Need Info and HelpStaghorn Fern

I would appreciate any info and help on Staghorn Ferns. I received a big beautiful one in a trade and I really don't know how to care for it. I love it and would like to learn what I may need to make it happy. I have always wanted one of these ferns so I was tickled pink to get it but now I worry because I don't know alot about them. I have looked for info on the web but the sites can be so confusing. Please if anyone can help me, it would be greatly appreciated. CB :)

Hi, Country, how are those figs? I have a staghorn that I bought at a nursery as a cheap distressed plant. It looked okay to me, but the ladies there had decreed it needed to be composted! I read what I could find about it, decided most of it didn't fit my situation, and set the poor doomed baby in the greenporch with the intention of learning more and reviving it. It sat there for months, and I would occasionally dribble some water over the brown thing it used to cover its feet. One day, I noticed it had put out a new frond, and the brown thing had begun to sort of waste away where a new green one was forming. It is still in the same pot, because I am afraid if I try to attach it to something I might kill it. (If it ain't broke don't fix it.) In a little booklet I have about ferns, I found this:

Temperature: Avg. to cool; night temp min. 50-55°F. Tolerates short periods below freezing.

Light: High light. Sun in winter, from mid-March onward filtered sun to full shade. Prefers moderately humid air.

Watering: Keep moist but allow soil to dry slightly between waterings. If plant is hung on a slab, place it biweekly in a bowl or sink filled with tepid water. Soak for 15 minutes or more and drain before rehanging. (The shield's purpose is to store moisture.)

Fertilizing: Apply 1/4 recommended strength only during active growing period. Use only liquid fertilizer to avoid build-up in between layers of shield.

Soil: Pot - fibrous mixture containing sphagnum and peatmoss with sand for grit. Slab - place 1-2" of sphagnum moss behind shield before attaching it.

Aimee's advice is good. Here is some additional information that may prove useful.

Staghorn ferns are known botanically as Platycerium. Like orchids and bromeliads, Platycerium are epiphytes. Like bromeliads, but unlike orchids, Platycerium can adapt their roots to grow in pots of soil, as long as it drains well. That said, I don't recommend keeping platycerium in a pot because of its unusual growing habit.

As it grows, it puts out sterile shields that are green initially, but become brown and paper-like as they age. These shields grow on top of one another and around the outside of the container and then produce more fronds. This is hard to describe, but the bottom line is that it is better to grow them in an 8" to 10" hanging wire basket that is lined with loose sphagnum moss. Unpot your fern and put it and its rootball in the center of the lined basket. You can fill the space between the rootball and the moss lining with either more sphagnum moss or with a porous orchid mix. This is one instance where overpotting is OK. In time you will end up with a wire basket completely covered with Platycerium shields and with antler-like fronds poking out in all directions - a magnificent sight, unlike any other plant. Let me know if you don't understand this potting process because it is unusual.

Once a staghorn fern is set up properly, it is quite easy to care for. The only difficulty is that it usually has to be taken to the sink to be watered properly. The best way to
water is to soak the rootball and moss thoroughly in the sink or plunge it into a bucket of water as soon as the sphagnum moss starts to feel a little dry. Of course, you then have to let it drip dry before you can return it to its place. I use a clear vinyl hanging saucer suspended underneath as a catch basin.

It should have lots of bright indirect light and it does well in 65 to 75 degree temperatures. Staghorn ferns will do just fine in 50-degree temps in the winter. They
can survive temps in the 40's, but growth will be reduced substantially. Although I would not recommend locating it directly above a heat source, its reputation for requiring high humidity is undeserved. As long as you keep the roots moist to compensate, low humidity should not be a problem. Dilute fish emulsion should be added monthly when it is actively growing.

Be alert for scale and treat it at the first sign using a Q-tip to apply alcohol. Most ferns are sensitive to sprays of any kind. You may note that the fronds are covered with fine white fuzz. It is not dust and should be left on the fronds. The tips of the fronds often have brown fuzz on the undersides. These are the spores, not scale.

Thanks, Will, I needed that! I knew my staghorn was more or less just sitting there, putting out minimal new growth. But the slab thing seemed ill advised. I like the idea of the basket, and will move mine to one. Wish me luck!

Thank you both for the great advise. I need all the help I can get. Will, do you just lay it in the wire basket with the sphagnum moss like you were planting it? I saw on one web sites that they said to do the same thing you said but the basket had to be hung vertical and the brown frond piece was to be tied to the basket so it wouldn't fall out. It sounded confusing to me. I probably goofed tonite tho. :(
I looked at mine tonite and it felt very dry and I was worried about it anyway because it had 2 leaves turning yellow when I got it. So I tried to follow one of the web sites about dunking the whole brown thing or frond in water for 15 - 20 mins.----I feel asleep waiting on our power to be turned back on due to a rain storm. So the fern had sat in the water for 2 hours instead. :( I don't know if I goofed or what but I did take the fern out of the water and I placed it back in a half filled pot of dirt sitting up with only one end touching the dirt so it would drain some. I hope I didn't goof up and kill it first thing off the bat. I will put it in a wire basket with some old sphagnum moss I have from craft use tomorrow till I can get to town (I live too far out of town and won't be able to go tomorrow) to get new sphagnum moss. Will this be alright? Have I goofed up bad already? I am so scared I will do something wrong and lose this beautiful plant. Please let me know so I won't worry. Thanks to you both for all the great help. I may have to pester you again, if you don't mind, till I feel confident with growing this beautiful fern or epiphyte. Please wish me luck too!! :)

