Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Grow and Cut Moss for your design room
- 26 March 2024
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I do not forage. Mostly because it looks so pretty where it is and I would like you to enjoy it when you come by after me. That means I grow a lot of what I design with... especially the things that you can not buy for floral designing. I buy my moss from aquarium supply stores as Tissue Cultures and then grow them on for my designs.
Because I spend such a lot of time in my design room I make sure everything in there is healthy and healthy for me to spend time with. I can happily say that the moss has been so great. There is no mossy smell at all and yes, they are high maintenance but they bring me such joy. My moss is absolutely not perfect and I really am not an expert grower. I do love taking care of them.
I grow a few types of moss so that I can add it to designs where needed. I grow sheet moss and step moss on tree fern for which you can find a Tutorial below, and bun moss and mood moss in alkaline terrarium substrate. One mossarium is filled with off cuts and leftover bits that I grow mixed up together. In the picture you will also see the bright green of reindeer moss. It is of course a lichen and not a moss but I find it is happy with the mosses so I keep mine there as well.
If you consider how easily moss thrive out in nature you might be surprised to know how difficult it is to grow inside and that it actually needs grow lights to flourish! Wild mosses will not tolerate terrarium conditions, and sometimes comes with unwelcome guests. So choose your moss carefully.
It takes 6 weeks of sterilization, regular cleaning and attention, for the moss to settle. And only then do I place them in their new moss terrarium homes under the grow lights. Start by disinfecting everything you use by wiping your display bowl and tools with Isopropyl Alcohol to kill bacteria.
In the first few weeks you also want to make sure you get no mold growth whatsoever. My solution for that is: 6 bottle caps of water and one bottle cap of hydrogen peroxide. Spray on the affected area.
My mosses are working plants, meaning I harvest from them but I also experiment with creating ever changing little moss gardens so that it looks pretty on my design table.
I use the bits of moss that becomes a bit overgrown in my designs.
Simply trim the moss to keep it green and healthy.
Maintenance: I spray the moss with distilled water every other day. I also feed the moss with a special Wabi-Kusa Mist fertilizer.
... and I keep the humidity in but with just enough airflow to keep everything healthy.
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Tutorials
Hollow out a faux moss pebble to add... a pebble of moss covered in snowflakes.
Cover a mask shape with moss and succulents for a long wearing mask
A vertical take on an Easter nest design to craft a spinning mobile decoration.
Related Designs
Grow a willow birdcage... with a bit of a Spring flower support to get it started.
A glimmer is the opposite of a trigger... a little uplift. For this design I am lifting up my happiness by starting a tiny mossarium... but enjoying it as a design while it is in...