Misunderstood ballmoss
Let's hear if for ballmoss - one of our most misunderstood plants!
TreeFolks,
a community
based nonprofit organization dedicated to the planting and care of
trees in Central Texas, wants to set the record straight on this
much-maligned but useful plant.
Ballmoss isn't a moss, but a true plant with flowers and seed. It is
a member of the Bromeliad family, so it is related to the pineapple.
Ballmoss is an epiphyte, which is not the same as a parasite,
Epiphytes attach themselves to limbs, tree trunks, power lines and
fences with pseudo-roots that do not absorb water and/or
minerals.
Epiphytes "roots" mere attach the plant to the structure; they don't
take anything from it.
Ballmoss benefits the environment by "fixing" atmospheric
nitrogen and adding it to the soil. It survives by absorbing water
and nutrients from the surrounding atmosphere through its leaves and
stem. Consequently, it prefers sites with little air movement, low
light and high relative humidity. The growth habit and thick canopy
of the live oak tree provides the ideal home for ballmoss.
We notice ballmoss a lot more than the trees do! The first few layers
of leaves, located at the top foot or two of the tree canopy where
they can get full sun, are where the primary growth of trees actually
happens. Over 90%of sugars are produced in the top
layers of
trees. The lower leaves in the shade of the canopy are hanging on for
dear life, as insurance in case the upper leaves fall off.
Ballmoss is most often found on the dead interior branches of older
live oaks. These interior branches die from lack of sunlight -
not
as a result of ballmoss. Although it can be found on dying
trees,
ballmoss also thrives on healthy ones. Death may be caused by many
factors, including root damage, soil compaction, consturction damage,
drought and disease. Although we find ballmoss on dead twigs under
the tree canopy, the dead twigs are part of the normal growth process
of trees.
For those who remain unconvinced and want to get tid of
ballmoss,
TreeFolks recommends pruning the deadwood out of the tree. A word of
caution: since we're in oak wilt territory, prune only during the
hottest and coldest time of the year and paint all pruning
wounds.
by Betty Rogers and Bill
Edelbrock
BALL MOSS Ballmoss (Tillandsia recurvata)
is a small,
nondescript plant commonly found in southwest Texas. This plant
actually benefits the environment by "fixing" atmospheric nitrogen
and adding it to the soil, much like alfalfa and clover; however, it
is a much despised plant and is aggressively eradicated. Ballmoss is
not a moss, but a true plant with flowers and seeds. It is a member
of the Bromiliad family, which also contains the pineapple. Most
members of this family, including ballmoss, are epiphytes. Epiphytes
attach themselves to limbs, tree trunks, power lines, fences and many
other structures with their pseudo-roots. These are not true roots
because they do not absorb water and minerals; they merely attach the
plant to an aerial structure. Since ballmoss does not take nutrients
and water from the host, it is not a parasite.
Ballmoss survives by absorbing water and nutrients from the
surrounding atmosphere though its leaves and stem. Consequently,
ballmoss prefers sites with little air movement, low light, and high
relative humidity. The growth habit and thick canopy of the live oak
provides the ideal habit for ballmoss
Live oaks develop a crown which is very thick on the exterior but
quite open in the interior. This results in a low light, high
humidity situation which is ideal for ballmoss. As a result, ballmoss
is most often found on the dead interior branches of older live oaks.
These interior branches do not die as a result of the ballmoss, but
for the same reason the ballmoss is growing there in the first
place-lack of sunlight. Likewise, branches which seem to be smothered
by ballmoss would, in all likelihood, die as a result of changing
light intensity due to the development of a thicker canopy forming
above.
For those who simply cannot stand the thought of ballmoss growing on
a live oak, you can substantially reduce a ballmoss population by
pruning all of the deadwood out of the tree and by thinning the
canopy every five years. This pruning regime is consistent with
proper tree maintenance. One word of caution due to the threat of oak
wilt, prune during the hottest or coldest times of the year and paint
all pruning wounds immediately (saw in one hand, paint in the other).
By cutting put the deadwood, you will remove 70+ percent of the
ballmoss in that tree. If the remaining ballmoss is still a problem,
you can spray the tree with Kocide 101 or use a baking soda mixture
that will kill the ballmoss. If using baking soda, the mixture
recommended is 1/2 pound of baking soda to 1 gallon of water or 50lbs
soda to 100 gallons of water. You can buy 50 lb sacks of baking soda
at various feed stores. If using Kocide 101, follow the label
instructions. The recommended time of the year to spray either
mixture is early Spring when the live oaks are dropping their leaves.
Because the canopy is thinnest at this time, more moisture actually
comes in contact with the ballmoss, thus getting a better kill. The
equipment used for spraying needs to be able to get a high volume of
mixture spread over the entire tree; therefore, a high mixture
sprayer is the most effective. Another word of caution--when using a
high pressure sprayer, take precautions not to damage the tree by
breaking smaller limbs and blowing bark off the tree. Also, if
renting the sprayer, make sure the tank was thoroughly cleaned. It
would be a disaster to accidentally spray the tree with an herbicide
that was used in the sprayer prior to your use. The ballmoss will
shrivel up and die in roughly 5 to 7 days, but it will remain in the
tree until the wind or rain knocks it out. For this reason, it is
recommended to prune the tree first. In doing this, you kill two
birds with one stone--you actually remove the ballmoss from the tree
and you practice proper tree maintenance. Neither pruning nor
spraying will remove all of the ballmoss from the tree, but they will
benefit the tree and certainly make you feel better.
