Can this Staghorn Fern be saved?
Eleesabet
plant I've been growing in a pot for 2 years. It was never very robust in
growth, even though I mixed a special soil for it. Leaves would shrivel and
turn lifeless before they had a chance to thrive. I think I was keeping the
plant's roots much to damp because when I was transplanting it onto a piece of
board today, the top portion of the plant (with 5 or 6 small leaves) fell away
from the brown shield. Is there any chance of saving this plant? If so, how?
Will the green portion be able to put out new roots if it is kept on a board
with moss and misted?
Any ideas would be really appreciated.
Thanks,
Elizabeth
paghat
elee...@aol.com (Eleesabet) wrote:
I only failed with staghorns so take this with a grain of salt as the
thinking of someone who killed hers. I just wildly loved the big ones at
the Volunteer Park greenhouse, & when the Indoor Sun Shop offered them, I
gave it a try, with assurance they were easy, but, well...
Having a 100% epiphytic requirement, your having yours "in a pot for 2
years" in "special soil" sounds totally wrong. They are prone to rot if
they don't get their "dry season" done for them properly, & if in soil
it's a wonder it thrived as long as it did. In nature their roots never
touch actual soil. It's high requirement for humidity makes it difficult
to grow in a living room, though easy in a humid greenhouse or any area
arranged so that humidity doesn't drop around the plant. Regular misting
isn't enough; some staghorn growers actually dip the whole plant (up to
the crown) & its bark mounting in lukewarm water & never let it dry out
completely (except for its winter rest). Without 50-70% humidity, it'd be
completely dry in less than hour after misting, thus barely hanging on. It
needs persistent high humidity from spring through autumn, then ideally a
"winter" when the humidity drops & mistings will be enough as it is
resting that season from any growth. Yet it can't sit in water (or in damp
soil) or it will just rot.
They're so easy to grow in a greenhouse but frustrating in a home which
just isn't humid enough in most regions -- it's less humid indoors than
out, so if your outdoors humidity is a low 20%, indoors may only be half
or third that, & even easier plants than staghorns suffer.
To have a chance to save this fern's life, wash any lingering soil out of
the root & wrap the root in fresh sphagnum. Expose the backside of the
root by pulling aside the sphagnum, then bind with cotton string to a
large fresh piece of thick bark (not just a board) so that the back of the
root touches furrowed bark. In time the root & fronds will adhere to the
bark.
You may find you can't save it because staghorns don't produce small
plants from itself; the original plant just gets bigger & bigger &
reproduction is strictly from spoors, & not easily done by us amateurs.
But if any part of the original plant is still okay it might regrow from
any healthy part that lingers. For better expertise than mine, look at
this site:
http://www.platycerium.co.za/
a site with a co-founder who is the guy who literally wrote the book on
staghorn care. The two chaps responsible for the site invite e-mail
queries so if you don't get a perfect answer in this ng or find the answer
at their website, you might e-mail those staghorn fanatics directly & odds
are they'll be glad to advise.
-paghat
--
"Flowers are commonly badly designed, inartistic in
color, & ill-smelling." -Ambrose Bierce
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl:
http://www.angelfire.com/grrl/paghat/gardenhome.html#top
len brauer
i know a lot of nurseries or resellers sell stags in pots but they
realy aren't a pot culture type plant they should be tied to a tree or
a piece of board or timber at the earliest time. the one you have may
still survive.
i would do this using the dead part that broke off from the green
shield as the base tie them back together the way they should be when
tying them tie them to the board you have or what ever, hang it in a
well lit warm side of the house maybe let it dry a tad then water as
normal a good water once a week should do these plants unless you are
in very dry conditions.
don't go adding anything extra apart from maybe some leaf mulch if you
can get it don't use potting mediums or soils. and until it shows
signs of life don't feed it not that they need much of that anyway.
when you tie it make sure you tie it tight so that it is held firm.
hope it survives they are a magnificent plant.
len
snipped
- -
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'
"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://hub.dataline.net.au/~gardnlen/
Andrew Ostrander
suboptimal conditions (rooted in a very peaty soil in a very dry house). I
tried to divide it 2 years ago, and only one piece lived, the one that
seemed less likely to me. Maybe with all this advice I can improve
conditions for it.
Andrew
"paghat" <paghatSPA...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:paghatSPAMMERS-DI...@soggy72.drizzle.com...
Eleesabet
be able to bring this fern back from the brink. And I'll know in the future to
avoid keeping staghorns in soggy soil bound roots (that is if I decide to brave
them again).
Elizabeth
Toni
"Eleesabet" <elee...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020320225818...@mb-fd.aol.com...
Just give it time and humidity and it will recover.
Last year one of my neighbors rolled a huge 4+ foot ball of mostly dead
staghorn out to the curb for trash pickup. I and another neighbor managed to
get it into my back yard... we rolled, pulled, and dragged that poor thing
across driveways, paths, and lawn, and left it in a shady corner of the
yard..... I haven't any trees old enough to support it.
I an now noticing lots of new fronds, and it seems it will be fine.
Just time and TLC is all it needs.
--
Toni Carroll
Sunny South Florida
Zone 10