Richard's Plant Care Tips:MOSS POLES

Moss poles – What grows up, does not have to come back down

Many of the great ideas in plant care and décor are inspired by how plants grow in nature. Moss poles are another example of the concept of growing your plants in a way that tries to mimic the natural conditions in which plants thrive.

There are a lot of variations in design, but basically, a moss pole is a large stake wrapped with moss or coco fiber. It is used with climbing plants that have adapted in nature to climb up trees, rocks, and walls. These include some of the most popular houseplants like the monstera, philodendron, syngonyum, and pothos. When used correctly, a moss pole allows these plants to climb as they would in nature, which in results in bigger, faster, taller, and healthier growth. We have had amazing results and highly recommend you try this out.

Most houseplant enthusiasts have been doing this:

When their plants really want to do this

A moss pole allows you to mimic nature to some degree, like this

pothos on moss pole

Besides having terrestrial roots (in the ground) like other plants, climbing plants also have aerial roots growing on their stems, usually near the nodes. In nature, the aerial roots grab onto trees, rocks or other moist surfaces and attach themselves. This helps the plant spread upwards and outwards so it has more sun exposure to it’s leaves, and a bigger root system that absorbs a high amount of water and nutrients from rain, run off, condensation and humidity that does not always reach deep into the soil.

Moss poles provide a surface that allows your climbing plants to grow upward as they would in nature. Aerial roots are attached to the moss/coco surface of the moss pole, which retains water moisture. By watering or misting the moss pole regularly, the aerial roots are able to collect water and nutrients. Plants that are potted in the traditional way provide little or no water or nutrition through the aerial roots, whereas a plant on a moss pole has it’s terrestrial roots AND aerial roots fully focussed on helping the plant grow. This results in the plant growing much more vigorously.

How do I use it ?

The bottom of the pole is inserted into the soil of a pot. The top portion of the pole that is above the soil is wrapped in moss/coco fiber. The plant is attached to the pole so that it is growing up and so that the aerial roots are in contact with the moss/coco as much as possible. We use floral pins that look like big staples, but there are many methods and opinions about the best way so use your imagination. Just make sure you don’t puncture, crush, or damage the plant when attaching it to the pole. Water, spray or mist the pole regularly. Otherwise, just take care of your plant as you usually would including regular watering of the soil, fertilizer, etc.

The poles aren’t that nice looking, or at least I haven’t seen any that are. If you do it right, you shouldn’t see much, if any of the pole, within a fairly short amount of time. The point of having a moss pole is to grow a fantastic, tall, thick luscious plant that covers or dwarfs the moss pole. It is ok of course to see more of the pole when you are starting out.

I really can’t say enough about how great the results have been so far in our experiments, and we encourage you to do the same. Let us know how your moss pole projects went, as well as your feedback or comments. And if you are looking for a coco fiber pole or a show stopping moss pole monstera/syngonyum/pothos/philodendron, or just want to come talk about plants… come by the shop anytime.

Plant some happiness !