Alternative for live moss for pot dressing ?
 

Hi ,does anyone know of a good moss look alike /substitute that you can buy ?.Something is needed to replace live moss for dressing the tops of the pots for Society displays .
Regards Keith

Hmm I don't really know. They only used live moss at the show yesterday. Maybe spanish moss?

I have found a realistic artificial moss ,there is one massive downside to live moss , living bugs & slugs !

I learned the hard way to be careful with spanish moss. I added it as dressing to one of my orchids and it almost killed my orchid. Spanish moss apparently can carry bacteria and disease, so unless it's been cleaned I wouldn't use it.

Paul,

I have used spanish moss, which I grow myself in all my growing areas, in my displays and as pot dressing for years. Perhaps that is why I never have had a problem. It actually acts as a poor man's humidistat in all the areas because if it thrives, I know that the humidity levels are adequate. Perhaps the bad rap it has gotten and you experienced, is because it came from other than clean sources?

CL

really? Never heard about it before... I think living sphagnum moss (which grows on the ground) would be more dangerous (IF!)... are we talking about the same plant? Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides)? I know a lot of people who use it as dressing at orchids shows, and also permanently around Vanda roots...

I must have had an unclean batch then. That's the only thing I could figure out that caused all the issues I had. I never had as many issues until I used that bag and every pot I used it in had mold and bacteria in it towards the end of this year. Thanks for the correction, perhaps I will build up the nerve to try it out again then.

Paul, for what I read in your latest post, I assume you were using packed spanish moss, right? I have never seen it used dead, but always used living plants... maybe that's the problem you had.. was that bag sold for "orchid" purposes or for decoration?

I would certainly have remembered if it said my favorite word on there anywhere, so I'm going to assume it must have been sold for decoration. Perhaps that was the issue then.

A lot of people use Spanish moss in shows as top dressing here in Florida. It can be pulled out of a lot of trees in my area - but a word of caution. Harvest it with insecticide soaked plastic gloves - put it directly into a plastic bag and Microwave the bag before you use it or aquirt a shot of insecticide into it. Spanish moss is usually infested with "Chiggers" or "Red Bugs" which burrow into the skin and leave whelts which itch terribly also hard to kill under the skin. From one who has had the unfortunate experience. It does make the displays look great.
Spanish moss