"What kind of fertilizer"

The granular stuff you'd broadcast on a flower or vegetable bed. I've used it without it causing any damage - but I couldn't swear that it does more than make me feel better.

"In the past I have been feeding the roots a tomato feed, about one a month in the summer, so should I feed just feed the crown or both?"

I can't recall anyone ever saying that they were gross feeders, so it's just a matter of what's most convenient.

After much thought I have removed the decoration polished glass and replaced with about 2 inches of organic mulch and a slow release feed. The pots the fern are in are huge and there is a good 7 inches gap around the fern. This will help to feed the ferns and help retain moisture. I also believe that they like rotten vegetation so the mulch will be a big bonus. Over the summer I will use a water based feed on the crowns so there is no chance of burning. The last thing I want to do is lose all my ferns. I guess I may see some results this year when the second waves of fronds come through. However, I will probably see if my efforts pay off next year!

YES i NEED HELP WITH MY TREE FERN WHICH i PURCHASED A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO. i HAVE HAD IN IN THE HOUSE UP UNTIL LAST WEEK AND IT WAS DOING GREAT, HAD LOTS OF NEW GROWTH.lAST WEEK i MOVED IT OUTSIDE BECAUSE THE WEATHER FINALL GOT WARM ENOUGH, NOW ALL OF THE LIMBS ARE WILTING AND IT APPEARS AS IF IT IS DIEING...i DID 2 THINS DIFFERENT WHEN i MOVED IT OUTSIDE #1 I PUT IT ON MY PATIO in a mostly sunny spot and then (according to instructions given to me by the garden center where I bought it) I sat the pot into a shallow pan of water.....is it getting too much water or too much sun or both......I have since removed it from the water and placed it in the shade.......DID I KILL IT????? HELP!!!!

OH AND MY TREE FERN IS NOT A DICKSONIA ANTARCTICA FERN THE GARDEN CENTER ADVISED ME IT WAS AN AUSTRALIN TREE FERN....SORRY I DIDNT MENTION THAT IN MY PREVIOUS POST

Same thing!

Resin

I purchased a 4ft. D.A. in a pot, from my local B. & Q. cheaply because the frongs had died back due in my opinion to lack of water. This was last September, and I immediately planted it in my garden in a well prepared, well drained site and sprayed it with water most days until the cold weather came. I covered the crown in sawdust with a 'bubblewrap cap' which I removed in April. Still no growth to be seen, I fear the worst, any suggestions please?

BOY,,,,REALLY GET ALOT OF FEED BACK ON THIS SITE

Hi,
I live in the south-west of Ireland and have had a tree fern (DA) for about 5 or 6 years now. It has not grown much trunk yet, but produces a rosette of fronds of about 15 feet diameter. Our winters are very mild, very wet and very windy; the little beast thrives on them. Just occasionally we get a frost of about -4C which maybe scorches a few old leaves. The plant acts here like a native, this one was self-sown in another garden. As to feeding, I suggest that nothing more than a regular mulch is necessary. Mine grows at the bottom of a low bank, and I admit that weeds and soft prunings often get thrown behind it, so it sits on a sort of compost heap....it loves it. Ive just taken my first steps in raising them from spores. I will keep you posted.

Richard

Hi Richard,
As you may have seen from my posting above, I have a DA here in Dublin (Blackrock) and it's doing absolutely brilliantly, even though I had been told that it would only do well in Kerry. It's a shame this forum doesn't have a feature for attaching pictures, otherwise I'd post one here.

kirkhamgates,

I bought a tree once and it did not produce any fronds so I returned it to the garden centre. The following year I bought the same tree fern and it produced some amazing fronds.

Can you please put your hand in the crown and feel for any fronds? If there are mouldy remains then remove them.

I would say give the fern another winter and give is plenty of TLC. I would also use straw, rather than sawdust, to allow more air to circulate and wrap the trunk. The best option would be to keep the fern in a green house over winter to encourage the recovery.

Hope this helps!

I just wonder from the last posts.
how many are still alive,
I have to new fronds and ready to put outside
location LEICESTER

i have just purchased a dicksonia anartica a month ago and planted it in the garden. the fronds are going brown and new fronds have stopped growing. obviously the fronds didn,t start in this country (derby uk) and the frost probably has got to them. i do not know whether to cut the fronds off or leave alone, please advise.

Please! do not buy tree ferns 'harvested' from our native forests.
If only you could see the terrible and total destruction that follows our forest management practices that includes the removal of Dicksonia and all things living you might be willing to consider supporting a nursery that sells plants grown from spores.
Spore grown plants grow quickly and are beautiful from the beginning out thier lives.

I am willing to provide spores to any enthusiast or commercial fern grower to end this terrible trade.

John Dudley

I'd like to grow them from spores but I've never seen any for sale - only the trunks with the "State of Victoria" official labels attached

Please feel free to ask for spores, just send me an address and I'll harvest them fresh.
We have four other so called tree ferns here in Tasmania, one of them, Cyathea australis is really easy to grow from spores and grows a lot faster than Dicksonia, I have access to a local population that has millions of spores if anyone is interested.

