How often to water Spanish Moss?

13 years ago

I am trying to grow some Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) on a tree in my yard, and I'm clueless as to how often it needs to be watered during our hot, dry Bay Area summer. Most of the info I can find online says not to water it, but it's also written for people live in its natural habitat. In southern Louisiana, where my plant is from, they receive a lot of rain and humidity during the summer which provides the plant with enough moisture.

The plant in my yard gets dappled sunlight most of the day and is also located near a swimming pool, which I hope will raise the humidity a bit. I water the moss usually 2-3 times a week with the hose, but I'm unsure if this is too much or too little. So far I've succeeded in not killing it, since it's still green and supple looking, but I can't really tell if it's thriving or not since it's such a slow grower to begin with. I guess I'll know how happy it is later in the year when it either flowers or doesn't.

Is anyone else here growing Spanish Moss outdoors? There's a lot of conflicting and just plain incorrect information about this species on the internet (like that it's sensitive to freezing temperatures, when in fact much of its habitat drops into the mid 20s or even lower in the winter).

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Comments (12)

Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
Let us know if by some miracle it makes it.

Dan
nmcnear
Original Author
13 years ago
I think the fact that it's still alive is a bit of a miracle already! Here are some photos of it:

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Hi Gonz and Lisa, Thanks for the interesting links. Now I know where the name came from. Also another very interesting pice of information from Gonz's article: Why Moss is Desirable for Stuffing: No known insect will attack moss fibre, eat, destroy or live within it. I wonder if the same applies to the living moss, and if so, could it act as a deterrent to insects if it is draped around the top of pots containing broms? For those who don't know of Lantana, it is a real pest in Australia as the description from a recent A.B.C. Gardening Australia fact sheet explains: "Lantana camara might look like a strikingly attractive plant and in some respects the foliage and flowers are quite beautiful. The species is a genus of the verbena family, native to Mexico, the Carribean and Central and South America. But it is now known as a weed of national significance and is regarded as one of Australia's worst weeds. It's invasive, it has potential to spread and it is impacting on the economy and the environment. Lantana was first recorded in Australia in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens in 1841, and a few years later it had spread to gardens up the east coast of the country. By the 1860s it was reported as a weed in both Sydney and in Brisbane. But in spite of its weed status, a few specimens are located in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. Botanica calls lantana the "Jekyll and Hyde of plants" because it's reviled in warmer, wetter parts of world, where it invades pastures and forests and is poisonous to stock, but in cool, temperate parts of the world it forms quite an attractive shrub. Lantana is a problem because it forms a dense thicket. It usually invades disturbed land and river margins, particularly open, sunny areas. Given the right conditions, it spreads quickly. Lantana is a lalopathic, releasing chemicals into the surrounding soil to prevent seed germination, notably of the native flora, so that it eventually takes over native bushland. As with other successful weeds, lantana can spread in different ways. It layers - that is, it produces roots from where the plant touches the ground, and that produces new plants. But more importantly it's propagated by seed. These are ingested by birds and foxes, which spread them through their droppings. This means it can spread over a distance very quickly. But perhaps more importantly, it can produce up to 12,000 seeds from one plant in a year. No wonder it's become a problem weed." I know it's a bit off track but just out of interest for other GW members, I once had an orchid growing mate (about 40 years ago) who had a cousin who owned a farming property in Northern NSW and on his property Spanish Moss didn't grow on the trees, but instead was prolific in amongst the Lantana bushes. Most Australian farmers will quickly eradicate any Lantana on their property but my friend said his cousin preferred to leave it there because he liked the look of the enormous clumps of Spanish Moss hanging from it. It worked for us too, because every time my mate came back from up north, he would bring a large bag full of moss with him which we shared and hung above our orchids, and that is where the Spanish Moss I have in my garden today originally came from. I know it's a useless bit of info., but there it is. All the best, Nev.
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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Cooperative Extension Service Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Spanish Moss and Ball Moss1 Nancy P. Arny2 Many animals use Spanish moss for protection, taking cover in thick masses of pendent strands. Many insects and other invertebrates hide in moss masses, making it an unlikely choice for bedding by campers. The prevalence of "red bugs" or chiggers in the plant is legendary. Spiders, thrips, and dozens of other insects hide in the moss as well. This abundance of invertebrates may or may not be the reason that at least two species of bats also use festoons of Spanish moss for cover. Both red bats and pipistrelles use masses of Spanish moss as day-time resting sites. (copied and pasted from the University of Florida Website) Chiggers along with all their creepy little friends thrive in Spanish moss. Anyone who lives around it knows not to handle it with bare hands or arms. Be careful if you don't want to get eaten up!! Does anyone know how to kill the bugs in Spanish moss so you can bring it inside to decorate with?
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Thanks for the great suggestion dottie! With the amount of rain we've been having lately, there is no shortage. I collect it in plastic milk cartons (gallon size) for specific indoor plants that are more sensitive, such as my various 'ground' mosses (cap moss, rock moss, etc.) I am trying to grow 'regular' moss as much as I can in the yard. I'm even pulling the grass out of my larger moss patches. I'll never be able to fully convert our lawn completely over to moss, as we have too much sun. Yet, where it wants to grow, it's encouraged! Moss is a natural "Lightning bug Nursery" and there aren't as many as I remembered when I was younger. They are so sensitive to pollution and we may eventually loose them. I feel for those who never saw lightning bugs! It's not summer without them! When kids collect them and put them in jars, then tell their mom to "poke holes in the lid so they can breathe," that's what KILLS them! They need a humid environment, so add wet grass and keep the lid on tight, then release them in the morning! ....and I ran off on a tangent....again ;)
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I have only seen some comments now, so I should, let everyone know that my bush never recovered and never grew any more over another year, so I had to dump it. I see only "Like" and "Save" tabs here, so then no way to reply individually. Help me out if I am wrong. So, Lars I got it from East London, on the South East coast of Africa and took it home to Windhoek, Central Namibia, which has a very dry climate, especially in winter with a relative humidity normally less that ten. Angie G I fear yours looks just like mine did, only mine was a much smaller bush .
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wally_1936
13 years ago
Spanish moss grows on dead parts of the trees and bushes. You do not need to water them and after a while they can become invasive and end up killing a tree if not kept under control. They only grow on the dead limbs but will hang down and smother the lower branches as well then they will move down. They do look nice until they kill a bush or tree that you love.
kathi_mdgd
13 years ago
I grow it,used to grow it on my australian tree fern,but we had a very cold(for s.ca) a few years ago and my tree died.I took the moss and put some on the driftwood with my tillandsias,and some i just have growing on a pot hanger and both are doing quite well.I water it when i water the rest of the plants.
Kathi
nmcnear
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the replies!

