Moss died 2 weeks after I sealed the jar, what did I miss?

I built a closed terrarium back in March with moss I collected near a creek in Ohio. It looked great for about 10 days, then slowly turned brown and mushy from the center out. Turns out I packed the soil too wet and didn't add any drainage layer, the water just sat at the roots. I've since rebuilt it with a gravel base and activated charcoal, but I'm curious if anyone else has had moss rot like that, did you switch to a different moss type or just change how you watered it?

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the_piper28d ago

That moss from a creek in Ohio is probably a species that likes constant damp but not soaked, and the sealed jar amplifies everything. I've had better luck with moss from rocks or tree bark, it tolerates drying out way more than the soft leafy stuff from the ground. The gravel base helps but I also started opening my jars every few days for the first month to let excess moisture escape, that seemed to stop the center rot before it started. Could be worth trying a different collection spot too, but honestly the watering change did more for me than switching species.