Ball Moss
Ball Moss is not a moss, but a true plant with flowers and seeds. It is a member of the Bromeliad family, which also contains Spanish moss and pineapple.
According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, Ball Moss (Tillandsia recurvata) is a small epiphyte commonly found clinging to limbs of live oaks and other trees in southwest Texas. Ball Moss is not a moss, but a true plant with flowers and seeds. It is a member of the Bromeliad family, which also contains Spanish moss and pineapple.
It is prominent in the Canyon Lake area due to it preferring humid and moist atmospheres. If you have ball moss on your live oaks, here are a few facts you should be aware of:
Ball moss is a plant that pollinates every year producing seed and new growth.
For every ball moss visible on your tree, there are as many or more new baby plants growing that are only visible upon close inspection.
Unchecked ball moss growth will continue until it has dominance over the entire canopy.
Ball moss adds stress to the tree.
Ball moss smothers branches that hinder budding of leaves the photosynthesis process that will lead to the tree eventually succumbing to death.
The cost of ball moss mitigation increases with every passing year because of new growth.
Hand removal does not effectively mitigate ball moss because it does not address the existence of seed and new baby plants that exist on the tree.
Ball moss plants 2-3 years old will pollinate and scatter hundreds of new seeds each year. The seeds are carried by wind, rain and animals with the live oak rough bark pattern (with so many crevices) is a perfect place for new seeds to land and start new plants.
Spraying the ball moss with baking soda is the most effective way to mitigate because it covers the plant absorbing the plants moisture killing the plant. (The copper-based spray that some contractors use because it is easier for them to spray and less expensive, can discolor roofs, stones, and it can harm other plants and it is non effective in hotter weather climates.)
Ball moss grows faster in areas of higher relative humidity like lakes and rivers.
These are just a few facts about ball moss. Just in the past 6 years, the local ball moss population has grown exponentially in the Canyon Lake area. The good news is that ball moss can be mitigated. To learn more about ball moss, see the Ball Moss Spray Removal page.
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