fern propagation

I have some hardy ferns making spores. Is there an easy way to propagate from them?

This month's Horticulture magazine has a nice little article by Ken Druse on propagating ferns from spores.

I don't know about easy. But I grew some Aust. tree ferns from spores before. I took very moist sterile seed starting soil and sprinkled the spores over the top of it, (do not cover with soil). Then placed them in a plastic ziplock bag and place them in a bright window, but no direct sun light. After a week or so you will start to see a green fuzz that looks like moss. Oh, and you have to keep it moist, I used a spray bottle with distilled water in it. After a few weeks the "moss" starts to send up little fern fronds. When they start to get several leaves on them you can tease them out and pot them up.
Hope this helps.

Lonny

Sounds easy enough to me. Thanks!

How dp you know when and how to collect the spores?

Here is a summary of the Druse article in Horticulture:

Use commercial African Violet potting mix, moistened, sterilized in a microwave-safe container in microwave for 10 minutes or until an inserted instant read thermometer reads >180F. Pour boiling hot water over a one-pint clear plastic deli tub and lid. Everything must be "impeccably clean." Layer medium 3/4" deep in the tub.

Cut a frond with ripe sori (he doesn't say how you know it is ripe). "Lay it on a piece of white paper in a breeze-free spot overnight. Carefully lift the frond to see a "print" of spores. Gently fold paper in half and rocking it side to side to collect the spores. Next, take the paper to the trash and pour the spores into the bin; enough of them will be caught in the fibers of the paper to sow."

Remove the lid, hold paper upside down and tap on the back; reseal immediately. Place tub in warm place with bright light but not direct sun. In weeks to months, the surface will turn green, then little disks (prothallia) will appear. When they develop a frond or two that look like an adult fern, use a plastic knife to transplant them, about 12 sporlings per nursery tub of sterilized medium. Reseal tubs. Remoisten with distilled water as needed. When they look like miniature ferns, they can be moved to their own containers. Put containers in plastic box and gradually wean them out to open air.

HTH

I have a kangaroo paw fern, I think that is what it is. How I got it was in a Master Gardener class I took..... A lady brought in a leaf and on the underside you could clearly see all the spots of spores. We just took one off with our fingernail then put it in the Jiffy Peat pot and put that in a ziploc. It took a couple of months, but it started looking loke werid algae was growing, then little baby leaves appear!!! I have two more now. I need to one day sit down and do a whole bunch. I lost one because I was told that it was hardy in our area. It never came back : ( I think this one might be the easiest fern to propagate though, because I noticed on my other ferns, the spores are not a obvious.....good luck!!

Yikes! The Druse article makes it sound way more complicated than I'd want to tackle. I don't have a microwave, and I've heard that sterilizing soil in the house is not the most pleasant scent. Since they can "self-seed" in nature, sterilization must not be the most important thing in the process. I'm going to kind of wing it using the ideas posted here. If it works, I'll give the details of what I did, including if I was correct on the spores being ripe. Thanks for the tips!