I have a huge one that I have had for over 25 years. In fact I have another large one that was left at my house when I moved in. It was down to 1 frond. It now has about 300. Both of them are on my back porch, which is open. The biggest one is attached by 1 nail to the 4X4 post on the corner of my porch. The post goes from the floor to 10 feet up and there is an open redwood lathe over my porch. It was originally put on a wooden board, about 1 foot square. Sphagnum moss was put over the plant on the sides and chicken wire put over it and stapled to the board. Well, you could not find the board if you tried. It has now grown all the way around the 4X4 and there are multiple plants. It must hang 5 feet. And be 5 feet wide. A few years ago ivy from my porch crossed over and actually rooted in the fronds of the fern. I still am trying to pull it out! As soon as I figure out my digital camera I will post a picture. Anyway, about every month in the summer I hang the hose over it and run the water for about 10 minutes. Other than that I just spray the fronds when I think of it, maybe every week. The only fertilizer I give it is rotten bananas. A nursery guy 20 years ago told me to let a bunch of bananas rot, them peel them and blenderize them with water and pour it in the center. I did that once or twice a year for years. Then I got lazy and now I just toss a rotting banana, peel and all, in the center once in a great while. It thrives on neglect. In winter, the apricot has no leaves yet the fern does fine even when there is frost. When we had a bad freeze several years ago, I lost some fronds but it did fine. Are you going to keep yours in the house? I would at least let it summer outside in dappled shade. Mine gets some direct sun. It can burn if it is not used to the direct sun. Good luck. I love my 2! If I moved and had the heart to take it for it must love its home, I would have to cut the entire 4x4 out and move it that way!

CB - Use an 8 to 10 inch diameter wire basket with 2 inch spaces between the wires. Don't use wire mesh. Line the inside of the basket with lots of FRESH sphagnum moss. You can place the unpotted staghorn anywhere inside this moss nest and surround the root ball with more moss. The fronds and shield should be sticking out of the top of the basket or through the spaces in the side of the basket; your choice. If you can put more than one staghorn inside the basket in different locations, all the better.

It may take a year or more, but eventually new staghorns (called pups) will emerge from the moss and poke through the moss. After that, the pups will produce circular sterile shields that will overlap the outside of the wire. After many years, the wire will be completely enveloped by shields and fronds.

A single episode of soaking your staghorn should not cause any damage. You did the right thing when you let it drain. The sphagnum moss will help a lot because it retains moisture, but is also filled with lots of air spaces at the same time.

Make sure your staghorn gets lots of bright indirect light all day long. Without good light, all of this other stuff won't matter.

Let me know if you have additional questions.

Hey Will---you say root ball---there is no root ball. All there is is the shield (woody looking plaque)with several layers and the fronds (leaves)that come out of the center of the shield. I see no roots on it anywhere. I will try my best to get some fresh sphagnum moss tomorrow if possible. I hope Home Depot has it. Thanks Will, Aimee, and Kell for the help. I have printed all this down and will try my best to do it right. Wish me Luck!! :)

Aimee---the figs are doing fantastic! My mother took one away from me tho. She loved it's leaf foliage. :)

CB - Sorry, I assumed that your staghorn was in a small pot of soil, the way they are often sold. The point is to get the roots and whatever they are attached to inside and covered by damp sphagnum moss while the shields and fronds are left uncovered.

Good luck at HD. If they don't have what you need, then you could temporarily put your staghorn in a plastic pot filled with the old moss that you already have. This will give you additional time to get the moss and basket.

Hello Will---I went to HD and all they had was Schultz Green Moss which looked exactly like sphagnum moss and they had Scott's Sphagnum Peat Moss(looks like a fine dirt). I got both. Which do you suggest or should I use both?(one to line the basket and one to fill the basket for the fern) As far as the wire baskets--HD had a half circled one(flat on back, round on front but not enough room for my Staghorn's frond) and a round one--I got the 12" round one because my Staghorn's frond is 5x5 in size and I wanted to make sure I got a big enough basket. I have to take this basket back tho because I got home and one of the flimsy wires had snapped at the weld. I think I may have a 10" around here somewhere and will try to find it. By the way---one side of the frond this morning is tight layered but the other side the layers have spread far apart. Is this good or bad after that drenching I gave it?
I really appreciate your help. I am sorry to be such a dumb pest but I so want to succeed with this lovely fern. Thank you alot for helping and putting up with my questions. :)

CB, the shield is the part at the base, and the fronds are the "horns" or leaves.

Oops---I goofed. I remember that now that you reminded me. LOL I will do better as I learn. Thanks! :)

Use the decorative green moss to line and fill the basket.

The difference between a 10" and a 12" basket is not monumental. A smaller basket will fill with staghorn fronds sooner than a larger one and that is why I suggested the smaller one. But make sure you get a sturdy one because you will want it to hold up for years.

I don't have an answer for you about the layers spreading apart.

Now you've gone and done it, I feel guilty about that little guy sitting in his original pot for several years. I hope I don't kill him when I move him to a basket. He lives in the greenporch on the southeast corner of the house, so it's always shaded, but I might have to give a bit of thought to hanging him from something on the rock wall instead of leaving him sitting on his back wall shelf. I'm afraid to put him outside, the grasshoppers are trying to devour everything out there.