I think I overdid it

Hi all, it's my first time posting in the Ferns, Fungi & Moss forum. I'm experimenting with propagating ferns from spores for the first time. I have basic instructions that came with them and I think I overdid it on the sowing because they came up in a thick mat. These are Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides).

So here's my question - is the large 'plantlet' in the middle of the pic more 'mature', or is there a whole bunch of 'plantlets' together? I don't know what a single one looks like.

My instructions say 'If there are a lot growing close together, they must be thinned out to about 1 or 2 per 3-inch area. If not, they will only grow male organs." So I'm wondering what just one of them looks like. I have already transplanted them in clumps about the size of that (1/4"), should I be thinning them further?

Thanks very much.

Sandy

Looks like a bunch together. Each prothallus (the technical term for a fern 'sporeling') is a single flat, unbranched notched disc-shape.

I'd not worry too much about spreading them all out, you're sure to get several adult ferns appearing from that lot there.

Resin

Thanks, Resin. I had already spread them into clumps about 1/4", but now I know the clumps are several prothallus, not just one, I'll have another look and see if they are easily separated. They are very tiny!

Sandy

Sanannie,
I've started from fern from spore too this year, but mine are not as far along yet. I am eager to follow your progression.
I agree (for what that's worth, since I don't really know myself, LOL) with Resin I believe those to be groups of prothallus. Do they get separated at this point?
Shady

Hallo Shady, I'll let you know how I make out with the separating. I have three pots, maybe what I'll do is separate 2 and leave one of them, just to see if there's a difference. Fun, eh?!

Sandy

I just spent some time separating (WITH reading glasses and tweezers) and I have to say that I'll definitely sow the spores much finer next time!

Sandy

But look what I discovered! Baby ferns?

Sanannie,
Congratulations! Did your eyes go cross-eyed, with that intense work? LOL!
Please tell me....what did you use for your growing medium, any special mix? Did you sterilize the medium? containers?
Was it difficult to separate? Do they have little roots? Or are you justing them on top of the medium and pressing them in?

I am full of questions, I started mine on those mini dehydrated peat pot, I need to get my next medium ready so that when mine are ready to separate, I am ready to go.

Congrats, they look great.
Shady

Hi Shady,

You mean I've got me some baby ferns? I sowed them 6-1/2 weeks ago. Yay!

I just used the same mix as for the rest of my seed sowing. Soil-less mix (mostly peat). I added extra perlite but didn't sterilize it. I washed my pots with bleach like I always do at the start of the season. That's all. Sowed the spores in the pots, put baggies over the pots to keep the moisture and humidity in and put them near my flourescent lights.

Yes, some clumps were hard to separate. I'm sure there are better tools for the job. I used some pointed tweezers and I found they sometimes tore the tissue if it was a tight clump. Good thing was, I had LOTS, so I just kept at it until I had separated enough of them. Most of them seemed to have a very, very fine hair-like strands at the base that seemed like they were stretchy, if you can picture it. Perhaps it was the roots. They were tiny, so I just made a little indentation and gently pressed the whole thing into the medium.

I'm keeping the container with the thick mat of them just as an experiment. Maybe I'll learn that I didn't have to fuss so much with separating them!

Sandy

Actually that looks like moss growing instead of baby ferns. I had the same thing. I pulled them out.

Aw, growin, you went and burst my bubble! LOL So, it's moss? How do baby ferns differ in looks from the moss?

Thanks for your input.

Sandy

Ooops! I guess I'll be doing transplanting today. I haven't looked at them for more than a week. These treeferns grow fast.

Wow, that's a forest you've got going there, growin!

From your picture I'm guessing that a fern should come up as a stem rather than a miniature version of itself?

Sandy

The young fern should look very much like a small version of the mature plant, except with often less finely divided fronds. It'll appear at the notch in a prothallus, the first frond just a centimetre or so long, but with the classic 'fiddlehead' unrolling tip. Subsequent fronds will be larger, fairly rapidly.

Resin

Resin. Ahh, now I see. The new fern will appear at the notch of the prothallus, and the unrolling tip visual is a good one. Thanks, Resin!

growin, when did you sow your ferns?

Sandy

This was done in November so it's taken a while to get them going. I've already transplanted a Lophosoria quadripinnata but I need to clean this tray out a bit. Some of the spore was a few years old - I'm surprised by the results on the Dicksonia antarctica.

Now that's some interesting info. What species was it? I just didn't think the spore lasted that long. I'm pleasantly surprised.

Very interesting Resin!

Sandy, hi there. Typically the prothallus should look like a heart shape with the point cut off. Your multiple prothallus really slowes them down.
I try to avoid this this by sifting trough some very sheer curtain, or something even finer. It is important to get the duff out, so that you only have spore let when it is time to sow. Then I put the fine spore in water .
This will help separate the spores and put more distance between the prothalus. Unfortunately they will be nearly invisible because they are only 40 microns in diameter, and in a month or so will be as big as a penney. This is collosal growth speed. If a sunflower seed could grow that much in a month it would cover 50 acres. As you keep growing these you will learn some tricks to give you gigantic, single prothallii.
These are the ones that will outmature all the multiple ones and leave them in the dust. Thanks for posting these great pictures. Frank

Thanks for the tip on spore sowing, Frank. I'll definitely try that next time!

No baby ferns yet. The prothallus don't seem to be growing much, but they look healthy. I just gave them a little flood of water again today.

Sandy