Moss pole for plants helps mimic the natural environment and offers stability to the plant. It is a vertical pole support that helps the plant grow upwards with a great shape. If you plan to grow indoor plants, it will be helpful.
In this article, we will discuss the ways to establish moss pole support, its benefits, and top choices as support for the plants. So, let’s get on with it.
How To Create Moss Pole For Plants?
To create moss pole for plants, you should gather the right material first, and make sure you soak the moss or the coir. Then, you must attach the pole the right way to support it, and make sure you secure the climbing plant on it. Lastly, provide the right care.
Moss poles are an added vertical support for indoor and garden plants. As the plant sticks to the pole, it grows fluently. Also, the pole helps climb plants. All the climbing plant will appreciate the moss pole’s assistance to rise and get their beautiful shape.
The moss pole accommodates moisture. So, it provides the roots with the necessary moisture to grow and retain their nutrients. Thankfully, attaching the moss pole to your plants is easy. You may follow our steps to quickly set up the moss pole and help the plant live in its wild ambience.
– Gather Your Necessary Items
First, you must collect all the necessary items to establish the moss poles. Once you have everything ready at hand, it gets easy to prepare the pole plant support.
Make sure that the tools that you have gathered are sterilized the pair of scissors, in addition have with you some rubber gloves to avoid hurting your hands, in addition to a tarp or a protective work mat.
Apart from the tools, you will also need a pole, or a PVC pipe, some Sphagnum moss. Also, some string or fishing line, and lastly, a large bowl filled with water. Once you have collected all the items, it’s time to start setting up the support.
When it comes to making a choice of the type of moss, remember that moss pole is the leading choice for plant supports. You may alternatively use the coco coir. Moss poles will retain the most moisture. So, it will be ideal for plants.
With a moss pole, you don’t need to water it as frequently as the coco coir. The moss pole is also stable and needs less maintenance. It will be, thereby, useful for people who have little time to maintain their indoor plants.
– Soak the Moss or Coir
First, you must soak the primary material of the plant pole support. It helps the moss to retain moisture.
The moss pole moist is vital to help the support sustain later. The moss will only die soon if it is adequately soaked and feels dry, which means you must be mindful about this aspect. Then, the support will be useless for the indoor plants.
Whether you use sphagnum moss or coir moss, presoaking it will be valuable. It improves their longevity and also allows the plant to grow better. Moreover, it is helpful for the aerial roots to reach the plant support poles.
For this, fill a large bowl with some clean water, away from chemicals. Also, wear gloves to avoid contamination. Put the moss in the water and presoak them for approximately 20 minutes.
Just as the moss soaks appropriately, it will start to expand, as a result of absorbing water. If the expansion is fast, add some water to moisturize them. The expansion of the moss is necessary so that you can cover the entire pole with it, remember that this is an important part.
– Attaching the Poles With the Support
Next, you need to connect the moss with the poles. The pole will offer support to both the moss and the growing plants. We recommend you prepare the poles and moss outside, as it will become a little messy.
It is very essential for you to start by removing the moss from the water bowl. Then, squeeze it to take away the excess water from it. Don’t be afraid to squeeze it firmly because the moisture will remain inside the moss.
Now, attach the moss with the plant stakes. You should use a longer piece of string to secure the coco coir poles with the support so that it will be strong in the long run.
In order to give it a firm stand, you should ensure that the eight to 12 inches support poles remains open. It is crucial because this open pole part will go into the soil. So, covering it with moss won’t bring any benefit.
As you secure the moss pole, use as much string as you need, because this is a crucial part of the process. As a result of the latter, you must make sure that the stake connects with the mosses as tightly as possible. If it is loose, it will detach gradually, so be prepared to tie it right.
– Securing the Climbing Plant With the Pole
After you have prepared the stackable moss pole, you need to add it to the potted plants. First, check the soil and remove any leaves over it.
Insert the base in the soft soil, and you must make sure that at least six to eight inches of the pole goes inside the soil, to keep it tight. Otherwise, the pole will not be secured and may fall away due to the plant’s weight.
Some plants will have aerial roots. These roots must be secured with the stackable pole using strings in this case. For this, use a fishing line or standard string. As you work with the existing roots of the indoor plants, don’t hurt them.
Or else the plants can suffer from different consequences. Indoor and ornamental plants need a lot of time to grow their roots. Also, it is their only medium to collect nutrients from the soil. If the roots are damaged, the plants can die prematurely.
