How long does a kokedama live? repotting and maintenance

Life cycle of a kokedama
There are many times when, when purchasing a kokedama, we hear the fateful question asked "how long does this plant live?".

With the hope of being able to answer any doubts, this article on our blog is aimed at those who, rightly, are approaching the world of this fascinating and ancient botanical tradition for the first time, not knowing its life cycle.

The life cycle of a kokedama is not very different from that of a classic potted plant, however there are phases in which it is advisable to carry out the right maintenance depending on what you want to obtain from our plant.
The intervention times vary depending on the type of plant and the desired effect.
To give you an idea of ​​the timing, we can tell you that we have carried out maintenance work on kokedama sometimes after two years, sometimes after six from their purchase.

The roots of a kokedama Located within our sphere, the roots are of vital importance, the growth and sometimes the health of our plants depends on them.
As with a vase, in a kokedama the roots develop until they cover all the space offered to them, and then stop their growth and consequently that of the plant.
However, not all roots are the same and change from plant to plant. There are plants with thick and robust roots and in this case something wonderful happens, that is, they manage to forcefully pierce the sphere of our kokedama to continue developing.
This is the perfect time for repotting our kokedama.

Repotting We can intervene in two ways to repot our kokedama.
If you want to preserve the same technique, it is a good idea to carry out maintenance and redo the sphere of the kokedama in proportion to the space available for the roots.
This will guarantee the right proportion between plant growth and kokedama size, as well as offering fresh, green moss again.
If, however, you want to put the plant in a pot, it will be necessary to remove the layer of moss and thread (in our case 100% cotton) and add other soil 1 by 1 to the soil of our kokedama, possibly enriched with perlite and coconut fibre.

Moss The moss of our kokedama, in addition to giving a beautiful natural appearance to our plant, helps to maintain the right level of temperature and humidity inside our sphere. As time passes and depending on the level of humidity in the environment where the plant is placed, the green color of the moss will gradually be replaced by a brown (as shown in the photo).
This is a normal aging process (as for us humans) that we can also see in nature and which does not change the charm of a kokedama.
However, if you want to slow it down as much as possible, it is a good idea to spray a little water on the sphere every 2/3 days.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment or contact us .

Thanks for reading!

Plant in photo:

Sansevieria Kokedama