Kokedama: Japanese Art Of Growing Plants On A Moss Ball

Kokedama is a Japanese art of growing plant on a Moss ball. Word Kokedama translates like this

Koke: Moss Dama: Ball

It is also known as poor man’s bonsai.

Kokedama in my balcony garden

Recently, I tried to make Kokedama for the first time and I loved the fact that it doesn’t require any pot to grow the plants. Just make a ball of soil and moss and grow tiny plants on it. Kokedama can be hung or kept on a desk or floor indoors as well as outdoors. To watch the complete video on my YouTube channel, you can click here.

Things you’ll need to make Kokedama:

Compost – 1 part
Coco Peat – 1 part
Garden Soil – 1/2 part
Tray/bowl to mix ingredients
Scissors
Gardening Gloves
Sphagnum Moss
Ornamental Plants
Water
String/Twine/Yarn

SUBSTITUTES-
Now there is no need to worry if you don’t get all the supplies. Here are the substitutes:
Instead of compost + Cocopeat + Soil, you can take just Bonsai soil + Coco peat OR Garden Soil and mix sand in a small amount.
Instead of Sphagnum moss, you can use moss stick or coco coir or jute or anything that holds moisture for a long.

PLANTS For KOKEDAMA:
Choose the plants that love moisture as Kokedama is a ball of moss that retains moisture. Basically, all the plants that grow on moss are perfect for Kokedama. Though you can experiment with all the plants. As long as you know the light and water requirement of the plants and hang them in a suitable place and water them accordingly, you can grow just about any plant on Kokedama. The best ones are Fern, Ivy, Lucky bamboo, Spider plant, Syngonium. Succulents hate moisture so avoid using them but if you are not watering Kokedama too often then you give it a try.

1. Start by soaking the moss in water. Till it soaks, mix all the components together(compost + Cocopeat + Soil) thoroughly and then slowly add water until all the components adhere together. Now take some soil in hands and form a sphere. Squeeze out excess water and once the soil ball is ready, keep it aside.

Mix all the components together

Make a ball of soil

2. Spread a plastic sheet on the work area and then take out wet moss from the water. Wring it to remove water and then spread the moss on the plastic sheet. Remember that green part of moss faces down as later it will appear on the outer side of the ball. I didn’t get Sphagnum moss sheet so I used moss stick and took out all the moss that it had. Though the moss was all dried and the moss stick also had a lot of coco coir inside but it really doesn’t matter as moss is used because it retains moisture and that’s what exactly coco coir will do too.

3. Now take out the plant from the pot. Loosen the soil around the root. Make sure you are not damaging root ball or disturbing root system. Now crack open the soil ball into two halves like shown in the image below and then place the roots carefully in the centre. Now make the ball of soil again and if required you can add some more soil at this stage to make a perfect sphere.

4. Place this ball of soil on the moss that we prepared in the second step. Gently pick up the plastic sheet from all the sides and press firmly to wrap the moss around the soil ball. Make sure that moss adheres to the soil ball.

5. Now take a twine or string and wrap it around the moss ball in a random fashion and secure the ends by tieing the knots. Now attach a string on the top of the moss ball and there you have it. Kokedama is ready to enhance the beauty of your garden.

To water Kokedama all you need to do is just use a sprayer and spray water until you see water dripping from the sphere. Or alternatively, you can place Kokedama in a bowl full of water for 2-3 mins and then take it out. Water Kokedama every alternate day or according to plant’s need. If it is succulent then you can skip watering for 8-10 days.

So making Kokedama is not a big deal. It requires minimal skill and very few supplies. I hope you like the tutorial. Be little more creative and try to make it different shapes, sizes and colours.
Happy Gardening!!!
Stay tuned and till then connect with me here:

19 Comments