That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the ground.
It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now will prevent it
from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees or what ever it
is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...
That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

Thanks, I keep hearing about it does no harm.... But almost every branch
that has a concentration of the ball moss appears to be dead.

Cliff wrote:
Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the ground.
It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now will prevent it
from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees or what ever it
is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...

That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

Cliff wrote:
|| Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you
|| know that killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the
|| branch and drop to the ground. It will continue to hang on
|| until it rots but killing it now will prevent it from putting
|| out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees or what ever
|| it is growing on.
||

Bull shit! When it gets thick enough on a tree it can block
light
from getting to the leaves. That is harmful to trees. Besides it
looks like shit. It is nearly impossible to get rid of but it is
a
good idea to thin it out when you can using the baking soda
solution Cliff mentioned.

BJ
--
"A professional is someone who can do his best work when he
doesn't feel like it." -- Alistair Cooke

Ball moss and lichen-like growths on the bark itself don't usually harm
trees. Commonly, one will see both on both varieties of oak that is
prevalent in the Austin and central S. Texas area.

However, if the tree has some heavy parasitic insect infestation, is
weakened, and the two piggy back parasites (ball moss and lichen) on the
tree perceive this as weakening as a reason to proliferate; it will weaken
the tree even further. May even participate in the tree's death.
.............
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
t...
Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the
ground. It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now will
prevent it from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees or
what ever it is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...
That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

In article et,
Frank wrote:

That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

My pigeons eat it...
I have almost no ball moss in my oak trees now.
When I first moved in, there was LOTS.

My pigeon flock is not very large either, and they are serious eye candy
wheeling around the sky. :-)

Chickens, emus and ducks also love the stuff.
I used to sometimes pick it up just as a treat for the birds!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

ball moss is not a parasite. It will grow just as well on your chain link
fence or stapled to the wall of your garage.

"Jim" wrote in message
ink.net...
Ball moss and lichen-like growths on the bark itself don't usually harm
trees. Commonly, one will see both on both varieties of oak that is
prevalent in the Austin and central S. Texas area.

However, if the tree has some heavy parasitic insect infestation, is
weakened, and the two piggy back parasites (ball moss and lichen) on the
tree perceive this as weakening as a reason to proliferate; it will
weaken the tree even further. May even participate in the tree's death.
............
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
t...
Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the
ground. It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now will
prevent it from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees
or what ever it is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...
That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

In article ,
"Cliff" wrote:

ball moss is not a parasite. It will grow just as well on your chain link
fence or stapled to the wall of your garage.

True... It's an epiphyte (sp?).

I see it growing on power/cable lines all over town all the time.

The squirrels eat it too.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

That's because ball moss lives on the dead branches. Those dead
branches are the reason I call live oaks "trash trees." They need to
be pruned every year or at least cleaned up. It's the natural
behavior of them to have their undergrowth die back.

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 03:30:38 GMT, Frank wrote:

Thanks, I keep hearing about it does no harm.... But almost every branch
that has a concentration of the ball moss appears to be dead.

Cliff wrote:
Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the ground.
It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now will prevent it
from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees or what ever it
is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...

That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

Ball moss nor lichens are parasitic.

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 14:20:36 GMT, "Jim"
wrote:

Ball moss and lichen-like growths on the bark itself don't usually harm
trees. Commonly, one will see both on both varieties of oak that is
prevalent in the Austin and central S. Texas area.

However, if the tree has some heavy parasitic insect infestation, is
weakened, and the two piggy back parasites (ball moss and lichen) on the
tree perceive this as weakening as a reason to proliferate; it will weaken
the tree even further. May even participate in the tree's death.
............
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
et...
Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the
ground. It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now will
prevent it from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees or
what ever it is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...
That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:53:46 GMT, Frank wrote:

That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?
Others have pretty much laid out the facts on ball moss already. I'd
just add, for those who may still have doubts about the
cause-and-effect relationship here, that you can easily confirm that
moss does not kill branches (though it can harm trees when it gets
really thick and dense, as described earlier): go to Pease park or
somewhere else that has a creek and cedar elms. You will see tons of
moss on tons of healthy elm branches. The live oak branches just
happen to do poorly in the conditions where the ball moss does well.
They would be dead regardless.

Oh, and whether you use kocide or baking soda or something else, you
will not get much improvement in the appearance. Ball moss barely
weighs anything to start with. Once you kill it and it dries out, it
will remain in the tree a long time. The only way to get rid of it
that I've found is to manually pick it or scrape it off with a pole
saw or similar tool.

incidentally, ball moss (Tillandsia recurvata) is not really moss.
It is related to pineapples. And lichen (also not a parasite, as was
pointed out) is a symbiotic organism-- a mixture of fungus and algae.

