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Mounting, watering, and maintaining your moss pole. Here you'll find everything you need to get off to a good start!
Moss Pole Installation
To secure our moss pole in the pot without accessories, insert it into the substrate until it reaches the bottom of the mesh. For additional stability, you can use the matching base or the foundation. In that case, please refer to the base manual or the foundation manual. The length of the moss poles can be extended by stacking another pole on top. For larger plants or taller moss poles, we recommend using a sturdy, heavy plant pot to prevent it from tipping over due to the weight of your plant. For moss poles of 150 cm or higher, we advise using our foundation. As an alternative, you can use cable ties to attach a bamboo stick or plant support to the steel mesh of the moss pole for extra stability. The steel mesh is perfectly suitable for this purpose.
Watering the Moss Pole
The pole can easily be kept moist using the dripper from our webshop. This allows the moss enough time to absorb the water and reduces the risk of overwatering your houseplant. For more information on how to use the dripper, please visit this page. Filling the dripper is equivalent to spraying around 200 times with a plant mister! As an alternative, the moss pole can be kept moist by carefully pouring water over the top or by misting it with a (automatic) plant sprayer. Like most houseplants, the moss pole thrives best in high humidity and away from drafts.
Helping Your Plant Climb
Keeping the moss pole moist encourages the growth of aerial roots from the plant stem. However, it’s not a problem if the pole dries out occasionally, as this also happens in nature (for example, tree bark drying after rainfall). To give your plant a little extra support, the root tips can be guided against the pole using handy clips. This also allows you to secure the plant to the pole in a way that suits your preference. Each moss pole comes with five clips included. After some time, the plant will naturally grow and attach itself to the moss pole!
Watering the Potting Soil
If you water the moss pole frequently enough, the potting soil will hardly need to be watered separately. Some of the water from the moss pole will naturally drain into the soil. Climbing plants prefer an airy potting mix that allows excess water to drain well and evaporate easily. A good example is a mix of coco chips, perlite, and sphagnum moss. In addition, coco chips and perlite help make the soil structure more stable, which benefits your moss pole. Take a look at our carefully designed potting mix for climbing plants in our webshop!
Pruning Your Plant
In general, it’s difficult to grow a houseplant taller than two meters, as it will get too close to the ceiling. At that height, the upper part of the plant doesn’t receive enough light to continue producing large leaves. Luckily, your plant is supported by a moss pole! This allows you to cut your plant in half at around 1 meter without losing the top section. The plant will already have developed roots inside the moss pole. You can simply transfer the cut-off section, moss pole and all, into a new pot. Any roots that have grown from the top section into the lower part of the moss pole are best preserved as much as possible. Gently pull these roots out of the pole and place them into the substrate of the new pot. This way, you’ll have a beautiful new plant, while the original plant continues to produce large leaves. Thanks to the high-quality sphagnum moss we use in our moss poles, they have a long lifespan and can be reused multiple times.
Dealing with Mold
Although sphagnum moss naturally breaks down slowly, it’s possible for some mold to develop on the moss pole. This is most commonly seen when the moss is moistened for the first time. These fluffy molds help break down organic residues, which can then be absorbed by the plant. So for your plant, this is actually beneficial. It’s a sign of a healthy ecosystem in the substrate. The mold is also not harmful to your health, unlike black mold. However, it may affect the visual appearance of your moss pole. You can easily remove the mold by spraying it off the pole from close range with a plant mister or by gently rubbing it off. In many cases, it won’t return. If it does come back, it may be a sign that you are watering your moss pole too frequently. Only water the pole when the upper half feels slightly dry.
