Have you seen potted plants on the grocery store where there is succulents and moss in the same pot?
Yes, this is definitely a weird combination, but can succulents actually grow in moss?
Succulents can grow in moss, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they should. This pairing completely goes against nature; one plant needs lots of watering, and the other needs to drought with little to no watering at all.
Why You Shouldn’t
Moss and succulents live in very different climates and do not naturally grow together.
Succulents are accustomed to full sun, heat, dry soil and the odd watering.
Succulents retain water for long periods of time until the next rainfall occurs in their environment and they do not want wet roots.
Moss, however, you have probably seen when walking through the forest, grows in the shade, under trees, and in the soil we think of as soggy.
Moss dries out fast and needs a lot of water to rehydrate.
As you can see, these plants are complete opposites.
The Main Reason: When you plant succulents in moss, it will be hard to keep it the right amount of water for the moss and too much for the succulents. This is the main reason they do not do well together.
Why Do People Do It Anyway?
Even so, many people do plant their succulents in moss.
Keep in mind, moss-only users only expect both plants to live for about a year.
If you want both to live longer, then you can plant both in soil.
Potting arrangements
Moss serves as an attractive filler and to cover soil in a planting arrangement.
It adds that little flurry of greenery to finish the look, but it also makes it look professional.
Technically the succulents are in the soil and not in the moss so that is why you might notice that you find a lot of potted plants with moss.
Soilless Planting
Is it possible to plant something without using soil?
Definitely yes. You just need something to hold the plants.
In this case, moss or sphagnum moss is being used to hold plants when you might not be able to use soil.
If you’re looking at vertical wall planters, soil could be too heavy for your wall, but you can use moss instead.
Also watch out for terrariums: moss is also used in terrariums. Most succulents, for example, like dry heat, and terrariums can be very humid.
Form Building and Wreaths
Going one step farther than soilless planting, moss can be used in form building, or living wreaths.
This is a common craft among those who love DIY’s and gardening, as it combines the two:
- Gather your supplies: a wreath frame or wire frame, wire, moss and succulents. When working with smaller frames and projects, carefully place your moss inside the frame, starting from one end, and wrap the wire around the frame to keep the moss inside.
- Next, fill in any spaces with your succulent plants.
- Succulent moss balls are a perfect example of why this technique is so fun! For the centre, simply take some wool and wrap it into a ball the site of your decoration size.
- Tuck the moss into the strands of the wool after you have the wool secured and begin filling in with your succulents. Continue filling all the voids until the wool cannot be noticed.
For larger projects, fill the space in the frame with soil, add your succulents, and fill any of the gaps with moss.
There’s no point in spending many hours, or even days creating an amazing succulent topiary when all that work will be wasted and the succulent topiary dies not long after.
How to Water Succulents Growing in Moss?
Moss can be a tricky plant to water.
Moss has a tendency to resist getting wet, so you will want to water it, allow it to sit, and then water it again. If it still isn’t completely wet, you might need to go through this process a couple of times.
Your succulents and moss must be in something that has excellent drainage.
With all the watering to soak the moss, the succulent roots will drown if the water is not able to escape.
For the sake of your succulents, it is better to allow the moss to dry out slightly between watering than to keep it damp.
Quick Tip: Moss will recover from too little water far better than a succulent will recover from too much water.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it. Yes, succulents will grow in moss, but no you will never see this in nature because these two are total opposite plants.
If you try this at home, you are putting yourself in a precarious position.
There is no point in planting succulents in moss, other than you are creating an arrangement of some kind that is using moss instead of soil.
Wreaths made from living plants look amazing on a front door, and succulent moss balls are beautiful decor items to use.