Marimo : Easy Plants for Children.

So, my son loves plants. We planted some Thyme a few months ago and he's really enjoyed watching they grow. Every few days he comes up and shouts 'baby plants, baby plants!' and we go and look at them.
So naturally I wanted to get him a few more plants and even after Granny donated some Basil, it was not enough. I wanted the worlds cutest plants. Marimo!

Marimo are a rare type of algae that grow in balls at the bottom of lakes/lochs in the nothern hemisphere. They are only known to grow in Japan, Scotland, Iceland and Estonia. I think they are the cutest thing ever. Like little green balls of velvet!
Not only are the one of the cutest plants in the world, they are super easy to take care of.
They only need minimal sunlight and a water change every 1-2 weeks. They grow at a rate of about 5mm a year and can grow up to 20-30cm!
Just keep the water at room temperature and pop in the fridge if they get above 25°C. Careful though, they don't survive freezing temps!
Oh, and, you can use them in fish tanks as mini filters as they clean the water!!

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they came through the post in a little vacum packed bag. we then had to roll them into shape as they had been a little squished in the postmans bag! Which was lots of fun.

Once you pop them in the water, they float but all you need to do is squeeze the air out of them and they will sink. This was also lots of fun for Reuben and the kitchen ended up a bit wet!!

In retrospect, I didn't choose the best container for these marimo. The glass is not smooth so unless you look from the top they are slightly distorted but they still look super cute. Plus the jar is a little to small so I will be on the look out for a larger open top vase to keep them in. Water started looking a little cloudy after a few days.

As I have just gotten them, I have not encountered any health problems but I've look them up and here they are :
'If your marimo turns grey then simply flip it over and make sure the grey area gets light.
If that doesn't not work then you can get a bowl, add water, ice and salt, let them soak in that for about 3 hours'

love from

ZXSquecktrum