Homemade Moss Poles..What Have You Used?

I made one from chicken wire and stuffed it with spaghum, but it's messy. Spaghum falls out everywhere when it gets dry. Is there a tidier way to make a homemade moss pole? My Monstera and some philos need one!

GH

After trying everything from moss covered poles to bamboo, I eventually settled on a wooden trellis for my monstera. So far, it seems to like that the best. For my pothos, I've found a good 3-5" tree trunk works best (something that won't rot in the soil easily of course).

The best moss covered poles I've ever seen though are the type that have a round plastic casing with square holes. The moss is packed down in the casing. It makes it really easy for the aerial roots to get in there and suck water out of the poll (and you can water it from the top). Plus, most of the poles are stackable. Only problem is, they aren't super sturdy when stacked, and monsteras are heavy. That's why I ended up going with a trellis.

-John

This message was edited Feb 26, 2007 8:13 AM

This message was edited Feb 26, 2007 8:14 AM

Hi,
I made one recently, but instead of using chicken wire I used window screen and stuffed it with sphagnum...the finer screen holds the sphagnum in and I just nick little holes where the roots are growing.
Hope this helps....

Thanks Guys! I like the idea of window screen. The holes are tiny enough to contain the spaghum and the material is viable enough to poke holes in for the aerials.

Guess I can use the chicken wire to keep those darn squirrels out of my pots!!!! Ugh!!!!

GH

Threegardeners: What do you mean when you say you nick little holes where the roots are growing? Do you mean you cut the holes in the screen to a little larger size for the roots to get through? I was wondering if you could wrap a 4x4 post with spaghnum and then staple the screen around the post to hold the moss in? Or do you staple the screen around the pole and then stuff the spaghnum moss down into it from the top? Hope someone can post a photo .... I need the visual to be able to get it! LOL. I might try the wooden trellis thing, but like the idea of the spaghnum pole too.

Yes, I nick the screen a bit to let the roots go through easier. What I did was, laid the screen down on the floor...where the cats and dog were locked away from for a little bit, spread the dampened sphagnum evenly all over it, then rolled the post up and stapled as I went. Kind of like making a sphagnum cinnamon bun....I used the longer staples, as the plant grows you can see where the roots are and just nick the screen a bit.
I wish I could post a pic cause it turned out really well....Hope this helped some

When I made one, I used a fine (and almost transparent) plastic mesh that I bought at the fabric department at WalMart....it was only a few bucks for a whole lot of it, too.

Would love to see your pictures.

Yes i would love to see pictures as well.. I need to get/make a few

Char

So this may be "way out there" but what about using glue, spray or otherwise to hold the moss to a wooden pole. I have a bottle of Gator Glue which is suppose to be one of the strongest glues. Has anyone tried this? What do you think?

Judy

I was thinking I would try a length of PVC plumbing pipe instead of the wood post. It wouldn't rot in the soil and I could drill holes in it.

I bet you could find paint which would adhere to the PVC. Painted brown the PVC would not distract

If you decide to do this, please, please post pictures as you go.

Judy

That's actually a *great idea*, dodgedame!
By using PVC, when you insert it in the soil, the pipe itself would also 'fill up' with soil, which would provide the pole with more stability in the pot!

I don't think you'd need to drill holes, though, if you wrapped the pipe with sphagnum and mesh.
I used a large thick wooden dowel for the one I made, and I didn't drill holes.

I was down by the river years ago and picked up a long piece of drift wood, stuck it in a BIG BIG pot and planted different philos all around it. It lasted for about 7 years.

Judy

how fine of a mesh of chicken wire are you using?

I bought a .25" square mesh roll that I want to try making a pole from.

Oh I have another pole so while moving plants out on the porch, I looked at it real hard and I'm sure it's an old cedar limb I picked up out in the woods. I'll take pictures tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Judy

Gaia, it's not that fine. I don't know exact dimensions, though. It must be too big, whatever the size. I'm going to grab some of the ideas ya'll have offered when the time comes to pot up here shortly. Thanks!

GH

I was going to suggest the same thing as gaia, it's hardware cloth and comes in a roll so you already have your shape, just cut it the length you want for however big it is, the holes are small enough that stuff shouldn't be falling out and big enough for roots.