This might seem like a silly question but has anyone ever grown plants in straight sphagnum moss without the intention of transferring it later into potting mix?
I guess the disadvantage of moss is that it holds too much water, but I've been rehabbing a few cutting for about 5 months and they've been in moss for the whole duration. They seem to be growing fine but I wonder if I am hindering its growth, or it's ability to mature properly like they would in nature. I am fertilising regularly but I can't bring myself to take it out of moss and disturb the root system... I feel so guilty every time I mess with roots while re-potting

yes it is totally possible depending on the plants. The plants that are true epiphytes which would normally be growing up in a tree than in the ground do very very well in moss. I grow my Anthurium veitchii's, my Anthurium warocqueanum, many of my Anthurium spectabile young plants, my Anthurium metallicum, Anthurium cutucuense, and others in moss in big 14" coir lined baskets. This method allows a the plant a full ability to make adventitious roots that hand out of the basket, these would normally attach to something, but they can just dangle if humidity is high enough. even the Pachyneuriums (the bird nest types) will grow in moss or just orchid bark....they make a lot of surface roots that tend to be brittle and they do NOT like to be disturbed, and, once they get really huge, its yard to repot them. They would normally be perched up in trees on sturdy branches, but few of us probably have the ability to put them up there logistically. When I planted big Schlectendalii in the ground 15+ years ago, I made a hollow in the edit and willed it with orchid bark. I can take a picture of the roots now, all these years later,,,they are a big nest above the ground which is where they like to be

Thanks Gina that makes a lot of sense. How do you go about re-"potting" anthuriums that are mounted?

I have a P. pastazanum thats been growing in moss for about 5 months. It's doing fine but I feel like a monster tearing the roots from the moss for repotting. Haha
I guess I should just bite the bullet!!!

For truly mounted plant there is no repotting. The ones I have mounted to posts and cork slabs have latched onto the mount and the roots grow like they would in nature, just running all over the mount.

The ones I put in moss in coir baskets I never 'repot', if i feel like I need to I can attach another rmossfilled basket to the underside.

Pastazanum is a terrestrial philo though. I would not have thought to leave it in moss. It is a very popular landscaping plant in South Florida where those lucky brutes can plant it out in the yard, where it will fill a flowerbed. I don't have Pasta but I have Plowmanii and Mamei and I have both of those in the ground...they creep and tunnel and send up new plants sometimes 2-3 ft away from the last plant so pot culture for them never occurred to me

I've always wondered this too! I have a few variegated syng that seem to be doing great in the sphag. I've been deciding whether to go to soil or not. I think I might do 1 in potting mix and leave one in sphag to experiment.

I have a bunch of propagations of stuff in moss. I grow it that way so that I can ship it. Its a lot easier to ship moss than soil

I've always wondered this too! I have a few variegated syng that seem to be doing great in the sphag. I've been deciding whether to go to soil or not. I think I might do 1 in potting mix and leave one in sphag to experiment.