Hi all! I bought this staghorn about three weeks ago. It was in really soggy soil and the bottom brown sterile frond was mushy, with one small green sterile frond on top. It was also a little beat up, and two non-sterile fronds were bent/broken. So I though- I need it and can save it!

Brought it home and found an old wire basket, put it in some moss, to let it dry out enough (to avoid rot). I mist it lightly once a day, and now it is growing super fast! You can see it has now developed a second green sterile frond. About half the fertile fronds are pointed (single), and half are the 3 finger-like fronds, and a dark green. Any idea which one this is? I'm thinking it's about a year and a half old from the size? I am just learning about staghorns, and none of the photos online seem to have the really dark green fertile fronds.

Your input would be appreciated!

You have the P. bifurcatum, perhaps the var. 'Netherlands'. You have done a good job growing the stag, @AlyssaBlue. You'll see every shade of green possible on my website. I grow lots of stags. The darker green the fronds are (generally speaking) the lower the light levels. My staghorns grown in really bright light have much lighter green fronds than those grown in mostly shade. Your plant may well be 1.5-2 years old.

By the way, 90% of all the staghorns I have grown will be mounted. That allows them to grow as they do in nature, where they are generally attached to trees.

to ATP.

Awesome! Well I named it Elka, thinking it was an Elkhorn, so works for me! Thanks so much for the info, drdawg! Going to move it to the window. It does seem that this was grown in shade, and was cut off a larger plant, stuck in a pot, etc.

So, I have another staghorn named Lily because it looks like a lily pad. I picked it up before we moved last year, kind of a going away present to myself. It was in the original plastic pot until I brought Elka home, then also went into a wire basket because that is what I had (but I know they're not great for the long haul). I think this next one is Placyterium Superbum.? It's starting to get close to reaching over the edge of the basket. Surprised I haven't heard this thing moving, it grows so fast.

I took a look at your website, fabulous work!!!!

Superbum is right. I don't grow them. They get too doggone large too quickly. They do grow interesting forms though.

You now know that an Elkhorn and a Staghorn are completely different plants, in fact, not even in the same family?

Yes, I've become a little concerned about this lily pad of mine......I had no idea which one it was when I bought it. It looked so cute and small in the pot.

The answer to your question is---now I am confused. lol They're not in the same family? I think I have to do more research, now that you've helped ID. I thought elkhorn was a type of staghorn.

See, this is why they're fun, because they're not as straight forward as....pothos. (understatement)

check this out @alyssablue. It will help you understand the difference. Don't feel bad. I called Staghorn Ferns Elkhorn Ferns, and vise versa, for several decades. http://garden.org/ideas/view/d...
Elkhorn Ferns, Polypodium grandiceps

Yes! That helped explain a lot- great article! Before I clicked on the link, I looked at the photos and thought, those look like Birds Nest Fern. So the P. Bifurcatum is not an elkhorn then, even though some websites state the Netherlands var. is an elkhorn. There is still a lot of confusing information out there, obviously.

Meant to tell you that the fern mounted on cork are very cool!! I like the look of the different textures.

Side note- I have a small rabbits foot fern whose fuzzy "feet" are growing like crazy- it's in the same room as the staghorns, on the side with less light. I was thinking of treating it similar to the staghorns, by moving it out of the pot into moss, or something similar. Just to experiment.

Thanks again!!

I have to admit I have never grown rabbits foot ferns. I can't advise you there. That being said, I love to experiment and would try doing what you suggest just to see the results. Take a few cuttings and start them just in case the experiment goes south.

Cork not only looks great is makes the best mounting material I have ever used, and I use 10-12 different woods for mounting.

The only difference in the "standard" bifucatum and the 'Netherlands' (visually) is that the Netherlands grows a bit slower and does not get quite as large. Out of site is the fact that the Netherlands is more tolerant to heat, cold, and drought. It will more likely forgive you if you grow plants on the dry-side.

I have just started some Platycerium Mauna Loa, P. Mickey's Rainbow, and P. lemoinei (aka "Silver" and "French"). These are all rare and very different (and more beautiful in my humble opinion) than the bifurcatum. I look forward to seeing these pups develop on their mounts.

Oh, those are great additions, I looked at the photos online. All three have a graceful quality!

@alyssablue where did you get your staghorn? I'm going to order a superbum as soon as the temperatures get reliably above freezing.

I found it at Berridge Nurseries, in Phoenix. They do not specialize in staghorn, I think this was just timing for the superbum. But it doesn't hurt to check!

Heath, didn't I tell you where you can purchase the Superbum, and lots of other (more rare) Platycerium?

@alyssablue thanks I'll check it out.

@drdawg you sure did. I like to look around see what else I can find. I wanted to make sure I was looking at the right website you gave me. Was it rainforest flora. That's the one I've been looking at. I was in my truck when I was talking to you and couldn't write it down.

There are very few sources of Platycerium as far as I have been able to determine...........really few. Rainforest flora is where I purchased my three rare varieties.

I just wanted to be sure I did give you that name. My memory has been known to have lapses.

Oh...my. I checked out the website. It also explains why the superbum is practically crawling out of the basket in the sunroom (bright light). Lol. And I just realized I mis-spelled Platycerium multiple times.

drdawg: Interesting note regarding the rabbits foot fern. I moved it to moss. Very shallow roots. I'd say it's more of a crawler more than anything.

If I got a lick an hour for every spelling and typo error I've made on ATP, it would take a year to administer those lashes.

drdawg: Is it possible for long fiber sphagnum moss to transfer fungus to a staghorn? The newest fern has developed Rhizoctonia at some point. It was really overwatered when I bought it, but I didn't notice the spots until today when I moved it- they were on the bottom leaves which are very dark anyway. So, it's here now and I need to keep it drier obviously, but I thought I would ask the question.

Anything is possible, Alyssa. I guess mishandled sphagnum could become contaminated somewhere along the way. I don't know why a staghorn would ever be potted up in sphagnum moss though. I do use sphagnum as a backing when I mount staghorns, and I have used it without problems in hundreds of mounts over several decades. Personally, once a staghorn is about 12 mo. old, I don't want mine growing in a pot of any kind, regardless of the media. That's just my opinion and preference. I mount all of mine when they are around 6 mo. old (that's age after I receive the seedling).

You can remove any contaminated fronds and spray a fungicide on the plant to easy eliminate the problem.

Ok, thanks so much! Then logic dictates the overwatering issue, and I just didn't notice it earlier. Will remove affected fronds and spray fungicide.