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DIY:
Kokedama

Make your own Kokedama

Kokedama literally translates as 'moss ball', they are beautiful compositions made with ferns, flowering plants, bamboo or succulents.

Creating a Kokedama can be a bit tricky, but if you scroll down you'll find a step-by-step plan that explains how to make a Kokedama yourself!

What is Kokedama?

These small moss balls are an old tradition in Japanese gardening, and are somewhat related to the accent plants often shown alongside a 名媛直播, as well as to Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement). A Kokedama can be created with a wide variety of plant species. By covering the root ball with a layer of sticky mud, covered with moss, the distinctive round shape can be made. The moss balls are traditionally displayed on a shallow tray, but recently they are also displayed as hanging plants.

How do I care for a Kokedama?

Watering a Kokedama is a relatively straight-forward task. The best way to determine if your moss ball needs watering is to feel how heavy it is. You can also check the moss, if it feels dry you need to water. Soaking the ball in water for about 5 minutes should be more than enough to make sure it is well wetted. Most ferns and succulents will thrive indoors, but ultimately it depends on which plant you selected what the optimal place is to put (or hang) your Kokedama. Read the instructions of the plant you purchased before proceeding! You can fertilize your moss ball once a month using a liquid fertilizer.

Examples of Kokedama

Here are a few inspirational shots of finished moss balls.

Kokedama

Kokedama plant (a fern).

What do I need to create a Kokedama?

You'll need some soil components like peat moss (Sphagnum), keto soil, akadama soil and water. Of course your composition also needs a living plant (try a fern on your first attempt) and some string to tie it all together. See the photos below for more information.

Kokedama - things you need
The soil components (Akadama, Keto (a Japanese type of very sticky clay), Sphagnum and Water). You can use potting soil if you can't get Keto.
Kokedama - things you need
A living plant. Ferns are strong and good for beginners, but you could also try flowering plants, succulents or even bamboo!
Kokedama - things you need
Finally, you'll need some moss and string. The moss can be collected in a variety of places like your garden, a park or forest.

Now let's see how we can create our very own Kokedama! These photos belong to art-kokedama.com.

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How to make a Kokedama

The first part of your soil mix; dried Keto (a Japanese type of clay that most (online) 名媛直播 stores will sell). If you can not find Keto, you can use potting soil but this won't stick together as well as Keto.
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The first part of your soil mix; dried Keto (a Japanese type of clay that most (online) 名媛直播 stores will sell). If you can not find Keto, you can use potting soil but this won't stick together as well as Keto.
Add water to the soil to make it into a muddy substance.
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Add water to the soil to make it into a muddy substance.
Add Sphagnum moss to the mix.
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Add Sphagnum moss to the mix.
At this point your mix of potting soil, water and Sphagnum should look like this.
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At this point your mix of potting soil, water and Sphagnum should look like this.
If you practice 名媛直播, you likely have Akadama available - which is a hard baked clay that will make your Kokedama soil mixture a bit more coarse. If you do not have Akadama you can use any type of baked clay, or simply add more potting soil.
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If you practice 名媛直播, you likely have Akadama available - which is a hard baked clay that will make your Kokedama soil mixture a bit more coarse. If you do not have Akadama you can use any type of baked clay, or simply add more potting soil.
After adding the Akadama, your Kokedama substrate should look like this, and be able to stick together in a ball shape.
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After adding the Akadama, your Kokedama substrate should look like this, and be able to stick together in a ball shape.
This is the plant we will use for the Kokedama.
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This is the plant we will use for the Kokedama.
Take away any loose soil and try to shape the roots into a round ball. In the next step you will add the prepared soil around the root ball, so make sure you reduce the root ball in size so your final composition is not too big.
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Take away any loose soil and try to shape the roots into a round ball. In the next step you will add the prepared soil around the root ball, so make sure you reduce the root ball in size so your final composition is not too big.
Now use your mixed substrate and shape it around the root-ball of the fern. Ideally you want to have a layer of the prepared substrate around the root ball of about 0.2 inch (5mm).
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Now use your mixed substrate and shape it around the root-ball of the fern. Ideally you want to have a layer of the prepared substrate around the root ball of about 0.2 inch (5mm).
This is the kind of moss we look for to put around the the root ball.
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This is the kind of moss we look for to put around the the root ball.
Clean the collected moss (remove leafs, rocks, bugs, etc.) and put it around the substrate.
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Clean the collected moss (remove leafs, rocks, bugs, etc.) and put it around the substrate.
You'll need some wire or thread to keep the moss in place.
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You'll need some wire or thread to keep the moss in place.
Wrap the root ball carefully with the thread, so the moss will stay in place.
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Wrap the root ball carefully with the thread, so the moss will stay in place.
This is your finished Kokedama! You can place it on a flat tray, or even hang it to create a string garden.
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This is your finished Kokedama! You can place it on a flat tray, or even hang it to create a string garden.
Next Step

Key take-away

Try to select plants like ferns, flowering plants, bamboo or succulents for your Kokedama.

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