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Australian Native Plants

Keeping ferns alive

19 years ago

I have recently moved a number of ferns which had suffered from the drought/water restrictions and an increasingly sheltered position (peppercorn canopy has expanded in the last 10 years). They are now in a position to catch whetever rain falls and hopefully I can keep them alive. We simply sawed them off and put them into their new spot and I'm trying to keep them somewhat damp while they settle. I've cut off most of the remaining fronds. Is there anything else I should do - apart from keep my fingers crossed? thanks for any suggestions.

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Comments (9)

gregaryb
19 years ago
I would suggest that you put them in some large tubs and move them under a pergola if you have one where you can easily water them with grey water from the shower or rince water from your washing machine.
lou_aust
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks Greg, but they're the big tree ferns - one several meters tall, the others with trunks of up to 1 meter. A book I read said to simply saw the trunks off and replant, which I've done, adding compost and so on as I replanted.
Regards
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The thing on the inside you just described may be a fiddle head, just wait a week and if you see anything growing in the middle it is alive, if not its probably dead, although if you can I'd recomend just leaving it in the soil to fade back into the earth, no need to dirupt things, another fern will move into that epty sspot if you are watering well.
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I would most likely not repot it quite yet, give it a bit of time in its new residence. These guys can be a little melodramatic. If it’s seemingly healthy and still producing new leaves, it’s okay for now. You will likely have some really solid growth in the meantime. I have made many mistakes by repotting immediately after purchasing a new plant and caused undue stress. In fact, my biggest rookie mistake was the constant itch to repot at the first sign of roots. With that said... You COULD definitely size up an inch or two when you’re ready to pot. I would pot in a loose peat based mix. (Or coco coir blend if you have any), and NOT disturb the roots, as they look fragile. I would plop that in a new pot with a 1/3 of soil and just fill the potting mixture around it and allow it to loosen on it’s on. It is not always necessary to loosen and spread the roots.. Unsure where you are in terms of humidity but I live in dry Colorado climate and use pebble trays for all my ferns and they respond very well. I have two birds nests in the shower l and they are very happy and have no crisping, which occurs easily in them. I hope this helps!
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popi_gw
19 years ago
I believe that you can only use the "saw" method of transplanting if the fern is a Dicksonia sp.

If it is a Cyathea, then this method is not successful.

Keep your Dicksonia in a cool, sheltered spot, keep it moist, and its should show some new growth in the spring.

Good luck with your fern.
native_jim
19 years ago
Popi is right, the saw method will only work for Dicksonia sp.

To find out which species you have, feel the fronds at their base, if their bases are smooth, you have Dicksonia. If they're smooth you have Cyathea.

If they are Cyatheas that you've moved, I'm afraid there's no way to save them.
native_jim
19 years ago
Woops! Cyathea will have rough frond bases!
lou_aust
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks very much for that. It would appear they are all Dicksonia, which is good luck rather than good planning. Here's hoping.
wildflower7
18 years ago
Make sure that you keep up the water at all costs and do not let the plants dry out. I am also wondering if an application of seasol around the roots might help with the shock of transplanting.
gregaryb
18 years ago
Still not sure that beneath a peppercorn tree is the best place for them. These trees are a bit like Eucs in that they suck the soil dry and make it difficult for other plants to establish under them.

Even if they are very tall I still reckon some large tubs would be a safer bet. You could then lay out some black plastic on the ground beneath the peppercorn, raise the edges of the plastic with some bricks or something and sit the tubs inside it and fill it up with water every few days. That should prevent the peppercord stealing all the moisture and result in efficient watering of the ferns. If rainfall improves you can then easily move the ferns back to where you had them.

If you have a Plantmark outlet nearby these have a plastic pot recycling station and occasionally people deposit the very large black plastic tubs for advanced trees in them. I recently scored one that is about 60cm in diameter. You can also stack these up and cut the bases out of all but the bottom most one to create a deeper pot.
johnmich
18 years ago
One of the most effective ways of watering man ferns (Tasspeak for Dicksonia) is to put dribbling hose down hollow in centre of fern being very careful of croziers waiting to unfurl. The fern gets most of the water rather than anything else

Regards, John (ex Taswegian)

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