Wabi Kusa: What It Is and How to Make Your Own Ball
Quick answer: Wabi kusa is a method of bundling aquatic plants and moss into a ball or mat of substrate, popularized by Takashi Amano as a faster way to plant large tanks. You can rest a finished ball on top of an aquascape, half-submerge it on driftwood, or showcase it on its own in a jar as a terrarium.
What Is Wabi Kusa?
Wabi Kusa is a method of inserting various aquatic plants and mosses into a ball or mat of substrate. Takashi Amano popularized this method as a way of planting large tanks more efficiently — instead of painstakingly planting each tiny bundle of plants with tweezers, he would prepare mats of plants to simply tuck into his tanks. Below, we'll show you how to make your own ball version that you can rest on top of an aquascape or showcase as the centerpiece of a terrarium.
What You'll Need
Hardscape / equipment / substrate:
- Substrate ball (we use the Studio Aquatica / Wabi Kusa substrate ball)
- Cylindrical glass jar
- Spiderwood
- Aquascaping tweezers
- Rock sand
Plants (we recommend terrarium plants or aquatic plants that can survive outside of the water):
- Water wisteria
- Staurogyne repens
- Christmas moss
Tools:
- Aquascaping tweezers
- Green thread and pin (included with most substrate balls)
Step 1: Build the Wabi Kusa Ball
First, briefly soak the substrate ball in water so it's easier to work with. Next, insert your plants into the substrate ball — it's easiest to poke a hole first with your tweezers where you want each plant, then push the plant in.
Now hide the substrate ball with moss. After wetting the moss, temporarily stick it to the ball — it won't be perfect yet, and that's fine, because the next step is to wrap green thread around the ball at different angles to hold the moss in place permanently. Finish by tying it off, and you have your own wabi kusa ball.
Step 2: Place It in Your Aquascape
Once you have your wabi kusa ball, you have a couple of options: put it in a jar with a bit of water and sand as a standalone terrarium, or incorporate it into a full aquascape, which is what we'll show here. Build your underwater layout to your liking, then lay a piece of spiderwood over the top of the container. Rotate the wood so the wabi kusa ball rests on top of it with just an inch or two of the ball submerged. Every piece of spiderwood is different, so this is your chance to get creative.
Learn It Hands-On at Hakkai
At Hakkai we run wabi kusa workshops where we walk you through this whole process starting from scratch — making your own wabi kusa ball rather than starting from a premade one. Come get your hands dirty; we hope to see you soon!
Shop Wabi Kusa Supplies
Get started with the same substrate ball we use in this tutorial: Wabi Kusa Substrate Ball. Browse more tools and hardscape in our Equipment & Supplies collection, and find plants and moss suited to wabi kusa in our Aquatic Plants collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is wabi kusa in aquascaping?
Wabi kusa is a technique, popularized by Takashi Amano, of bundling aquatic plants and moss into a ball or mat of substrate rather than planting each stem individually. It speeds up planting large tanks and produces a self-contained, moveable piece of planted hardscape.
Can wabi kusa be kept out of water?
Yes — a wabi kusa ball made with terrarium-tolerant or emersed-capable aquatic plants can be displayed in a lightly misted jar as a terrarium, or rested only partially submerged on driftwood, which is how we use it in aquascapes.
What plants work best for a wabi kusa ball?
Compact, hardy stem and carpet plants that tolerate both submerged and emersed conditions work best — water wisteria, Staurogyne repens, and Christmas moss (as used in this tutorial) are all reliable choices.
How do you attach the moss to a wabi kusa ball?
Wet the moss, press it onto the substrate ball to hold it temporarily, then wrap thin green thread or line around the ball from multiple angles to hold the moss in place permanently before trimming and tying off.
How long does it take to make a wabi kusa ball?
A single ball typically takes 20 to 30 minutes to plant and wrap once you have your materials ready — most of the time goes into carefully positioning plants and wrapping the moss evenly.
About the author: Roger Ma is the owner of Hakkai Aquascape Design Gallery and Pet Zone Tropical Fish in San Diego, with over a decade of experience building and maintaining nature aquariums and aquascaping retail.