If the lichens are growing on the rocks already then you needn't worry. But if the lichens are not then quite possibly they are not lithocarpic. If you wish to save the lichens then perhaps saving the part of the deck they are on and setting in on the slope might save the lichens but I doubt that they would spread to the rocks unless that is one of their natural substrates.

lichens are too sensitive to just scrape off and transplant. i collected rocks from woodland trails for my walls and borders and many have lichens, liverworts and moss growing on them. they have "seeded' other rocks since (but very slowly as thier growing conditions of light and water seem to be very specific). i have heard that if you put moss in a blender with buttermilk on a low setting and paint it on a surface such as a rock or pot, it will grow if kept moist, Maybe this will work with lichens.

Hi! I have also heard of using plain yogurt whizzed up in a blender w/ lichens...but never tried it myself. We've had a couple of mild but "wet enough" winters not to have to worry about the health of our lichen boulders. I have to figure out how to post pix here...

(bumping up this thread to get more info)

Does anyone have any further info on transplanting lichen? I want to put some reindeer moss on a new property. I have loads of it in one place and none in another. I can try to move some small rocks, but I wonder is the moss in the blender method works for lichens as well. Also, what does lithocarpic mean?
Thanks,
Martha

Check out the comments at the bottom of the page at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Space Slime

Lichens are not a single plant. They are not a moss but a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and an algae. And they are very site specific as to how they grow. Whatever they are growing on, that is what they need. Whatever direction they are facing that is the direction they need to face. Whatever amount of light they are receiving throughout the year, that is what they need. You could maybe take chunks of the wood from your deck and half bury it in your soil. The lichens would last as long as the wood. But are you sure that it is lichen? Maybe it IS moss. You can, as others have suggested, put many mosses in a blender with yogurt or buttermilk and then pour them on the soil or rocks but usually mosses need a fair amount of shade.

I've done it!

I've just crumbled up pieces and sprinkled them in.
Worked for me, but lichen grows like mad here in WV

Chris

This is an old post, but hope I can revive it. Here in Central Tejas, we have stuff called Moss Rock...or granite with variations of colorful lichens I'm guessing they are. They are neon green and purple and orange. I had a cool one shaped like a drinking bird...and the lichens formed a circle around it's eye like the dog on Spanky and Our Gang, if anybody goes back that far. Somehow I rubbed off the eye patch when I repaired it one time. Maybe my hands had glue on them, and disturbed the surface for adapting a new one? I was hoping to grown another one. Any tips? Anyway, and tips would be really appreciated. I hate that my drinking bird doesn't have an eye, and don't want to paint one back...just wouldn't be as cool.

Just commenting to add that the commonly repeated idea of blending moss with buttermilk or yogurt is an internet myth. Mosses and lichens don't take nutrients from their substrate, so any success had with this method would have been had with plain water. It's likely that the dairy products will be far too acidic for the mosses, and all you'll end up with is a stinking mess.

Help! The mason mortared in beautiful lichen rock on our new rock veneer piers and covered them for the mortar to set. Several weeks later (too long, I know) we uncovered them and much of the light green lichen is now yellow and black. Will it revive on it's own? What can I do?

I'd advise just uncovering them and seeing how they do. I just noticed some hardened concrete from yesteryear...I thought it was a rock at first...but it was what was left of a broken bag of mortar...covered with lichens!!

The slurry made from a dairy product and moss smooshed together in a blender or food processor is not intended to feed or nourish the moss........it is only done to provide substance to the mixture and a degree of adherence so the moss mixture will stick to the surface it is being applied to. And it does work!

So NOT an Internet myth.......just a misinterpretation of intent :-)

btw, this will not work with lichens, which are an entirely different group of creatures. They grow where they want to grow and you can't encourage them elsewhere!

If that's the case, then why dairy, of all things? Just cook up some cornstarch goo (or arrowroot, gelatin, etc), let it cool, and use that.

Do you happen to know where the dairy idea started? Virtually every reference I've seen refers to nutrients, and I can't find a single plant expert, botanist, or horticulturalist that supports the idea.

Also, this wouldn't apply to rock lichens, but I do know that evernia and usnea can be transplanted: Growth of Usnea longissima Across a Variety of Habitats in the Oregon Coast Range

Regarding the dairy question. It's really all about the acidity of milk, yogurt, buttermilk, etc. The acidity in milk is much better for growing acid-loving plants than the acidity in, say, vinegar. And the dairy adheres better and longer.