Ever heard of a pet rock? Well there’s been an advancement in the inanimate-object-as-pet world, and you might just be as excited about it as we are. The moss ball pet is cute, easy to care for, and the trend of having these little guys in water at your house is growing like a weed.

Please note that weeds do grow much faster than live moss balls.

A moss ball pet is alive, and will grow at a very slow rate of speed. Marimo moss balls are solid algae. They grow at just five millimetres per year, which is pretty impressive considering how big they are when you get them.

Because they are a living plant, they need maintenance, but they’re much less particular than most other plants.

A moss ball pet is basically a small algae ball that you take care of… that likely won’t die if you’re bad at plants. Also known as “marimo” which translates to “seaweed ball” in Japanese, these spherical algae start and live their lives in aqueous environments.

In other words, you can have a moss ball pet in an aquarium, or even in a mason jar with cold water. This pet plant is so easy to care for that it’s hard to mess it up.

The legend behind the moss ball pet is actually quite beautiful.

Two lovers in Japan wanted nothing more than to be together. However, their love was forbidden. In an act of defiance and desperation, they dove into cold water together and their hearts became marimo balls.

Because of this, if you gift one of these to someone, it’s said that the gift will help bring them their heart’s desire.

All you need to do to keep your moss ball alive is change its water every two weeks or so. In addition to this, you’ll want to try and keep it round. To make this happen, all you need to do is give the water a swirl every so often.

The swirl of water helps to emulate the waves of water in its natural environment. This will help to maintain the shape so you can call it a moss “ball” rather than a mis-shapen moss blob.

Would you like to commit to one of these adorable “pets”? You can go here and get one shipped to you. Make sure to take care of it… this little ball of moss is said to bring you your heart’s desire!

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