I became fascinated by ant plants when I found some growing wild, Myrmecodia beccarii. I'd heard and read about them before so recognised them easily. But I've never got around to keeping them. Have seen Dischidia ant plants in the wild in PNG. The only one I have though is D. nummularia but that one's not an ant plant.

I've grown Dischidia pectinoides, but couldn't keep it alive. I have since discovered it requires very little water.

Hi
I have one small Lecanopteris which was a gift many years ago. I've recently transferred it to a palm tree to see if it improves . Always limped along though didn't die lol
Was always worried about the ants . I already provide housing for a gazillion of them lol. gary

Yesterday, I just passed a colony of Lecanopteris sp. locally known as ant fern, thinking they're not going to thrive in our lowland tropic as these came from the colder region of our country.
Fortunately, i got myself a Myrmecodia tuberosa mounted on a branchlet for the first time with inconspicuous bright orange fruit and seemingly volunteer seedlings hitchhiked along.
it's still a plant on trial though.

I was super happy when Myrmecodia beccarii survived its first winter outside. It got down to at least 32F. Unfortunately, it only put out two new leaves this summer. But it didn't lose many so that's a good thing.

It's mounted on a wooden plank that's covered with a fairly thin layer of New Zealand Sphagnum. During summer I water it at night but it dries out during the day. It probably wants more moisture but it's always safer to err on the side of too much drainage.

I also have Dischidia major. It's mounted just like the M. beccarii. It's grown really great this summer. This will be the first winter that I'll test it outside.

What I plan on doing with all of my "test" Hoyas/Dischidias is cutting off all their new growth which I'll propagate inside the house in clear storage bins covered in clear plastic by the windows. In previous years the new growth would get killed by the cold and this would open the door for miniature monsters to rush in and kill the plant.

Not sure if this Dischidia is really an ant plant...

{{gwi:13972}}

I've had quite a bit of success with Myrmecophilas. Because they are CAM orchids I don't use any moss when I attach them to boards. Plus, I try and give them as much full sun as possible.

Pachycentria glauca did pretty great during the summer...but it really didn't like my fall decrease in watering frequency. It didn't help that mine were just recently established cuttings. I'd like to try growing them from seed to see if there's any drought tolerance variation between the seedlings.

I also tried an ant fern...it made a bit of growth during summer but then deteriorated during winter. It made it to spring but didn't have any energy left to hold on for summer. So it wasn't the cold that killed it...it was a lack of warmth. It might have survived in the warmest spot in my garden.

Do you have any unusual bulbs or scented plants? Please contact me at my email address?

Thanks so much!

tropicalgardener@gmail.com

Frank :)

tropicalgardener1212, please read the TOS and stop spamming your request. There are exchange forums for trading. There is nothing on your exchange page.

In answer to the question, most of my plants seem to be ant plants and I wish they were NOT!

Hydnophytum formicarium is an easily grown one, and have several. Would love to trade for a Myrmecodium, or whatever. Yale

Stumbled on this thread. A friend of mine got me hooked on Rubiaceous plants. I now have several Myrmecodia, Hydnophytum and some other seedlings from my plants. I had a couple of Myr. beccari but for some reason two of them suddenly rotted out. I've also lost a couple of my seedlings the same way. Not sure if they are too wet and too cold???? Any suggestions? Would love to trade for another Myr. beccari and Myr. platytyrea tropiflora 2998 and/or 1552.

I've kept them in warm greenhouses,easy to keep...so cold will rot them fast. Watch out for snails..they will devour them if you summer them outside.

You might add the Ant Fern plant..really exotic looking fern.

I am searching the internet for advice on growing hydnophytum. I purchased onerecently, was told by the grower to treat it like an orchid.... it keeps dropping leaves.

Any ideas why this is happening? I see the beginnings of a couple new leaves, but 2 branches are leafless now and the others don’t have many left to drop.