Introduction to Self Watering Moss Poles for Indoor Plants

Are you tired of constantly watering your indoor plants? Do you worry about forgeting to water them, leaving them to wilt and die? The self watering moss pole may be the solution to your problems. Here’s a guide for using self watering moss poles in your indoor oasis.

The beauty of moss poles isn’t only in making your monstera deliciosa, pothos, or other indoor climbing plants look good (although, in our opinion, a monstera without a moss pole just isn’t the same)!

Moss poles provide a secondary source of water for your plants, which is why it is critical that you keep a moss pole moist.

We are introducing the self watering moss pole.

What is a Self Watering Moss Pole?

Self watering moss poles aren’t new and have been around for a while.

In fact, many people have used their resources and managed to create their own DIY self watering moss pole.

Put simply, a self watering moss pole is a moss pole accompanied with a water reservoir that feeds the moss with a wicking material (like braided wicking cord) to keep it moist.

As mentioned earlier, you can DIY and create your own. Alternatively, you can source them online in marketplaces like Amazon.

There are different types of self watering moss poles. However, we prefer the models that use a wicking system (or capillary action) that feeds water from the TOP DOWN (not from the bottom up). This is vitally important to ensure water is delivered to the moss’s upper section and not allowed to dry out.

How to Use a Self Watering Moss Pole

Using a self watering moss pole is easy.

Like other moss poles, they are inserted into regular pots of soil where the plant’s primary root system resides.

The moss pole then supports the vines and leaves of the plant with the aerial roots attached to the moss.

It is essential to use pots that have drainage holes. If excess water is not allowed to escape, the soil will become soggy, affecting the moisture in the self watering moss pole.

If the moisture in the moss pole cannot escape, it will become waterlogged, inviting other problems such as bacteria and mold on moss poles.

Once you have your moss pole established, soak the moss and fill the water reservoir or pipe with water (we like to use filtered water to ensure no impurities are introduced).

And you are done – your self watering moss pole is set up and happily caring for your houseplant.

Are you beginning to imagine the efficiencies you can achieve with a self watering moss pole?

In the next section, let’s look at a few of the top benefits of self watering moss poles.

Self Watering Moss Pole Benefits and Advantages

If you haven’t yet realized the possibilities of what a self watering moss pole can do for your plant parent life, get ready to be excited. Because we’re going to explore the benefits of including these beautiful tools in your gardening repertoire.

Less Maintenance

Let’s face it. There is probably one primary reason you are looking into self watering moss poles.

It saves you time and effort.

Rather than just ‘another‘ thing to look after in your indoor plant maintenance regime, a self-watering moss pole helps you reduce the maintenance required for your vining indoor plants.

Instead of having to spritz your moss pole each week, a self watering moss pole will keep your moss plump and moist for several weeks. Possibly even reducing the water top-up to once a month (depending on the season).

Improved Plant Health

Not only does a self watering moss pole look after itself for prolonged periods. It helps maintain an environment for your epiphytic plants to grow and thrive.

It is like a free plant babysitter – a plus at the Garden Bench Top.

Self watering moss poles support your plants to hold themselves up and spread out evenly – as if they were climbing a tree trunk in the wild.

This prevents your plants from becoming dense and heavy. It also facilitates airflow to help prevent rot and bacteria from developing.

Finally, with the constant water source, self watering moss poles maintain a more humid environment (compared to regular moss poles). Which many epiphytic plants require as tropical plants.

Natural Appearance and Beauty

Now, this benefit may be completely biased, but we think it is a good advantage.

Self watering moss poles make your indoor climbing plants look better. They do!

Rather than the usual trailing planted pot, a self watering moss pole affords you creativity. Your plant can grow up and outwards as they do in its natural environment. This means allowing your creative juices to flow and creating some natural masterpiece feature plants.

After all, what is the point of collecting a beautiful indoor plant collection if we can’t make them look spectacular?

How to Maintain Your Self Watering Moss Pole

As much as we would love to tell you that a self watering moss pole is a set-and-forget gardening tool, it is not.

Don’t get us wrong. It does help to reduce a lot of the maintenance. However, you must still perform regular checks on the moss pole.

Don’t worry – it is not intensive at all.

How Often Do You Water a Self Watering Moss Pole?

Some indoor plant enthusiasts wait until the water reservoir is empty before watering their self watering moss poles.

During our regular walk-around and plant inspection, we prefer to top up the reservoir.

It affords us the peace of mind that the self watering moss pole will always have water to draw upon.

Plus, it has the added advantage of oxygenating the existing water in the self watering moss pole.

Cleaning Your Self Watering Moss Pole

After a while, your self watering moss pole may collect dust and dirt on the surface of the moss. Therefore, as you do with your plant’s leaves, it is necessary to wipe down the moss pole to remove the dust.

This can be achieved with a damp cloth. However, be careful not to damage or remove any of the aerial roots that have attached themselves to the moss pole.

Water Reservoir Maintenance

It is also necessary to regularly check the integrity of your water reservoir.

If the reservoir is not holding water as long as it previously did, it may have a crack or hole.

Inspect the water reservoir, and if you see any signs of damage or aging, your self watering moss pole may need to be replaced or upgraded.

References Used

• Epiphyte. (2023, February 13). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphyte