Yes, I've ordered from Glasshouse Works before. They do have some very interesting things. I must order again. Oops.

I think this forum for ferns is great. I've always loved ferns and try the best I can with them in the house. I have a nice young Australian tree fern (Cyathea cooperi) and a Japaneses Holly Fern (Cyrtomium falcatum along with a Mahogany fern (didymochlaena truncatula) along with a nice Polypodium aureum (bears foot or hare foot or squirrels foot depending on who you talk to or read) I just call it my Polypodium. I would love to try an Angiopteris evecta, but getting a young plant is nearly impossible and even getting spores is just as impossible. Up here in the NE, I don't think it'll become a weed. If I get the chance I'd like to get Polypodium aureum 'Mandaianum'. Outside I have a nice patch of Japanese painted fern and nice clump of male fern. I did have a Platycerium bifurcatum but a friend of mine sold it for me as at that time, I was having a few problems. Here's a few photos of my babies.

Ooooh, I like that last one! What is that? I may have to give the Japanese painted ferns another try. I had one but it didn't survive where I had it.

KurtMN, very nice!

KurtMN, you need another stag! You had a very nice one.

Just found this thread...some of mine (north side of house) -


Painted Fern

How much sogginess will those ferns take?

J: Glad you found the fern forum ... those are gorgeous ferns you have growing in your neck of the woods!


Little Maidenhair Fern ... growing inside as a houseplant. I think this was an Exotic Angel Plant - Adiantum hispidulum.

Wow I think I kicked started this forum

Woofie, the last plant that I had posted was my Australian Tree fern. It can be grown outside in zones 7 to 10 and even on the west coast. They can tolerate very mild frosts with some damage, but not deep winter cold, so this little critter comes in during the winter. It'll look a tad on the worn side by spring, but that is the time for new frond growth anyways, so the old fronds are cut off once the newer ones have grown. It's the same where some cold damage is evident. Usually as long as the growing point in the center is kept warmer and safe, it'll survive cold spells. Some people actually warp their plants up using hay and burlap around the trunk and over the growth point to keep those waiting fronds protection on the west coast where they would be marginally hardy. I have seen them growing in Texas, protected from sun, and even in Vancouver,BC. I do know that some species are even grown in parts of England. Up here in the north though (zone 5-6) it goes in.

Everyones plants look so great and I hope we can pull in other fern lovers over time.

i used to kill most of my ferns, long time ago... but since i started growing them on water-wicks may be 5-6 years ago
- been no problem at all! it is sort of self-watering, but i top water too half the time.
it all started by happy accident - some spores sprouted in the orchid pot and i let them grow.
eventually i had to repot and separate though, as it got big!
then it got gigantic and threw spores everywhere... and i had only one corner without the carpet where i can keep it.
then it self-seeded ... so now i have many polypodiums. the oldest is now may be 10 years ??
the 2nd one may be 4 years and baby - just 2-3?
the gramps last year in spring the 2nd gen
and the smallest this year
then a very good thing happened: i went away for the holidays and they ran out of water and dropped most fronds...
and regrew to a much more manageable size, only just getting ready to shed spores again... and getting back to 3' fronds...
meanwhile i looked for smth a little smaller and cleaner... and found myself a kangaroo paw - still happy with it after 1 year.

6" pot last year and now still in 6" pot (in club-chair)

yet i am expanding again...got a little crocodyllus... a few months ago...and it is finally showing some growth...


heard they can get quite big too?

Nice collection Skylark!

I have a Kangaroo Paw Fern (Lecanopteris pustulata subsp. pustulata) (hmm, I see in the database that Microsorum diversifolium is now listed as a synonym). I purchased mine as a small plant back in 2005 and it's grown a lot since then. I'm pretty bad about repotting and it needs it badly. This photo is from last March:


I also have the Crocodile Fern (Microsorum musifolium 'Crocodyllus') that I got in 2011 as a small plant; it's grown a lot and needs repotting too.

i can see from your picture in DB that it is in rather large bark. do you add anything else to it? i have not repotted mine yet, as it's going into winter and cooler temps (65F) and it is still quite small. do you put yours outdoors in summer?

I plant containers using a mixture of potting soil and Orchid Bark Mix (the mix that contains wood chips, perlite and charcoal.) It's a fast draining medium which seems to work well for me. The only types of plants I don't use it for are Gesneriads (African Violets & kin) and a few orchids that are mounted on wood. My plants are fairly neglected by most folks standards and go for weeks without water sometimes but we have very high humidity here year round and the plants on the screened porch are in a little microclimate of their own due to the waterway directly outside of the porch, which keeps the humidity up.

That's a great mix, Lin, one I use often. I'm a little bit better at watering though.

LOL Ken ... I used to water plants to death but years ago I began mixing potting soil with the orchid bark stuff and adding more perlite for drainage. I don't use extra perlite anymore but I am really bad about watering plants. I have a LOT of plants and I'm surprised they stay alive with the lack of care they get from me but they seem to adapt; even the orchids, although they tend to look a bit ratty when they are left hanging out in the trees where they get bitten by bugs, knocked around by squirrels and sometimes end up on the ground or even partially eaten by the critters.

Yep, I have the same problem with all my plants being outside, under large trees, from April through September/October.

I have a Boston Fern that in the last month got some worm that has eat most of the leaves... should I prune the existing leaves and expect them to regrow or just leave the fern alone to regrow by itself?? also have heard wornders of using epsom salt when watering ferns, have any of you tried that??

Boston Ferns are quite resilient when it come to cutting it back. Many people whack the entire plant back in spring, after being indoors all winter long, to get new growth and for repotting as well. I'm not sure what worm you have, since I've never run into any worm that would unless your talking about slugs. If you haven't found the critter, then I'd whack it back so you can look at the soil underneath to see if you can find it, which could also be a cut worm. The ones that curl up when touched. They hid during the day and come out at night. They do cause a lot of damage to plants as I found out this year with my Amaryllis. I couldn't figure out what was causing damage to the leaves until I found the cut worm neatly curled up way down at the bottom of the leaves. Out it came and I threw it away. But to get back to cutting back, whack it back and water it and watch the new growth come back up. Just don't cut too far back that you cut the growing tip off. if you have the little runners you could let some root in another pot, if you're worried about it dieing. Epsom salts would probably be okay to use on the fern, but be careful of how often you do use it. Once or twice in a growing season should be enough. You don't want residue building up in the soil since ferns are not heavy eaters so to speak.

Good growing to you all out there, and lordy I go away for a few weeks and the messages pile up like crazy on me

sabinacano, can you post a photo of your plant? Maybe someone will recognize the damage and be able to identify what insect is eating the fern to better give advice on what to use to eradicate it. Kurt has given some good advice about pruning/cutting back the foliage but if you don't eradicate the underlying problem it could re-appear once new leaves grow out.

Being new to south florida I am excited to be able to grow ferns outside in my ( soon to be) garden. I had to leave my georgous rabbits foot fern to a neighbor when I moved from NJ. So now it's time for me to learn about Florida's ferns. I don't have too much shade, some partial shade and a lot of sun. Any suggestions as to the types of ferns I can try, and if anyone lives in west palm beach area, where to get some healthy plants. I'm excited to plant as many as I can. 😃