Kent, Pretty much what Dave said: Get as many roots as possible, place in a large nursery tub with good free draining soil. Another thing I do when I collect..and this may make no difference at all, but I have good luck with collecting...I take about 1/2 clay soil conditioner (what I use %100 of to pot my bonsai) and 1/2 soil from the empty hole that I dug. I put the tree in the pot, fill soil around it...and you should let this tree grow unrestricted for 2 season..no prunning at all. I never collected spruces late, but have collected junipers from peoples landscapes at ALL times of the year with the same success as in the spring...I just used a lot extra precautions when collecting late. Depends greatly on the species and condition of the plant also. Matt

i was hoping that someone had answered you by now, but this is what i had found on the net, and it is not what you had sent i'm sure, but this is close to what someone had sent to me, i finally got organized after losing all my info in my hp, (which i will never buy again) and started laminating all my important info and putting it in an 3 ring binder. well so far its recipes, and household cleaners. i dislike spending a fortune on buying cleaner when i can make them. (grin) so here's the link to the site i found close to the instructions i got. hope it helps ~medo http://www.home.aone.net.au/~byzantium/ferns/growing.html

Morning, Howdy Rhizo...How have you been? Guess I've only seen mama and daddy earth worms. Do babies hide? I'll have to Google earth worm babies. See what they look like. I agree earthworms won't harm plants...they do wonders in the garden. But, the majority don't want worms crawling in their homes. lol. LA...I detest most insects/spiders, but won't harm earth worms. When I suggested submerging 'at the time noid worms,' I didn't know they were earth worms. Now that your worms are ID'd, if you happen to see more, just toss them in the garden. Now, if your pests were spiders............................ Rhizo...forgot to tell you..An ex-GW-members raises earth worms for the castings..she fertilizes plants w/casting. She vows her plants are doing great. Toni

Miracle grow means they are probably too wet, not too dry, that is not a good mix. Can you replant in the garden but first amend the soil with something like the miracle grow, but then mix with your native soil? You can try to make al's gritty mix. But, I think they like the ground better if you have a some shade in Texas. I have a box with with a fern sand clay compost and peat moss, but in a pot you don't want any compost. Birds nest ferns may be hard to grow, I had one once it did not make it. They do well in green houses. This is just general advice. In the house could be too dry if the air conditioning is drying things out.