Holy moly! And here I thought I had a monster.
I grew this one from a baby and it was in these pictures about 29 years old. I gave it away that day, but I kept a couple of small pieces which I had cut off with a saw. Within a couple of years these pieces which I mounted together, were then again the size of that mother plant here, so I gave it away too.

The only way I know to control this plant, and this is the "standard" P. bifurcatum, is to constantly divide the pups off the "mother" plant. The size of the bifurcatum is one primary reason that I switched to the subv. 'Netherlands'.

I see! More manageable!

In researching Ken's different varieties of staghorns I came across this site. Who knew there were so many?
http://www.rainforestflora.com...

Cool site Alice! I knew there were a number of them, but not that many!

Selby Gardens here in Sarasota has quite a few of them, and Tropiflora sells a few different kinds as well.

The first picture I posted (with me in it) was at Crowley Nursery. I took the picture cause I thought the frame was an excellent way to hang those giants. The other three photo's were all taken at Old Spanish Point here in Sarasota....the last (4th) picture is one of the two that are in picture 3. I just loved the one that's more or less on the ground...although I think there's an oak stump under the staghorn...but either way the 'mound' was about 7 feet tall.

Just had to jump in and show you mine. It's not growing in the luxury of Florida (or Hawaii). I've had it for 35 years. It lived in the shower and then on the sun porch until I got my first greenhouse in 2003. The second one is living in Hawaii at Kawamoto Orchids. I wish I had looked to see what it was sitting on as the potting bench doesn't seem quite hefty enough.





Daisy

Very nice, Daisy! The one in Hawaii is HUGE!

Nice, Daisy.

So you go to Hawaii and see the big over the top staghorn fern. And then you go home and look at your poor pathetic excuse for a staghorn fern that you have been nurturing for the last 35 years (sometimes it was an its own. I raised a family in there).

My husband threw his pothos away after an early trip to Hawaii. Pothos in Hawaii with 2 foot leaves climbing a tree vs spindly vine wondering all over his office, maybe 2 inch leaves.

The only care this fern gets: rip off Maiden Hair ferns once in awhile. It is at the top of the greenhouse so gets the most sun and the most heat. Its the favorite place for ants and, luckily, tree frogs. It took a major hit last summer because I didn't get the shade cloth up in time. But now the shade cloth stays up full time and its looking better.

Daisy

Occasionally, ants seem to love "living" in one or two of my staghorns. I am growing the stags outside, under large oaks from April through late October-mid November. Just before bringing in the stags to overwinter, I typically will fill a large tub with water and hold the staghorns under-water for a minute or two. If there are insects, some will float to the top. For those plants I just sprinkle a tiny bit of Orthene Fire Ant Killer over the plants' base. By the following day, all the ants are goners and I bring the plants inside.

Of course, I am not dealing with huge plants, those far too large to "dunk". @Daisyl, your plant is wonderful but I simply can't allow my plants to get anywhere near that size any longer. I am not strong enough to lift/move heavy plants, and now with the back surgery, I have to be doubly careful with lifting.

Daisy, don't despair....different plants do different things in different places and climates! Hawaii is tropical, Florida is sub-tropical (Pothos do the same thing here if grown on a tree trunk, but in a pot they stay small leaved. Two of my favorite things in the world are weeping willows and lilac bushes...I can't grow either here at all (and yes, I've tried a dozen different ways!), but I'm not going to throw away my plumeria because it isn't a lilac!

Your Staghorn is gorgeous for being in a desert! Appreciate it for what it is, and don't compare it to it's big brother!

Ken, there are plants that ants colonize IN....they're called Myrmecophyte...google em, they're cool! I've seen quite a few of them here at Selby Gardens and some for sale at some of our shows...

I occasionally get ants in my staghorn but the tree frogs take care of them.

I have three Myrmecophila (M. grandiflora and M. albopurpurea). I just learned recently that ants will move into the hollow stems. Now I have to figure out if they NEED ants. So far, no ants.

Now I understand the reasoning behind changing this plants name from Schomburgkia but still don't agree. Name a plant after a famous botanist or after its affinity for ants? Hmmm...

Myrmecophyte: someone has finally come up with a reason why ants should exist. I always thought it was to keep us on our toes at picnics.

Daisy

They can colonize wherever they like, as long as the plants are outdoors. When it is time to come inside, adios ants and other insects.

Daisy said

Myrmecophyte: someone has finally come up with a reason why ants should exist. I always thought it was to keep us on our toes at picnics.

I like that!! and here I thought they like to come inside with the Orchids to farm Aphids or Scale, Mealies just to drive us buggy!

My orchids stay inside year 'round. The ants have to find us. But they do. Treefrogs were great inventions - they seem to love ants. I'm still working out if ants were (a great invention).

Daisy

I envy you your tree frogs. Ours, which were once plentiful, have all but disappeared. Actually I can't remember the last time I saw one.

I see one occasionally when spring gets here and I'm out moving all the plants under the oaks.

Was out in the yard yesterday...lots of color! Seems to be bromeliad season...sorry, no names on any of them.

Begonia's first:


This is a hanging plant I started from one little tiny piece (Ken, I sent you some of this....it DOES bloom tiny white flowers!)


Now the bromeliads:





This is a native....that's a 4 inch pot in some of the pics for sizing. It's just starting to send up a bloom spike from the center (the last one I had bloom put up a 4 foot spike before it opened to a very non-spectacular bloom) Ken, @drdawg this is same that I sent the little ones to you...I think we decided it was the Tillandsia utriculata, aka the "giant airplant"

I know we have tree frogs, as we have a sweet, soft chorus of them peeping at night. But I never see them, and they sure don't go after the ants - at least not that I've noticed. Ant eradication is an ongoing battle here and we have all shapes, sizes and colors from teensy ghost ants that you can barely see to carpenter ants that can be 3/4in. long.

I have at least 3 kinds of baits that I use, including two large ant bait stations that hold 2 cups of sweet bait each. It's amazing how quickly that bait disappears when the weather is good. Millions of ants.

Beautiful broms, Patty and nice pictures too.