Possibly the Biggest Marimo Ball I've Ever Seen!

.......IT'S HUGE!!! What the heck?!
WhatisthisIdon'teven...

No way that is a 100% true Marimo ball. I'd willing to bet that is Styrofoam cored

It looks like a bowling ball!   No wait it is a bowling ball, in a college dorm room.... the beer created a green coating on it.

Wow, poke. That is huge ( unless the tank is only a gallon).... So these moss balls are the ones that the chain stores sell next to the bettas?

Just look at the kids head, compared to the marimo ball, and figure the ratio.... it looks like a 15-20 gallon tall.

And if it was styrofoam core'd wouldn't it be floating? You would need A LOOOOT of lead weight to keep it down if it was styrofoam. D:

Haha, ok poke. Ill give you those valid points! Though its hard to believe that those little ones can get so big.

PokeSephiroth wrote:Just look at the kids head, compared to the marimo ball, and figure the ratio.... it looks like a 15-20 gallon tall.

And if it was styrofoam core'd wouldn't it be floating? You would need A LOOOOT of lead weight to keep it down if it was styrofoam. D:

True, but I still don't think its 100% Marimo.

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't. I've never seen one that big before, and I bed it would take sooooo many years for it to reach that size.

plus, I would think that the inner layers would have died off from lack of light, and would have divided the marimo ball into smaller ones. Hmmm....

Interesting site: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Quite a story behind them: "One of the main reason for Marimo gaining public favor would most likely be due to legend. There once was a daughter of a chief of an important tribe living on the banks of Lake Akan, who fell in love with a commoner. Their relationship met with the opposition of her parents. In order to be together, they ran away, metamorphosed into Marimo and lived happily ever after. Because of this myth, the Marimo has become known as the "love plant" in Japan."

Quote from above site posted.

DMD123: Nice find! I've also read that Marimo Balls are considered a lucky plant (kinda like those "lucky bamboo plants")

Every October, the Marimo Festival is held at Laka Akan in Hokkaido. The local Ainu people extract a marimo from the lake and return it to its' home on the third day of the festival.

Marimo is originally founded in year 1820s by Dr. Anton E. Sauter in Lake Zeller, Austria.It was named "marimo" by a Japanese botanist Tatsuhiko Kawakami (川上龍彦 Kawakami Tatsuhiko?) in 1898 (Meiji 31). - cited from: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Also, I'm starting to think that, that huge Marimo Ball in the video IS REAL. I mean, just check out this photo: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Now that is a bowling ball!  

I want one. Can you imagine? Man... I'd definitely set up a tank JUST for that.

I've got tons of friends in Japan. I will Have to ask about the festival ......

Yes, please do! I'd love to learn more about it, from other people, and not just articles

The biggest marimo I've seen in person was about the size of a baseball. Even at that size, I was amazed!

I found this link from the Japanese National Tourism Organization that mentions the festival:
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The first marimo ball I ever purchased was from petsmart, and it was abou the size of a softball (not so big as a baseball, but close) . . . it was possibly the best $7 I ever spent, as far as marimo balls are concerned

Now days it's at least that much for a one smaller than a golf ball BEFORE shipping...

Pneumostome: Yeah, it's crazy how much they cost