Wally - It's a common and persistent misconception in the South that Spanish Moss harms plants. It's an epiphytic bromeliad, an air plant, that does not harm trees any more than any other epiphyte. These plants grow from only nutrients they collect from the air or from water that runs off the tree, and they have no roots to penetrate, strangle, or otherwise harm the tree. When you have a tree that's already stressed, diseased, dying, or what have you, the plant can aggravate those problems when it grows faster than the tree and weighs down branches and shades what remaining leaves are last. Spanish Moss can and does grow on healthy trees, but it grows faster on dead/dying branches because they are rotting and leaching nutrients. It's not the moss that kills it though.

Since I have a lot of family in southern Louisiana, which has probably the densest Spanish Moss growth of anywhere, I've seen lots and lots and lots of the stuff throughout my life. The vast majority of trees down there have tons of Spanish Moss growing on them, and they are perfectly healthy.

Our climate out here is also vastly different from the South... It's not unusual for us to not see a single drop of rain during May, June, July, August, September, and well into October. Spanish Moss can tolerate drought, but it will go dormant. We get all of our water during winter when it's cold, and Spanish Moss also goes dormant at temperatures below about 50 degrees. So between the hot, dry summer and the cold, wet winter, there really isn't an appropriate time for Spanish Moss to grow naturally in California. It will only grow when it can receive moisture from people during the summer, and therefore the chance of it becoming invasive in California is basically nil.

Kathi - That's great to hear! Is your Spanish Moss flowering at all? How about your other Tillandsias? Do they spend the winter outdoors or do you bring them in? Spanish Moss can handle freezes no problem, but I always thought the other species were more sensitive to low temperatures.
kathi_mdgd
13 years ago
It has flowered being where it is,and my tillandsias and broms stay outside year round.I don't have any plants at all that i have to bring inside in the winterI even left one of my anthieriums outside this past winter.It turned ugly brown,but i trimmed it back and it's sending up new shoots now.
kathi_mdgd
13 years ago
Here are a few pictures from this year.Sorry you'll have to copy and paste.
Kathi

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v699/Kathimdgd/bromiliads-tilandsias-asst%20%20%209-10/Tillandsias%20%20april%202011/
Chatbud
10 years ago
Quick question everyone

Can spanish moss take full direct sun?
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
10 years ago
I have gobs of it..by bay area standards. I water every other day in summer..everyday when hot. And the more sun,the better it does. They like a breeze..they wont do as well in those calm stagnant areas of the yard. Your biggest villains are birds..who will take every last strand to make nests. Find a spot in sun where there is much people traffic to shoosh the birds away. Or,cats.
Lars
10 years ago
You won't kill Spanish moss by overwatering it. I had lots of it on a live oak tree when I lived in Houston, and it was extremely humid there - almost as bad as Louisiana. I have air plants now that I water every other day or so, and one of them bloomed this year - see attached photo. This plant is in a hanging plastic pot with no soil.

Lars
bahia
10 years ago
It will easily take full sun or bright shade in zone 16 conditions, and wetting it down with a hose daily in warmer weather suits it fine. My only problems with it also were due to birds absconding with it for nests. There are quite a few other Tillandsia species that are easy to grow outdoors year round here in the SF Bay Area. Check out the info on the local SF Bromeliad Society website, and you may want to join the tour of some SF gardens next July 14th, you'll need to sign up on the web site to get directions. Tillandsia species which I grow outdoors in Berkeley include bergeri, stricta, tenuifolia, somnians, ampla to name just a few.
kathi_mdgd
10 years ago
Lars,your tilly looks like the same one I have,mine has grown almost to a full ball.It grows in one of those wire baskets with some spaghnum moss.
Kathi

How often to water Spanish Moss?

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Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)

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How often to water Spanish Moss?

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