etc supposed to be good for growing moss but as for ferns i think that is epiweb moss mix that does that


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

Oh so it wont grow stuff without me putting something on it!? 
What type of moss would work best? 
Humidity wise when I mist it peaks at 99% and drops to around 60% over 24 hours if that helps? temps are around 85f


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

Xaxim is just sawn up treeferns its sold as backgrounds and because it was a living natural plant will contain fern seeds and spores so sometimes will grow ferns etc if misted and kept moist.
You just stick it to the back and sides using silicone and plant broms straight onto it


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

I got the root so its more of a log! I got it today and will be putting it in the viv on sunday hopefully will turn green in a gtp humid viv! wish me luck!


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Don't hold your breath, it takes a LONG time before anything happens, and it has to be kept very moist during this time. Once it does though, mosses and ferns often pop up, even on the roots.

Ade


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Wolfenrook said:


> Don't hold your breath, it takes a LONG time before anything happens, and it has to be kept very moist during this time. Once it does though, mosses and ferns often pop up, even on the roots.
> 
> Ade


And you are a Terrible Person, and will go to Ecology Hell. Fact.


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

Ron Magpie said:


> And you are a Terrible Person, and will go to Ecology Hell. Fact.


whys that!? :whistling2:

I dont mind how long it takes really i might add some moss spores to it just to give it a boost!


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

mooshu said:


> *whys that!? :whistling2:
> 
> * I dont mind how long it takes really i might add some moss spores to it just to give it a boost!


Cos if it's wild-sourced, tree ferns are under threat and are not able to reproduce themselves enough to keep up with commercial demand- they grow *very* slowly, you see. That's why Dartfrog and so on offer artificial substitutes.


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

Oh damn it! I didnt know that!:blush:

*Runs off to sacrifice a light bulb to the eco-deity*

"Tree Fern (Cyathea contaminans) is internationally protected. Proper documentation is provided with the invoice. Bookkeeping necessary. Export outside EU only with re-export permit!" Off the lucky reptile website dont know if that makes it ok though!?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

You can sometimes get dead ones for nowt from garden centres and botanical gardens, and just saw them up.


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

Ron Magpie said:


> You can sometimes get dead ones for nowt from garden centres and botanical gardens, and just saw them up.


Cheers Ron I will remember that for next time! Seems like good stuff though! I have a brom and a tilli to plant on it for now, Should I leave it to see if the moss come through or get some moss stuff to pt on it?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Did I go and cut one up? No. Did I order one and have some guy go and cut one up? No. Did I buy stuff that had been harvested for a long time and was already dead? Yes. Did I add to the problem by increasing demand? No, because the trade in dickinsonia xaxim is now tightly controled, meaning that odds are once current supplies are gone they are gone. Oh and then there is the soft xaxim, which comes from a NONE THREATENED species, and is a LOT nicer than either naff Epiweb or ugly coco panels.

The biggest threat to dickinsonia is actually it's use for insulation in the homes in countries where it grows.

Luckily I know that your insults are tongue in cheek. 

All that said however, you can do far more with polystyrene, silicone, gorilla glue and eco-earth. Xaxim (ground or whole) is good for mosses, ferns and broms, but creeping ficus do much better on eco earth. You can just silicone together layers of polystyrene, carve it to form a nice structured background, coat it in gorilla glue and cover in eco earth. Ficus LOVE it, including oak leaf ficus, and I personally thing a background covered in ficus and a few broms is nicer anyway than once covered in moss. Moss looks nicer growing on branchy wood, roots and liana, and it's sooooo easy to get some cheap weeping moss from Pro-aqua-Plant (used to be Greenline) and just drop it onto the wood. Kept damp it soon establishes itself and looks fantastic.

Ade


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

im using coco fibre panels as background and the xaxim is a log type thing im laying diagonally accross the viv to plant a frw plants on so im hoping that moss will grow on it. i have a wandering jew on one side and im planning to get a creeping fig for the other side. Im doing it tomorrow so im post pics when its done! :2thumb:


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## kroot (Mar 11, 2010)

I soaked my xaxim logs in rainwater for a week or two before going in the tank. Apart from dripping water all over the house while moving it:blush:

Seems to be greening up nicely.


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