Hi all;
Home alone today, so I decided to take a stab at an old Japanese garden technique called Kokedama, or moss ball garden.
Not having the traditional Japanese soils of Keto tsuchi, Akadama, and sand for this, I made up my own soil mix of 2-parts Pro-mix, 1-part used ADA Aquasoil, 1 part garden soil, as the Keto tsuchi substitute (think of a Michigan peat-loam) and 1/2-part Flourite (for the Akadama, a naturally occurring calcined clay). Mix the ingredients together and then add water until you get a firm mud ball. The ball should be roughly the size of a baseball, although my first one is somewhere between a baseball and a softball.
While the technique traditionally uses terrestrial plants like Japanese Maple seedlings, ferns, and such, I decided to use some spare aquatics trimmings for the plants; 3 stems emersed Hygrophila lancea, 3 stems emersed Rotala rotundifolia, 3 stems Rotala sp. 'Bangladesh', several clumps of Untricularia graminifolia, and wrapped the entire ball in Taxiphyllum barbieri ("Vesicularia dubyana"). Simply stick the cuttings into the ball with tweezers and then wrap the entire ball with the moss of your choice.
The plants aren't at their best as they started to wilt whilst I took pictures.
My next one will be a little drier with terrestrials, using Asparagus plumosus and Thuidium delicatulum.
Cheers.
Jim
My first Kokedama
- DelawareJim
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- Real Name: Jim Michaels
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Re: My first Kokedama
Very cool. My kids would love to make mud balls!
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
Re: My first Kokedama
Very neat project, Jim! I hadn't heard of this until this thread -- thanks for sharing!
Re: My first Kokedama
I googled Kokedama and saw where many people hang them from strings. Very neat idea.
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
- FrannyB
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Re: My first Kokedama
I like that. What type of moss should be used? The outside stuff?
Your dish is nice. Do you have a source for those?
Your dish is nice. Do you have a source for those?
- DelawareJim
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- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 4:25 pm
- Real Name: Jim Michaels
- Location: Southeast PA
Re: My first Kokedama
Hey Frannie! The moss I used is Java moss. watching several YouTube videos, most are made with sheet moss, available at craft stores and garden centers. For my next one, I'm going to use fern moss that I can collect locally.
My sister made the dish. She's an art teacher and it was part of her class. I'm going to try to commission her to do more.
Cheers.
Jim
My sister made the dish. She's an art teacher and it was part of her class. I'm going to try to commission her to do more.
Cheers.
Jim
Re: My first Kokedama
Count me in for a Bonsai planter if she is interested in something that large, I want to start one and have been looking for the right tree but the larger planter seems even harder to find.
Your Kokedama is nice and should look really nice after it has some time to fill out.
Your Kokedama is nice and should look really nice after it has some time to fill out.
Sincerely,
Tim
Tim
- FrannyB
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Re: My first Kokedama
Cool beans. I'd like one the same color please.
- Ghazanfar Ghori
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