# marimo ball texture



## skyypeaches (Aug 13, 2008)

So I ordered a couple marimo balls online and they just recently arrived in the mail. They were A LOT larger than i expected and I am not sure if they are the real deal. They honestly feel like felt balls and I was wondering what the texture of marimo should be like. It's kind of felt like and velvety. Also one of them is splitting apart I think, i feel a hollow inside and it looks elongated. Can I pull it apart or will I be killing it? complete newbie.. sorry!


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Sounds normal to me.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

You can cut them apart to propagate, but from what I hear, it takes a long time to reshape itself.


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

Got any pics? Marimo moss balls take an extremely long time to grow and propagate, so if you decide to cut them into pieces, have patience. If there's a piece splitting away from the main ball, you can probably just rip it off and use your hands to reform the ball shape on both the mother/baby plant. 

You should be able to squeeze a marimo moss ball. Squeeze out all the water, then pet it. It should feel like somewhat rough hair. 
Chances are though, you probably did get sent a real marimo. Most of the fake moss balls out there are made out of styrofoam balls covered in java moss with a piece of string in the middle that attaches itself to a weight. Lame-o


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## cwilfinger (Jul 8, 2008)

Yes, they feel like a tennis ball. On the one that is splitting, you can take string or something and sew it back up. To clean them, take some tank water in a container and squeeze the moss ball several times (like you would a sponge). You must also occassionally rotate the ball to keep it's shape or it will get a flat side from sitting too long on one side.


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## skyypeaches (Aug 13, 2008)

These are the images I took of the balls.. the quality isn't too good as I took them with my iphone but by the sounds of it then they should be the real thing. the smaller on in the jar is the baby lump i ripped off..


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

Yep, those are real  I love marimos!


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## skyypeaches (Aug 13, 2008)

awesome! is there any way to speed up its propagation? I'm putting them into little jars as decoration and i want to split some baby lumps and give them to my friends. is it better for them to grow lumps like my baby marimo and then pull off or rip one apart?


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

Just take a mother plant and rip it apart. However, doing this requires a lot of work to create the ball shape people want. You have to constantly roll em into balls to make them grow that way. It also takes a loooooooooooong time to have them start growing into a ball shape.


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## skyypeaches (Aug 13, 2008)

so it seems like a better idea to wait until it forms a little lump? i literally pulled the small one in my pic off a big one.. the big one has a small hole in it now but still looks round.. and the small one is definitely round..


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