If you're anywhere near Houston on the 15th of May I'm giving a presentation on growing Stags at the monthly meeting of the Texas Gulf Coast Fern Society (TGCFS)see www.rwsarchitects.com. 2PM at the Houston Garden Club in Hermann Park. I'll briefly cover spore propagation. And, if mine is ripe by then, I'll bring spore from P. holttumii. One of our members has given entire presentations on spore reproduction including lots of hands on.

I have some jade! Let me know.

If those were Aphids, or even Spider Mites, I would expect to see some kind of problem with the leaf with that number of them, even some marking on the upper surface of the leaf. Spraying a "bug killer" more than likely is not justified if there is no apparent harm to the plant and may do more harm to you. A periodic shower, for the fern, may well be all that is necessary being sure to knock off these whatevers on the underside of the leaves. Scraping some off onto a sheet of paper and placing that paper in a sealable plastic bag and then taking that to your local University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service office may well get you the information you want.

We have ours on a copper wire and hang it from our porch on the southeast side. We actually grow babies to sell and use the same method. I water them pretty much daily as they like to be moist. I don't think I would put one around a pine tree, they break to easy..(And great, the first time I try and post a picture I don't have one to show. This is not the stag horn fern). Good grief!