Ain't nature fun?

Keith Babberney
ISA Certified Arborist #TX-0236AT

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 01:03:30 GMT, "Cliff" wrote:

Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the ground.
It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now will prevent it
from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees or what ever it
is growing on.

My understanding is that potassium bicarb is a better choice than
baking soda (sodium bicarb)

deg

Irregardless, if the tree is weakened by other parasites, the ball moss may
proliferate. Leaves need light. The bark needs to maintain some level of
water content and allowed to dry out. Ball moss inhibits water evaporation
at the bark.

--
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
. com...
ball moss is not a parasite. It will grow just as well on your chain link
fence or stapled to the wall of your garage.

"Jim" wrote in message
ink.net...
Ball moss and lichen-like growths on the bark itself don't usually harm
trees. Commonly, one will see both on both varieties of oak that is
prevalent in the Austin and central S. Texas area.

However, if the tree has some heavy parasitic insect infestation, is
weakened, and the two piggy back parasites (ball moss and lichen) on the
tree perceive this as weakening as a reason to proliferate; it will
weaken the tree even further. May even participate in the tree's death.
............
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
t...
Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the
ground. It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now
will
prevent it from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the trees
or what ever it is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...
That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

Some of the live oaks are more than 200 years old and have survived nicely
without anyone spraying things on them. I don't think that Sitting Bull and
the boys were picking ball moss either. Ball moss, lichens, and Oaks will
continue to cohabitate with or without us.


"Jim" wrote in message
nk.net...
Irregardless, if the tree is weakened by other parasites, the ball moss
may
proliferate. Leaves need light. The bark needs to maintain some level of
water content and allowed to dry out. Ball moss inhibits water
evaporation
at the bark.

--
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
. com...
ball moss is not a parasite. It will grow just as well on your chain link
fence or stapled to the wall of your garage.

"Jim" wrote in message
ink.net...
Ball moss and lichen-like growths on the bark itself don't usually harm
trees. Commonly, one will see both on both varieties of oak that is
prevalent in the Austin and central S. Texas area.

However, if the tree has some heavy parasitic insect infestation, is
weakened, and the two piggy back parasites (ball moss and lichen) on
the
tree perceive this as weakening as a reason to proliferate; it will
weaken the tree even further. May even participate in the tree's
death.
............
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
t...
Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the
ground. It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now
will
prevent it from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the
trees
or what ever it is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...
That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?

I have three trees on my property which are tagged by the county as
being over 200 years old. They are full of ball moss on the under
branches. Those branches are not dead by ball moss, but gave ball
moss opportunity as they died. As I said, Live Oak is a trash tree in
that it constantly needs aesthetic pruning and upkeep in order to
maintain that clean look.


On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 23:44:16 GMT, "Cliff" wrote:

Some of the live oaks are more than 200 years old and have survived nicely
without anyone spraying things on them. I don't think that Sitting Bull and
the boys were picking ball moss either. Ball moss, lichens, and Oaks will
continue to cohabitate with or without us.


"Jim" wrote in message
ink.net...
Irregardless, if the tree is weakened by other parasites, the ball moss
may
proliferate. Leaves need light. The bark needs to maintain some level of
water content and allowed to dry out. Ball moss inhibits water
evaporation
at the bark.

--
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
. com...
ball moss is not a parasite. It will grow just as well on your chain link
fence or stapled to the wall of your garage.

"Jim" wrote in message
ink.net...
Ball moss and lichen-like growths on the bark itself don't usually harm
trees. Commonly, one will see both on both varieties of oak that is
prevalent in the Austin and central S. Texas area.

However, if the tree has some heavy parasitic insect infestation, is
weakened, and the two piggy back parasites (ball moss and lichen) on
the
tree perceive this as weakening as a reason to proliferate; it will
weaken the tree even further. May even participate in the tree's
death.
............
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
t...
Baking Soda at couple tablespoons per Gallon. I expect you know that
killing it doesn't mean it will let go of the branch and drop to the
ground. It will continue to hang on until it rots but killing it now
will
prevent it from putting out more "seeds". It does no harm to the
trees
or what ever it is growing on.


"Frank" wrote in message
nk.net...
That time again when my neighbors trees throw ball moss to my trees.
Is there anything besides Kocide that will kill the ball moss?