Moss grows fat on a radiation mask

May 7, 2023 4:35 PM

I want to make something out of the mask that was made to hold my head in place during radiation treatment on my spine. I've thought about a bunch of stuff, from major alien queen type headgear for Halloween to something colorful and decorative for the inside of the house, but what I really want, I think, is to put it in the garden and use some kind of growth medium to have like a flowering moss or creeper type groundcover grow on it. How might I accomplish this?

The radiation mask looks like this (of course people sell theirs on eBay, of course they do). It's basically plastic. I have a garden person helping me with my yard and she's super excited about it too, but I think neither of us knows how you would encourage something like a pretty moss or a blue star creeper to grow on the plastic, especially since it's sort of a mesh and has lots of holes. It seems like it would involve some sort of concoction, but what? Is there a way to turn this into a growing, living garden art?

posted by kitten kaboodle to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Best answer: Assuming this was designed for use in some kind of medical equipment it's unlikely the plastic was designed with good UV resistance. I'm not a great gardener but I would be tempted to prep thusly:
1) sand with a rough grit to turn that shiny plastic into something easier for plants/moss to grip
2) Spray with some kind of UV protection spraypaint (most outdoor ones are but check the can, you could go clear or maybe gold for flair)
posted by Narrow Harbor at 4:56 PM on May 7, 2023

Best answer: I agree that it has to be coated - the thermoplastics used for immobilizers are hard to track down, because the brand name isn't stamped on it and they are meant to deform in hot water anyway - but many of the polymers I can find on MSDS sheets have some UV resistance but break down under microbial loads. So some kind of spray or dip would be ideal, or using it as a mould itself for another material. I'm not sure if it would handle some kind of electroplating with metal, but that would obviously be the most durable.

There are plenty of outdoor spray paints, and a second coat with something textured or flocked would probably be the way to go. It would probably also benefit from interior bracing to keep the shape, depending on how it's in the garden, because it will deform on a hot day.

(I haven't figured out what to do with mine yet, either!)
posted by cobaltnine at 5:59 PM on May 7, 2023

Best answer: I don't see why you couldn't fill it with dirt. If you did that, moss or similar things would grow through it and the plastic would hold the dirt to the mask's shape, rather than plants growing on the mask directly.

I'm thinking: turn it upside down; fill with dirt, probably one of the potting composts with coir or chips in so that it's got a reasonable chance of staying within the mesh; then flip it back using a board or two to hold the dirt in. If you need to leave boards in place, cedar stands up to weather for a while and is cheap to buy as fence slats.

Also, other ground cover plants would potentially work - 'ground cover' is your search term. Creeping thyme comes to mind, you can get thousands of seeds for $5 if you have a green thumb, but research for your own climate.

Bonus if you mount it on a wall, which would not be at all creepy.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 6:07 PM on May 7, 2023 [4 favorites]