Spanish moss - Tillandsia usneoides BLOOMS!!!
 

Spanish moss - Tillandsia usneoides - we are all using it, but when watering today I found something, I had no clue about - it does bloom! Cute little green blooms! LOVE IT!

What a surprise....I never thought they even flowered....

You learn something new every day! Pretty awesome

The same here Bud, I was really staring at it when watering and could not believe I have never seen it before, I have so much moss on the balcony plus there is moss on the trees all over Miami, but never saw any flowers till today. It is pretty cool, I would love to see the whole big bunch blooming at the same time, it would look amazing:-)

---------- Post added at 08:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 PM ----------

So true, every watering there is SOMETHING new at the balcony:-)

Question for Southerners: How does Spanish moss hold up in freezing weather? Does it all die back or does it just freeze and thaw? Also during droughts - does it just die or does it green up when it finally rains?

Sharry, no clue, however considering the fact it grows all over Florida on the trees, and also I saw it all over Georgia, Alabama etc. I would assume it can stand some freezing nights just fine. I am leaving mine outside at all times, even when morning temps dropped to 35, and no damage at all.

I was just wondering when I last watered it of it might bloom or not. Now I know it can bloom. Thank you for posting this. Very cute little blooms.

Cool! Mine flowers quite regularly in the summer. Such tiny cute flowers.

The question on freezing temps, I would guess it would not cope well. Mine has done OK in a cool greenhouse 5C over the winter, but it struggles in the winter. Growth stops and parts die off. The clump as a whole survives the 5C, but it definitely doesn't like it.

Cute! I'll have to inspect mine ;)

Thanks Sonya, I did check it today, 5 blooms on the same moss open at the same time, so cute:-)

Really cute! I'll have to check ours.

We're way too far north (NW Arkansas, US) for it to survive outdoors. I've wondered whether, like some other plants, provenance matters? If I collected some from southern Arkansas, where it definitely freezes regularly, would it be hardier than that from farther south?

Steve

I live in Florida and the Spanish moss does not seem to be effected by the cold or lack of rain. It is all over the place here.

I've heard that in FL Spanish Moss tends to host chiggers. Any confirmation?

Have not seen any, thanks God! But it is for sure used widely by all orchid growers here!

I just went to an orchid demo a few weeks ago. The guy giving the talk told me to never use Spanish moss that isn't still in the tree. In other words, once it lands on the ground, it is prone to critters getting in it. I thought he said mites but he might have said chiggers. I know with some things, if you freeze it you can kill critters. So could be if you put Spanish moss in Ziploc bags and stuck it in the freezer for awhile, it might kills bugs. I'm not sure though.

Thanks guys! Chiggers are a type of mite, so I guess it's confirmation. LISTEN to the demo guy! Chiggers are the itchiest thing I've ever experienced!

I recently potted up a bunch of cuttings from a Jewel Orchid plant. I had Spanish Moss in the bottom of the pots. Well, the cuttings all started doing really badly. I just poured out the contents of all of the pots and just stuck the cuttings in water for awhile. BUT some of the pieces of Spanish Moss had something that looked somewhat like Mold on it. I'm not sure if that is what hurt the orchids or if I had them too wet or what.

Most of mine is from the trees, it is hanging all over here in Florida, also, I do NUKE it in microwave for few sec, I am pretty sure if anything would live in it, will die in microwave. It works for me for sure! I just came back from the balcony, and II am just surprised that nearly all my Spanish moss is blooming now, I have never seen this in prior years, not sure why:-)))

Hi, I am new to this board and have just started growing orchids. I live in central Florida and have a lot of Spanish Moss around. What exactly do orchid growers do with it?

Hi and welcome. It is great for Vandacious, to hang it around the roots, keep the moisture better, I do use it also for all my leafless orchids, etc! You can find many great uses for Spanish moss!

This is an interesting thread as I've just found that the moss I collected a few months ago is also blooming! Like most people, I had no idea this stuff blooms.

And for those that are interested, Spanish Moss seems to grow as far north in central Texas as south Austin and becomes more numerous around San Marcos. We are zone 8b and get plenty of hard freezes and ice storms during winter, so this species is VERY hardy. Its not common around here, but I'm sure if that is due to the dry air we have (often punctuated by very humid air from the Gulf) or because of the cold temps.

Be wary of self collected wild growing spanish moss as it harbours red spider mites, aka "chiggers." I've read articles saying they caused an intensely itchy bite. And others saying they did not bite at all. Nevertheless, they love the same warm damp environment as orchids, and could possibly infect an entire greenhouse. I've read they are hard to get rid of.

I really love the tillandsias, but I only have a few. I keep misplacing them.

I treat my wild collected spanish moss in consan triple action 20 which is physan and then slam dunk it in a 1 tbsp per gallon mix of amdro fire ant killer. Ive seen nothing survive yet. I have it growing in my greenhouse and blooming too..got to keep it moist and keep the die back from building up strangling the fresh moss..

Also added that wild collecting doesnt mean going into the parks or wildlife refuges/habitats to get it. You will soon find out if you pull this stuff from the trees or even collect it off the ground it is against the law and you can be given a ticket and your moss confiscated. If they catch you pulling it out of the trees its called destruction of state property. They gettng stikky bout that stuff these days.

I string it up over some of the rails where they can get lots and lots of fresh air and moisture.
http://rkidkelly.smugmug.com/Flowers...DSCN7804-L.jpg

wow~ I thought these were dried up dead stuff.
Cool!!!

very much alive..the stuff you get at hobby lobby marked 'for decorative purposes only..exactly what is and thats dead stuff in a bag :waving

you can buy a box of live spanish moss from on of the mossmen on line. about 50 bucks shipped get ya 10 lb box of fresh pulled moss from southern georgia forests.

its one them dirty riches jobs you see on TV ya know :biggrin:...got moss?

Yea! They flower for Christmas here. Nice!