Tracy, no, they're two different mediums.
Home Depot sells Sphagnum moss..SM is what you'd use for air layering. It's sold in bags or sheets..the sheets are harder to find, at least here in IL. Why not make a few phone calls, ask if they carry SM..Toni

I cant find it at home depot, and they are morons...lol....I asked for vermiculite the other day and they were like "pure vermiculite???" I was like yeah, and they looked at me like I was nuts, and when I went to the nursery/greenhouse this morn the girl wasnt sure, but she said she thought so. What does shpagnum look like....I thought like the stuff you see on top of some bonsai's?

Tracy

Sphagnum moss is a moss that forms in low nutrient, wet areas. As sphagnum grows, then begins a slow decomposition, it forms mats that sometimes reach hundreds of feet thick. You want this moss before it has started to decompose.

If you're not confused yet: When it's suggested you use sphagnum moss as part of a potting mix, or in your case, an air-layer media, it's the long-fiber sphagnum moss that was originally live sphagnum moss that was harvested and dried - like the stuff in the paragraph above, before it begins to decompose. When we say, "Use sphagnum peat", we mean: Use the dried and partially decomposed product, not the long fibered stuff.

What you want looks kind of like a nearly intact moss plant. The other looks like dry or dusty decomposing plant matter.

You should be able to buy sphagnum moss at most big box stores in the potting medium section (in small bags). If you can't find it after another look, contact me off forum & I'll mail you some. ;o)

Al

Al,

I have both the long spagh moss and the milled spagh moss. When using it to root cuttings (I'm thinking specifically of hoyas), is there a difference? Is milled spagh moss the same as spagh peat?

Thanks,
Gabi

Yes, milled sphagnum (peat) moss is the same stuff as unmilled sphagnum peat. Though the peat product is very often used to start seeds and cuttings (it's low pH gives it anti-fungal properties) either alone or in combination with other ingredients (perlite, etc), chopped (whole) sphagnum moss will yield better results than partially decomposed peat products for cuttings, seeds, or air-layering.

Al

Thanks Al, that was very helpful. I thought the milled spagh moss was the same as the long fibered spagh moss, but just chopped up. Thanks for clarifying.

Gabi