by johnah on November 4, 2020
Mosses are a common problem in many areas of the world. They grow on rocks, logs, fences, and other surfaces. If they get into cracks or crevices in your house or home improvement project then it will cause problems later on when you try to clean up the mess. You may even have to replace some of the materials because of damage caused by these little critters.
You might think that you could just use regular household products like soap and water to remove them from your home, but that won’t work very well since the chemicals used in those products don’t do much good against Spanish moss.
So what’s a person to do?
That’s where homemade spanish moss remover comes in handy!
The first thing you need to know is how to make it yourself. There are several ways to do so, but the most effective method is to use a mixture of potassium permanganate (potassium perchlorate) and sulfuric acid.
How To Make Spontaneous Moss Killer For Trees: Treatment For Trees With Spanish Moss
1. Get a container large enough to hold all the ingredients you’ll need.
I recommend making two containers; one for the liquid and another for the powder. You can throw away the liquid after you use it since it isn’t very safe to store, but the powder can be kept anywhere from a cool dry place to a dark area.
2. Measure out the potassium permanganate into the container and pour in enough sulfuric acid to completely cover the chemical.
3. Stir the mixture slowly until all of it has dissolved.
This may take several minutes. From this point on, do not let the mixture come into contact with your skin or even your clothing.
4. Using a wooden stick, coat the stick with the mixture and allow it to dry.
Do this until you have enough wood to kill all of the moss around your house. You may need more than one container.
5. When your wood is ready, gather up all of your supplies and get to work.
Coat the area with the solution and proceed to coat it again after about 10 minutes.
6. Before you know it, the moss will start dying and falling off the tree or whatever surface it’s growing on.
Keep applying the solution every 10 minutes until all of the moss is completely gone!
Homemade spanish moss killer for trees is a good way to get rid of the unsightly plant without using harsh or dangerous chemicals around your home or business. If you need to kill spanish moss in an area that’s inaccessible, try using a high-pressure sprayer. This is the same idea as using the wood except you’re using a lot more of it, and you can reach most anywhere!
Just make sure you don’t get any of the mixture on any plants you want to keep. It may take a little longer to get the moss off compared to the wood method, but it’s definitely safer for your garden. And since the wood soaks up most of the chemicals, you can just throw it away when you’re done.
So there you have it: Two ways for how to make spanish moss killer for trees. Good luck getting rid of the ugly stuff and happy gardening!
Interesting info:
The History of Spanish Moss
Spanish moss is a wonderful plant that grows on several different trees in the southern part of the United States. The plant itself grows on trees without harming them and is a great source of food and shelter for various animals throughout the forest. You may wonder how such a seemingly delicate and harmless plant got such a bad reputation. It all comes from one thing: fire prevention.
The Debate Over Fire Prevention
Some parts of the southern United States, such as the Ozark Mountains, have a very high risk of fire breakout because of a combination of climate, dead vegetation, and the types of trees in the area. Many times a fire will start in one part of the forest, be put out, and then another fire will start somewhere else, be put out, and so on and so forth.
This is a very difficult and expensive cycle for the forest. It takes years for the trees to grow back and become large enough that a fire will not destroy them. Some people believe that controlled fires should be started in these parts of the forest every few years to eliminate the dead vegetation build up. Others believe that starting these fires will do more harm than good because it will eliminate too many trees.
Spanish Moss and Fire Prevention
In an effort to stop fires from burning down the forests, people sprayed large amounts of chemicals on the trees in the area. These chemicals would settle on anything that was hanging on the branches, such as Spanish moss. When it comes in contact with fire, the chemicals cause the moss to catch on fire and fall to the ground. Since these chemicals also made the moss unable to catch fire, it put out the fires that would normally burn off dead vegetation.
This worked very well to stop fires, but it also had a bad side effect: it prevented natural ways for the forest to recover. Many people are still fighting over the best way to handle this problem, but for now Spanish moss is labeled as a hazardous plant and killing it is the best way to keep your area free of forest fires.
Natural Ways to Kill Spanish Moss
Since it has been labeled as a hazardous plant, there are also several natural ways you can kill the moss. The most popular way is to spray it with common household bleach or ammonia. Another interesting way to kill it is by placing a small animal inside a container with the moss; the animal will eat the moss and die, leaving the moss unable to reproduce.
It is also important to keep your area free of the moss. Check trees on your property for patches of it and remove it as soon as you see it. It may take years for the moss to grow back, but if you are vigilant you can stop forest fires from damaging your home or land.
Tips for Keeping Out of Trouble
If you choose to use a natural way to kill the moss, it is important for you to do so safely. When using bleach or ammonia, make sure to wear protective gear such as gloves and goggles. It may also be a good idea to open any windows in your home to offer ventilation during the process.
If you choose to kill the moss using a small animal, make sure you do not have pets or children near your home. Also, placing the animal in a container with the moss will most likely cause it to die, so don’t plan on keeping any of the container after you are finished.
Make sure to dispose of any dead animals or plants carefully; do not just leave them on your front porch. This may attract attention from people who wonder why there is a rotting animal outside your house.
Follow these steps and you should be able to kill most of the moss in your area. Remember, the most important part of this is keeping your area free of moss; make sure to check trees for it often.
How to Get Rid of Spanish Moss the Easy Way
So you’re not really a nature lover and you don’t feel like doing any work to get rid of the moss?
No problem, just buy some moss killer from your local garden center. It’s just like using household bleach, but better because it kills more types of plants. It also isn’t as harsh on the environment.
Follow the directions on the back and soon all your moss problems will be over. In fact, you may have to go searching for more because it works so well! It’s also a good idea to get some wood that has no moss on it and use that to keep the remaining moss out. This way you won’t have any more problems with it in your lifetime.
That’s it! Now you know how to get rid of Spanish moss. Just follow the instructions in this article and you shouldn’t have any problems with Spanish moss ever again!
Sources & references used in this article:
Mineral cycling and the niche of Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides L by WH Schlesinger, PL Marks – American Journal of Botany, 1977 – Wiley Online Library
The Spanish moss industry of Louisiana by CC Aldrich, MW DeBlieux, FB Kniffen – Economic Geography, 1943 – Taylor & Francis
Evaluating relationships between mercury concentrations in air and in Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides L.) by KT Sutton, RA Cohen, SP Vives – Ecological indicators, 2014 – Elsevier
Composition of the ash of Spanish-moss by ET Wherry, R Buchanan – Ecology, 1926 – JSTOR
Method of utilizing spanish moss by MW Marsden – US Patent 1,327,873, 1920 – Google Patents
Spanish moss: forest by-product of the South by GS Corfield – Journal of Geography, 1943 – Taylor & Francis
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