Letβs talk moss polesβ¦
My Swiss cheese vine is growing like crazy! I put a moss pole in it when I got this beauty but I know absolutely nothing about how to properly use it. Tips wanted. #MonsteraMob #Monstera #HappyPlants #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #PlantAddict #NewGrowth #MossPole #GrowRecs #monsteraswisscheesevine #TipsandTricks #SwissCheeseVine
0ft to light, indirect
8β pot with drainage
Last watered 1 week ago
45
Best Answer
Hi there, from the photo you uploaded that doesnβt appear to be a moss pole. A moss pole is a specific type of hollow support that you manually fill with sphagnum moss and keep that moist usually by filling it with water/nutrient solution. It then acts as an additional substrate for the roots along the nodes to burrow into and get nutrients from. What youβve got there is a standard pole - you donβt really need to do anything to it and your adansonii is obviously pretty happy but it looks like it will outgrow the pole soon so my suggestion would be to extend it because your baby is going to want to keep climbing! Good luck :)
@WelsomeRhodotus itβs actually a coir moss pole that can be extended. Iβve added another 6βish piece to this. Should I be misting to encourage attaching?
I feel like the company probably shouldnβt have called it that because βmoss poleβ is a distinct concept to βcoir totem poleβ. Semantics! Anyway, it wonβt hurt to mist but I would encourage attachment by starting to attach bits of your stem using Velcro/ twine/ soft flexible wire/ whatever you have on hand. I use soft flexible wire (itβs a metal wire enclosed in a thick squishy rubbery coating). The idea is just to help train it a little and your baby will do the rest on its own :) you will most likely need to extend it quite a bit though. The alternative is to have a bushy trailing basket arrangement with the vines hanging down rather than climbing. If your baby gets too long on the pole you could give that a go - theyβre easy to chop and grow from cuttings so you pretty much have an endless supply for future possibilities!
@MarkedPinusmugo legginess is generally an indicator of insufficient light. These donβt like to be indirect sun but a good rule of thumb if you are not using grow lights is βcan my plant see the sky?β If not, position so that it can, without exposing it to direct sunlight. If you only have dark spots or spots that are too sunny in your house, I would use sheer curtains to reduce the intensity of the light and bring it closer to the window or if itβs the other way around, a grow light could be a nice option - depending on where you are in the world, amazon has lots of options - if youβre only using it for one plant, I would get an E27 grow light bulb around 20W which can just go into a standard standing lamp. You will know when it has enough light because your intermodal spaces (the length of the vine between nodes) will be closer together. In the meantime, you could give you baby a drastic haircut and chop the vine off from where it has started to go leggy or lose leaves and give it time to regrow. The vine you chop off can be cut into smaller sections that will easily propagate in water. I usually have 2 or 3 nodes on each section and just place in water, changing the water every week. When they have grown roots I repot into a few new pots to make lovely bushy arrangements. If youβre in the winter months right now, this will take time :)
I personally donβt think it has to be watered. I know they say you should but aerial@roots on most types of plants theyβre used on arenβt for water. It support. If you just tie it to the pole it will grow into it. And Iβm not sure why they said thatβs not a moss pole? Itβs a pole with moss wrapped in twine isnβt it ???
@MarkedPinusmugo Hi again, in your oasis, it looks like your plant is placed near the AC - that could be why youβre getting leaf loss as well. My advice would be the same but just not to have your plants near the AC, they hate that cold/hot air, the sudden changes to temp and AC tends to dry them out quicker too. :)
@WelsomeRhodotus thank you for the images. This is how I have the closer vines attached currently :) I have done the same with one of my pothos
@Nikki1225 oh nice, was this pothosβ vines attached and wrapped around the pole after they had grown already? Or did you train it up the pole? One of the cool things that can happen when the plant is trained up (ie. you start to attach it to the pole when before the plant has grown its beautiful long vines) is that the leaves can become a bit larger. But you generally wonβt see those really gigantic leaves unless youβre using the sphagnum-filled moss pole I described earlier because it essentially serves as both additional support and an extra source of nutrients as the plant grows. they look stunning though are waaaaaaay more maintenance! Your adansonii is looking gorgeous and the vine doesnβt look super long yet so youβre probably in the sweet spot right now where you can start training it nicely :)
I actually gave a bunch of that kind. But Iβve been biting the fatter stackable net wrapped ones last 2x. And I need another now ofc . But I like them better. 2 point instead of 1 so more stable. When you do water em they hold it better and are easier to hydrate. And theyβre stackable π€·ββοΈ. Plus I just think@they look better.
