Message Boards

I picked some green moss today from my property to use in my decor and wonder if or how I should clean it. Didn't see any bugs but there might be some in it. I can't find much info online.

Wonder if anyone has done this. I don't want to use chemicals and wonder if microwaving would work or if it would catch fire.

Lucky, this is the first pg. that popped up in my search for you. The first question seems to address how to handle your bug concern although it's recommending a small amount of pesticide.
http://teresasplants.com/livemoss.aspx

On another link addressing the killing of insects in outdoor soil brought in, this is one of the responder's suggestions having nixed the idea that a microwave can kill the insects. The freezer method suggested might be a better option according to this response...

Microwaving is a poor method for killing insects, whether they're in soil or just running around loose in the microwave. It's more effective to moisten the soil, place it in an oven proof container, cover it tightly with foil, and bake it at 225º for an hour. Of course, the drawback to that method is that you end up with sterilized soil, having killed off any good bacteria it contained. And it still won't drain well enough or admit enough air to the roots to work well in the confines of the average indoor plant container.

I think the best method for killing insects would be to seal the soil in a container and place it in a freezer for about a week.

I don't know about a fire issue tho you might place a class or cup of water along beside the moss, but perhaps a stinky smell might occur as this responder mentioned under the same thread as above re. microwaving soil. She wrote in part....
The other drawback to the oven method, since I have tried it, is that it stinks the whole house up! The smell of baking soil is pretty bad.

In Florida we are advised NOT to bring in the Spanish Moss hanging from the trees, and the moss.

You cannot see the 'mites' that are living in the moss or air plants, also the small deer ticks.

Not worth the problems. I would advise not to use what you found on your property.

To rid your home and yourself of these mites is so much work and is hard to wash all, fabrics, mattresses, your body, your hair, your pets, your carpet... It happened to me once in Fort Lauderdale... the dog dug a hole and chewed a bit of moss... ran into the house, which started two weeks of cleaning and a doctor's visit.

I would also be careful with dead branches, (check leaves you pick up), acorns... especially if you were in one of those areas that got a lot of rain this year like we did.

I was talking about this with my neighbor and she reminded me about the live spores as well that can spread in your home with untreated live moss.

Also.
Wear gloves when handling wild plants out of doors, and a mask when disturbing moss type plants or wild mushrooms (release spores when disturbed).

Thanks Froo for those links. I really don't want to use pesticides so was looking for another method. I've sterilized soil in the oven and will never do that again - what a stench! As far as freezing I know any freezer won't get as cold as outdoors here in the winter so most insects here will not be affected by cold.

Thanks Mary Ruth for the warning - I've left the bag of moss outside until I'm sure I can treat it. I know one site recommended boiling Spanish moss in a pot of water but Spanish moss is not the same as the kind I have here. I don't think it's likely we have the same noxious insects that you have in the south but I don't want to bring something inside my house I will later regret so do appreciate your warning.

I thought of dusting the moss with diatomaceous earth but it will cling to the moss and affect the appearance. Not sure if it will affect all insects either, only the hard-bodied ones.

More research needed.

I was going to suggest one of those UV light wands, then I read the following:
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5...ight-kill-germs.html

Joy I have used moss from the ground on my dinner table with nary a thought to whatever life lived in its depths! Last time was our aniv party when I used it as the base for hard boiled eggs. Of course these were in the shell.

I remember many years ago a dear friend's decorator put a huge pile of dirt in the middle of her party table and planted in that dirt were all kinds of blooming bulbs. It remains to this day the most knock out table decoration I have ever seen in a private home.

Gracie, while a UV light probably would work to sterilize the moss it doesn't seem cost effective to buy one to treat free moss! I might as well buy some commercial moss that's been somehow treated as it's not that expensive. I liked the idea of using the moss from around an old log on my property as it's very nice moss but it may not be worth it.

LofS, I'm reluctant to use this moss without some type of treatment as it will be in my LR for awhile and I'm pretty bug-phobic. I can see using sterilized potting soil as your friend's decorator did as nothing is likely to crawl out of that.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm beginning to re-think this idea.