If you're new to moss poles, the initial set up and maintenance can be quite daunting. Leafy Poles has taken more of that away with these one piece, D-shaped moss poles. Let's review how you set these up in just a few steps:
Presoak your sphagnum moss in water for at least 30 minutes prior to set up. By doing this, it will make sure your moss holds on to moisture longer as sphagnum moss is initially hydrophobic (Not water loving). We recommend adding Foliage Focus to your sphagnum moss soak to spike it with some nutrients to encourage faster growth for your vining plants.
Fold your Leafy Pole along the edges to make it sit flat on a table with the backing pointing up. You now have a tray to lay your sphagnum moss right into the pole. Give the moss a good squeeze to remove the excess water and lay the moss across the pole. Remember, the more moss you put in the thicker the moss pole will be (And the longer it will retain moisture!).
Once your pole is full, go ahead and insert the pole latches into the other side to lock in the moss. The solid backing of Leafy Poles means your moss pole will not have as much surface area and not dry out as quickly - a win for you and for your plants!
Attach your plant with Leafy Plant Tie to the pole. This will help out some much as you'll be potting the pole preassembled with the plant directly into your pot instead of trying to stretch your plant to join the pole after you've already buried the roots.
Put a few centimeters of your potting media into your pot and pop in your pole/plant combo and proceed to fill the pot up and cover the roots. You'll want your pole to have at least 3-5 cm in the potting media to provide some stability to the pot. We recommend our Chunky & Funky Indoor Plant Substrate is it has great drainage to avoid your plant from being overwatered while you try to keep the pole moist.
Lastly, go ahead and water your plant through the moss pole. The water should drain through your pole quite easy as you presoaked the moss and get to the substrate where all your roots currently are. Moving foward, do this to encourage the aerial roots from the plant to start to use the pole for additional moisture. Again, we recommend spiking your water with Foliage Focus for those extra nutrients.
There you have it - your first Leafy Moss Pole is ready to go! If you found this a bit confusing, we've also recorded a video for you:
Be sure to send us a DM on Instagram or Facebook if you have any further questions about your Leafy Moss Pole.
Josh