@TheConservator looks great! π my issue with the sphagnum filled poles is what to do when I go away so Iβve stuck to supports that donβt require additional watering/spraying for that reason. Yours is fab - is it on a hanging system?
@WelsomeRhodotus I donβt really water my moss poles. I just strap@the plant to it. Aerial roots arenβt for moisture
@TheConservator certainly for monsteras and pothos etc if you keep those poles moistened with nutrient solution the aerial roots that cling will actually start to take nutrients in! After burrowing into the pole. Itβs crazy and amazing - the leaves get huge because youβre essentially adding another substrate in to feed them. But itβs a lot of upkeep. Iβve seen some incredible specimens :)
@Nikki1225 companies tend to interchange moss and coir for poles names. But once you get familiar you can choose what you like and the next time youβll know the term youβre looking for. In order to use a coir pole property the fibers need to be loosened. Most people that choose coir do it because they donβt want to deal with keeping a moss pole moist consistently. So the coco coir pole fiber are just there for the aerial roots to weave into. But youβre supposed to take a steel wire brush or a vented hair brush and rub it back and forth vigorously on the fibers to loosen them up. I also attach my plants to them with plant Velcro like @WelsomeRhodotus was indicating above.
@TheOddAsity ahh thank you for this! I know for next time with the pothos! I have her wrapped around and secured.
@TheConservator itβs coconut coir. Not moss. An actual sphagnum moss pole is always better. The coir is a bit tough to get attached. Doesnβt stay damp at all.
@NovelRosaryvine you know thatβs funny. I mean I know itβs coco coir. But for some reason I just actually never even thought about it lol. Says moss pole on the bag I grab it stick it in the soil@and go on my way. Even talking about it. Seeing it everyday and touching it my brain still just thought moss pole π. I actually feel a little mentally challenged right now ππ€·ββοΈ
@TheOddAsity you made my heart happy! Tonight I gave my Philodendron white wizard a coir pole as you suggested. Placed at the back because there are SO many aerial roots. I canβt wait to watch her grow!
@TheConservator itβs ok. I did not put 2:2 together either! Iβm happy I asked the question because I learned something new :)
@novelrosaryvine I think it's personal choice Hun.
And one thing I've found with my plant obsession is that different things really do work better for different people! There is no "always" about ANYTHING to with plants imo ππ
I'm a #Monsteraaddict (I love all tropicals, but Monstys are my "thing" lol) and personally I don't like moss poles AT ALL. Its a fallacy that they mimic the natural environment, they're just an extension of the pot nothing more. I find them fiddly and annoying and they take as much upkeep as the plants... Plus I'm not planning to chop mine so why bother? (& If I do I just air layer!). You can't easily reposition them (Monstera especially tend to grow up and sideways, which isn't great if you've anchored the lower stem into a moss pole!) and they're useless if you have multiple plants in one pot.
I started with coir poles (which you CAN dampen to allow the roots to stick on their own but it's not necessary... they're designed to have a plant tied to them not have roots trained into them. They just work differently to moss) but I've been moving all mine to Kratiste, Biobased poles (which are FAB!).
The aerial roots stick to the specially textured surface but don't penetrate, so its actually much closer to the function a tree serves in the wild than a moss pole. They're entirely made of reclaimed and upcycled bio waste (mostly elephant grass and Tattie peelings!) so really ecological sound, they stack, come with their own easy use clips and my plants are all loving them so far! π
Plus they look really neat! π x
And one thing I've found with my plant obsession is that different things really do work better for different people! There is no "always" about ANYTHING to with plants imo ππ
I'm a #Monsteraaddict (I love all tropicals, but Monstys are my "thing" lol) and personally I don't like moss poles AT ALL. Its a fallacy that they mimic the natural environment, they're just an extension of the pot nothing more. I find them fiddly and annoying and they take as much upkeep as the plants... Plus I'm not planning to chop mine so why bother? (& If I do I just air layer!). You can't easily reposition them (Monstera especially tend to grow up and sideways, which isn't great if you've anchored the lower stem into a moss pole!) and they're useless if you have multiple plants in one pot.
