Hey Plant Parents!, Does anyone have effective ways on watering your moss poles for your philos. I have a Silver Sword, Heart Leaf, and Birkin that I’m trying to get to grow up on their poles but I’m not totally sure how to keep them wet because it’s coming on winter and it gets really dry here in the west.
What kind are they ? Usually you can just up end a waterbottle on their top. Sometimes the spill though, depending on the moss compaction. You can also use a solder or drill to put a hole in the top of the water cap and upend it, or put in a self-watering plant wick
1 like They are Bluepro moss poles, I found them on Amazon. Thank you so much!
1 like I'm not familiar with that one, but there's 1000s lol. As long as it's an actual moss pole and not a coir pole, one of those should work. I'd just check the soil for a bit to make sure it's not just going straight to the soil and keeping it saturated. Or do it on the day you're supposed to water the plant
0 likes Thank you!
0 likesI use plastic water bottles with two little holes in the lid from twisting the tip of a steak knife through, then let it drain on its own. I use sphagnum moss and they still dry out every couple days due to the dry air where I’m at as well.
Okay thank you I’ll definitely use this
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Ummmm... your plant is GORGEOUS!!😳😍
1 likeThank you!! She’s a very happy queen 💃
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Supporting what others have said with one addition: rather than put holes in the bottle caps (which can take some fine-tuning to get the right size) I prefer to buy a pack of water bottles with the sort of nipple-style cap to begin with. They come ready-to-use and I like that I can also use them easily to water smaller plants because I don’t have a thin-necked watering can and not everything wants to be drenched. I would also consider what type of poles you have. If they are plastic with more of a grid at the front then you’re doing great for winter. I used to use the metal mesh ones but in the winter they dried so quickly I couldn’t keep up, and if you’re in that boat I’d consider transplanting over to the plastic ones.
1 like Also this wasn’t your question but I’m gonna mention it because it would’ve saved me so much time if I figured it out sooner: some plants will naturally root into the moss pole with every node, but others will need a little encouragement. I spent a literal year wondering why my melanochrysum wasn’t sizing up, because it looked like it was growing tightly up the pole. Turns out it was only rooting enough to anchor and not enough to grow. Invest the $3-5 in a roll of grafting tape, wrap each node, and get excited for the more consistent size-up.
0 likes Just for reference, all these leaves had a six month growth interval between them. I’m sure season played some role, but the biggest change is that I started to use grafting tape on every node after the second picture.
Thank you so much! This additional help is greatly appreciated!
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