Re: Spanish Moss
Oliver T Massey CFS (massey@hal.fmhi.usf.edu)
Thu, 18 Jul 1996 09:38:35 -0400 (EDT)
> All,
>
> > Spanish Moss is a tillandsia...I forget which species. It grows in the
> > southern U.S., draping gracefully from live oak and other trees. It is
often
> > sold, dried, in garden and flower shops, where it is used as a base for
> > flower arrangements. In texture, it is quite open and airy.
>
> It's T. usneioides ( well I can't spell it ) but I would have thought it was
> quite expensive to buy, the stuff in my Nep terrarium is growing *very*
slowly
> (which is a good thing because if it gets any bigger it will get eaten by the
D.
> aliciaes). Anyone had any long term success or otherwise with this as a
potting
> material? It certainly is good as a shading material.
Kind Regards,
>
> Toby
It doesn't just drape from live oaks, the stuff drapes from anything
that doesn't move fast enough. Trees, bushes, fence posts, your hair :P
Anyway, I've never even considered using it even though I could get
handfuls from the trees in my front yard. What would be the advantages
to it? It would seem to me to have few desirable qualities as a potting
medium - maybe I'm missing something. FWIW, One of our club members
also once told me the stuff is a real spider mite attractor.
For anyone realllly interested I could probably send you seed.
Tom in Fl