Ah Jen, my darlin' little fountain of good information, lol, I knew I could count on you! Thanks so much for a beautiful explanation, I'd love to know not only where you find the time to learn this stuff but also how you find the time to maintain that fabulous collection, be so generous here and still have anything like a real life. It could be staghorn gametophytes(gotta use this somewhere, use it or lose it, you know, lol), but who knows? My cinnamon ferns and royal ferns don't seem very aggressive(I've heard that they can be but never seen them reproduce even one new plant), the only "wild" fern that spreads around close by has gametophytes(see? I really do need to use these words or I'll never remember them, that's the kind of girl I am) that are very different looking, deep dark green and kind of "carpet-like", I'll post a couple of pictures, one of the fronds and one of the gametophytes(!) and see if you know what it is. There aren't any live oaks nearby with the resurrection ferns in them so I don't think it's that. I guess I won't ask for any cultural tips, this old monster is almost too big to move around much anymore and it has a white butterfly ginger growing out the side that's been there for a couple of years, poor thing, I thought I liberated it last spring but it's ba-a-a-a-ack! Thanks again, Jen, you're a Minnesota peach.

I have mounted stags using chicken wire in the past and prefer fishing line. About 20#. When it comes time to remount or divide the clump fishin line is the easiest. I mainly use cedar boards and vary the size to meet my objectives. If I want a single plant I try to cut the board the size of the mature shield fronds. If I want offsets I will make the board about 2 or 3 times that size. For an ideal specimen I would like to try growing on the sides of a barrel, as that would best aproximate the shape of a tree trunk. Moss wire baskets are good but can become hard to work with when they get large. I have grown veitchii in between 2 slabs of sandstone which simulates rock outcroppings where they occur in Oz. I recommend Roy Vails self published book "Platycerium Hobbiest's Handbook" which provides much information on growing stags. His work with P andinum is most extensive.

i can tell that a good sized p. coronarium has a pliable sheet of tissue covering its growing point where new growth emerges. i consider this unique among the ones i have. the growing culture of this staghorn is the same as p. ridleyi - high in the trees in full sun with fairly high humidity, moving air, and temperature. (the average temperature here is 80 degrees f. and the coldest it can get is no less than 70 degrees f. my average day is very breezy to the point that some of my plants can get their tender leaves damaged if not protected. typhoons also frequent as visitors. i can add that most platycerium are wind tolerant if not because their newly emerged leaves are very rigid and strong until they stretch out and gain more volume and become bendable that they dance with the wind. most are also forked and deeply lobed so that they won't caught as much as wind as possible.) (all of my platycerium are bought locally, though some sellers import theirs from thailand. i don't know exactly where. i never bothered in growing from spores as fully grown specimens are sold readily and affordably, but i would roll over the dice if i ever found one of my plants with a spore patch.) the fern located in the upper-left of my first picture is a common plant known as asplenium nidus - they're everywhere and mass produced from the local nurseries. their frond length gets over 2 meters and the width of the fern more or less 2 meters in the right condition. the second one just right next to the aforementioned fern is an asplenium nidus 'osaka'. This post was edited by keylyn on Wed, Jan 2, 13 at 3:20

Hi everyone. Stan – You really have me interested by what you say about your Billbergia. It’s often possible to pick up unusual plants at sales and sometimes even plants that are quite rare and which are being sold at “give-away prices” simply because the seller doesn’t know what they are. Have you had this Billbergia flower yet and if so do you have a picture of the flowers and if possible could you provide a picture and also one in close-up of the leaves? The fern you have in with those plants is commonly called an “Elkhorn Fern” here in Australia or to give it its proper name platycerium bifurcatum; it is one of two types commonly grown and the other which is more spectacular is known as the “Staghorn Fern” (Platycerium superbum). I was once a regular visitor to a specialist fern nursery in my area and the owner grew these ferns to perfection with lush dark green foliage, and when I asked the “cultural secret” he said the secret to all fern growing was to grow them in a low light area and water them every time you walk past them. On the contrary, I also had a friend who grew two massive “Staghorns” on two old tree stumps in his back yard in the full sun. The main difference between these and the nursery grown ones was that the foliage on these was light green in colour compared to the dark green ones in the nursery. However the watering advice was much the same and my friend said he watered his plants twice a day every day seven days a week. So whatever way you chose to grow it, it seems that large amounts of water is the requirement. All the best, Nev.