– Provide the Right Care
When your plants grow using a moss pole, it’s necessary to maintain both the moss pole and the plant. You must ensure continuous maintenance of the bendable moss pole to help it remain in good condition.
Or the moss will start drying up. So, it will lack moisture, and the plant roots won’t receive enough water from it. Eventually, the plant will suffer from less water and not grow as it should.
Constantly water the poles right at the top, because you cannot water it right sideways. Gravity will take the water slowly downwards and keep the pole moss moist. However, be careful to leave the coir poles intact, or else it might cause overwatering syndromes to the moss and plants.
Never try separating the plant roots from the support pole. It will damage the roots and the plants. Inspect the strings periodically for any rust and corrosion. If you see it damaged and loosening, fix it. You may need to change the strings once in one or two years, if the pole sees a heavy amount of light, and it would get weak.
With time, the plants will outgrow the pole. As it happens, you need to keep adding poles to the existing ones to secure the plants. It is crucial to provide plant support properly as a result to this it stays on the bendable moss.
Sometimes, you may need to repot the plant due to overwatering and fungus attacks. You must take the moss pole in the new pot if it happens. So, try repotting the plant with a moss pole as carefully as possible.
How To Provide the Specific Moss Pole Support?
To know provide the specific moss pole support, the plant would need some enhancement of the growth, in addition to this, the moss pole would be a solution to the overwatering problem. Lastly, it is a great way to facilitate larger plants with areal roots.
When you grow climbing plants with support, you may wonder before choosing the right moss.
– Enhancing the Growth
When choosing the right moss for your plant, it is crucial to keep in mind the benefits that the moss can provide. Many times, dead plant materials can accumulate and cause the decay of the plant. If you encounter this issue often while gardening, you can choose Sphagnum Moss, because this will be
Sphagnum moss is the top choice for all sorts of indoor plant supports. Plus, these are the peat moss we use to retain soil moisture and have spongy forms.
The spongy part will soak the water and preserve it for a long time. Which means that the sphagnum moss pole will stop decaying the dead plants. Slowly, it forms the peat on the support for unique aesthetics.
Sphagnum moss proliferates and is available at affordable pricing. Overall, you can purchase it for multiple poles. As you choose the sphagnum moss, you may get it in different sizes. Also, you can cut them easily with scissors for staking on multiple support poles and it will enhance the growth.
– Solution to Overwatered Plants
If you are looking for a moss that offers plenty of benefits along with providing support to your plant then pick coconut coir.
Coconut coir is known for its hydroponic properties. It helps the coconut coir pole retain moisture for a longer time. Also, the coir totem can soak up to ten times more water than its actual weight so, it can provide significant support to the growing plant.
Its weight accommodation capacity is helpful for larger plants. As the ornamental plants grow bigger, their weight also keeps increasing. The coconut coir can comfortably accommodate the increased weight of the growing plants. Overall, you don’t need to worry about the plants outgrowing the totem poles and their support.
You may even try bamboo stakes if you prefer using something other than moss poles and coco coir, if your plant does not require a specific amount of humidity to be given. Bamboo stakes last longer than the two primer choices.
In addition, the added moisture-retaining facility will be easy to maintain. The root can grow with it. Lastly, bamboo stakes can accommodate more weight. It helps you grow the plants thicker and better.
– Large Plants With Aerial Roots
Coir moss poles also work brilliantly for support. You can train plants with these coir mosses. Thus, many people use them for both support and shaping ornamental plants. These moss pole sets will be roughly 40 inches to almost 50 inches.
These coir mosses are non-damaging. You may easily tie up the plants with them, also, it will retain water for an extended period and provide adequate moisture to the plants. The coir is made of natural fiber and so is eco-friendly. The coir will cover the supporting poles and stakes.
Metal strings may damage the plants and even cut through them. With the natural coir moss, there is no such problem at all. The plant will stick to the plants and stake for brilliant steadiness.
Conclusion
Moss pole for plants ensures both steadiness and aesthetics for indoor and ornamental plants. They ensure the plants’ roots remain secure and receive adequate moistness.
- When you decide to grow plants vertically, choose moss poles. It can be a worthwhile investment if you have limited space at home.
- You may choose from single or multiple poles, depending on your necessity. To support many plants, you should choose multiple roles of readymade mosses.
- The moss pole must be at the center of the plant pot. If you put the moss pole on the sides, it can fall off easily.
As you see, moss poles are great for stabling plants. It will be a perfect addition if you wish to grow plants with beautiful foliage.
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