Has anyone grown Spanish moss as a houseplant, it being a Tillandsia after all. If so, how did you do it?

No because it grows wild here and is generally home to many insects (including itch mites) and sometimes birds and bats

Grown it, no.

I have collected native lace lichen, sterilized it, and used on top of ficus and woody philodendrons though ( I know, totally different than what you're asking, sorry).

Laid loosely over the soil and inner pot of a planter.

Hides the pot, holds in moisture and looks great.

I have it growing in my greenhouse. I'm not sure how you would make it grow as a house plant though.

DaisyI said:I have it growing in my greenhouse. I'm not sure how you would make it grow as a house plant though.

Very cool. How so?

On plant limbs or on its own?

Clipped to the wall and it drifts down between shelves and plants. I use little pieces to add a little moisture to orchids in baskets too. Sphagnum stays too wet. I'll try to take a photo tomorrow.

Thanks for the comments, looking forward to the pictures..
I know my Spanish moss may not really 'grow', and am not sure how I'd 'display' it, or put it in the coffee bush and mist it, or put it in a terrarium like container.. It seemed like a fun souvenir of a trip- minus the itch mites of course..

Lace lichen..we don't have that here. I've found something I thought was called reindeer lichen, makes the cute silvery fluffball on the forest floor? https://www.britannica.com/sci...
That would be pretty on the indoor pots.

From
https://www.bromeliads.info/sp...

Spanish moss can be cultivated in a green house. The tiny plants would be difficult to grow in a home because of the humidity and heat they require. Their ideal temperature is around 70 degrees. They will survive down to 22 degrees, but require at least 300 frost free days in a year. To start Spanish moss simply attach a plantling to a slab of bark. They are relatively slow growing and are not likely to flower in cultivation. Misting the plants once a week should provide enough moisture for the plants to grow.

Just had a thought- when I replace the stick for my Philodendron to keep growing up, I could stick some Sp moss on it. May not thrive but.. cover the plant ties.

300 frost free days a year describes how it takes over the trees here in the south LOL. Some people pay money to actually have their trees demised because the trailers of Spanish moss can get over 10 ft long. And it gets HEAVY when its like that. Once during a pop up severe thunderstorm the wind broke off a large branch out of a tree that had a trailer of moss about 5-6 ft long on it and it landed in our pool. When I fished it out, there was a colony of about a dozen Mexican Freetail bats living in there. I hung the whole branch back up in another tree so they could decided to stay or go somewhere else. They were so cute

I have grown it in a greenhouse where it thrived!! Bright light, humidity and good air movement are the things that it needs the most.
I just grew it in clumps hanging from a heavy gauge piece of wire, nothing else. I never watered it. I figured that the humidity in the greenhouse would take care of that. My Long Island greenhouse had a humidity range of maybe 45-60 % depending upon season. It typically doubled in size within a year. I gave all of that extra growth away!
In SW Florida it was more like HOW NOT TO GROW IT!!!

I think that the success with hang upon humidity. How do you get enough water to something that is lacking a root system??
You could soak it in a tray or large bucket every day but I would grow tired of that chore quickly.

Air plants are covered with trichomes, the structure through which they absorb water. To water, spritz with a squirt bottle to get it wet, as if it was raining.

When I find pieces that have fallen on the ground, only the tip is still alive. The tips can stay alive laying across another plant where it/they will get plenty of light, if you can remember to spritz at least weekly. I've kept some going for a year or so a couple of times but it's wasn't very satisfying.

Bill's wire suggestion would probably be the most interesting. It could hang right in a window by a suction cup because it shouldn't weigh very much, or from fishing line from the ceiling. You could jazz it up with some beads, or a fan pull.

Here is a photo of the bottom half of mine - about 4 feet's worth. There's another couple feet above but its the old part of the plant and mostly brown. It also crawls around on the shelf behind the Tillandsia (at the top) before finding its way through. Yes, that's a formerly Schomburgkia orchid buried in the moss. Its a little bluer than it shows but I had to turn on the flash - too dark in that corner. I've had it since I moved to Reno 8 years ago. A friend in my old town said you can't start a new greenhouse without a piece of Spanish Moss. I wish I had a photo of her greenhouse as there were curtains of moss hanging from the whole ceiling with her Cattleyas hanging in between, then benches with more plants. It was amazing (but hard to walk through )

What a GREAT IDEA!! I live in the Florida panhandle and I'm sure I can find some near me. I really enjoyed all the comments and suggestions. I have an 8X10 greenhouse and it is my joy Thank you all!

Hey Patty...I'm in the FL panhandle too, Fountain...where abouts are you?

I can almost see the PH from my house. LOL! 18 miles south.

Great outdoor spaces!.

Loving the pictures, thank you.

Humboldt said:Great outdoor spaces!.

Loving the pictures, thank you.

There's only one photo and its an indoor space.

DaisyI said:

There's only one photo and its an indoor space.

Long day, my bad.

In my feeble defense, your picture looks like an outdoor greenhouse or porch.

Its a greenhouse, in my area definitely an indoor space. Here's a little more backed up photo. The moss in the first photo is behind the moss most visible in this photo.