I started with coir poles (which you CAN dampen to allow the roots to stick on their own but it's not necessary... they're designed to have a plant tied to them not have roots trained into them. They just work differently to moss) but I've been moving all mine to Kratiste, Biobased poles (which are FAB!).
The aerial roots stick to the specially textured surface but don't penetrate, so its actually much closer to the function a tree serves in the wild than a moss pole. They're entirely made of reclaimed and upcycled bio waste (mostly elephant grass and Tattie peelings!) so really ecological sound, they stack, come with their own easy use clips and my plants are all loving them so far! π
Plus they look really neat! π x
Iβm no fan of poles really either. I actually like the natural look I see on the huge ones at my nurseries. I just havenβt figured out how they get them to have such a birds nest look so I use the annoying poles @JenniB81. Any clues how Iβd love to hear ?
@TheOddAsity I never knew you were supposed to loosen the fibers! Iβm sure they work better that way!
@JenniB81 Oooh your poles are super cool! Iβm going to look into them. So many interesting choices here! I am a bit sick of my moss poles tbh. Too much work! And itβs hard to keep them moist without overwatering my plants. They do want something to climb though! I will be looking into those cool ones you have !
I feel the same about moss poles tbh Shannon @babevila π I haven't ever used them!
I always had coir ones, but these Kratiste, Biobased poles are REALLY fab! They also come in there sizes... Little skinny stake type poles, standard size and they do a flattened "wide" pole as well for bigger plants π₯° I love them! (Please excuse the messy carpet! Cats + recycled paper cat litter + carpet = HELLA MESS! π€£π€£) x
I always had coir ones, but these Kratiste, Biobased poles are REALLY fab! They also come in there sizes... Little skinny stake type poles, standard size and they do a flattened "wide" pole as well for bigger plants π₯° I love them! (Please excuse the messy carpet! Cats + recycled paper cat litter + carpet = HELLA MESS! π€£π€£) x
@theconservator ooh please take photos the next time you're there! If love to see what poles you mean!
If I didn't stay in such a damp country I'd love to just use tree branches tbh! But drying them out would take MONTHS rather than weeks in Scotland! π€£ (especially this time of year! Lol) X
If I didn't stay in such a damp country I'd love to just use tree branches tbh! But drying them out would take MONTHS rather than weeks in Scotland! π€£ (especially this time of year! Lol) X
@MarkedPinusmugo you need to miss and keep your moss pole moist in order for your area roots to cling and then grow . be careful how would you make those poles because that word will go down into your plant . I personally use a different kind of muscle and that would be the one that you pack yourself. I got mine off of Temu οΏΌ. They sell both kind and theyβre just wonderful.
I'm tempted to try @theconservator's suggestion too... Though (as I said) I generally avoid moss poles. I like to be able to reposition mine and you can't do that easily with moss!
If you mist the Kratiste poles the aerial roots will "stick" to the specialized texture of them, but not grow into them.. so you still need to air layer or the like before chopping the plant up, but you can "peel" the roots gently off of the pole if you need to reposition it, whilst still providing a really "authentic" kind of support for your climbers... God, I should work for them shouldn't I?! Hahahaha π€£π€£π€£
Honestly, I'm totally sold having used them a few times now! Plus they're super easy to attach and adjust your plant onto because of the recycled plastic clips that just slide into the sculpted holes all the way up it! They're utterly brilliant! π₯°
Let me know what you think of you DO try them honey? I'd love to know! Xx
If you mist the Kratiste poles the aerial roots will "stick" to the specialized texture of them, but not grow into them.. so you still need to air layer or the like before chopping the plant up, but you can "peel" the roots gently off of the pole if you need to reposition it, whilst still providing a really "authentic" kind of support for your climbers... God, I should work for them shouldn't I?! Hahahaha π€£π€£π€£
Honestly, I'm totally sold having used them a few times now! Plus they're super easy to attach and adjust your plant onto because of the recycled plastic clips that just slide into the sculpted holes all the way up it! They're utterly brilliant! π₯°
Let me know what you think of you DO try them honey? I'd love to know! Xx