I have no idea if I can post pictures on this site but I have some beauties that demonstrate the reality of tree fern 'harvest' in Tasmania if anyone is interested to see them.

And please don't be fooled by official tags on the fren bodies, it is nothing more than a trick to lend the authority of the state to a revolting and ecologically disastrous trade.

To insert photos, use the following code:

[img src="http://www.website/photoname.jpg";]

EXCEPT use triangular brackets instead of the [ and ] above.

Resin

"And please don't be fooled by official tags on the fren bodies, it is nothing more than a trick to lend the authority of the state to a revolting and ecologically disastrous trade."

I can only agree with John. And, since I've seen nursery-grown specimens for sale here in southern Tassie, clearly others do as well.

Pineresin

In about 7 days a small parcel will arrive containing spores of Dicksonia antarctica, Cyathea australis, and Blechnum minus.
I wish you the best of luck with them.

Regards John (Hellebore)

Hi. Sorry if slightly off topic but the problem I have with my smallish DA here in North west London is sqirrels.
I must have had about 6 fronds, both young and mature, killed off in the last year by the squirrels chewing hols in the stems.
It took me a while to determine why the fronds were dying but now I have it semi-protected with strawberry netting, but obviously, it doesn't look very attractive. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks.

I have several D.A's, some in the ground and some in pots. One or two of them (in pots) seem to be getting smaller in circumference each year at the crown. It is as if the crown is almost closing over and there will hardly be any room for many new fronds to emerge this year. Any idea what might be causing this and is there anything I can do?

They're too dry.

If you have to keep them in pots then water more frequently, directly into the crown until the roots have re-established themselves, and consider increasing the pot size - perhaps with the addition of some water-retaining gel.

I have been growing two tree ferns successfully for several years, but this year the crown of one of them appears to have stated to rot over the winter. The other one, planted next to it, is fine and has started to unfurl new fronds.

Is there anything I can do to save the rotting one? Is it likely to regrow from a lower point? Should I try to remove the crown? Or should I just admit defeat and get a new one?

They're pretty hard to kill, so I'm surprised. If the crown is truly dead then there's no hope. DA's don't produce side branches (if there are two crowns on a trunk, the second is a different plant, growing epiphytically) and the trunk is really just a mass of roots dropping down from the crown into the ground.

I've just bought and planted out a 5ft tree fern and read this thread with interest - feeling guilty as had no idea of the issues behind where they come from/ how they are harvested. Too late now I'm afraid - but I've learnt a lesson I suppose and will be more careful next time.

My question is roughly how long at this time of year in London might it take until the fronds start appearing - the place I bought it from could feel some inside the trunk - I believe existing fronds are always cut off for ease of transport. Many thanks

It's usual for new fronds to start appearing in the spring, frond production slowing with the hotter weather and ceasing in winter. Most DA's over here are sold as rootless trunks with no mature fronds. If well-watered they'll start producing new fronds whilst stacked in the nursery waiting to be sold. Check the crown yourself - the curled-up fronds should be quite easily seen - firm and covered with brown 'fur'. Water directly into the crown at first to ensure that it and the roots as they make their way down into the ground are moist.

Hello from Victoria, Australia. IÂm new here. I stumbled across this forum whilst Googling! As I have an extreme passion for tree ferns so I couldnÂt resist the temptation to indulge in a post or two.
I live in a high rainfall area (alt 1600ft) where tree ferns are prolific. Just a couple of klms from my doorstep there are 20-30ft giants in the local native forest.
I have only 2 DAÂs in my garden which were here when my wife & I moved in about 5 years ago but as I have shifted them twice since they are not looking as good as they could be. Plus last summer was an absolute shocker with temps up to 45C (about 115F) with very strong dry winds. We also get the odd snowfall in winter and several (but not extreme) frosts.
My experience with DAÂs is that they donÂt like hot/dry winds or prolonged extreme frosts. Given plenty of water they will tolerate heat very well. They thrive in sheltered, windless, humus rich environments. The occasional addition of small amounts of aged chicken or cow manure in early spring can produce good results. As others have already indicated they do indeed have a large mat of roots and are not really suited to containers.
IÂm interested to hear of any success UK gardeners have with other species of tree ferns?
Tasmania has 3 native tree ferns:
DA (Soft treefern)
Cyathea Australis (Rough treefern)
Cyathea Cunninghamii  very rare! (Slender treefern)
Victoria has the above plus 2 others:
Cyathea Leichhardtiana - rare (Prickly treefern)
Cyathea Marcescens  extremely rare (Skirted treefern)

Just purchased a 6ft tree fern and also didn't realise the issues regarding harvesting but i guess this is another reason while i should be looking after my Dickson Antartica well. Question is how much of the trunk should i bury in the ground.Dont want to lose too much height but dont want it falling over before its established.

The usual advice is to bury about a third of the trunk, but you can probably get away with a little less.

Tree ferns don't have deep roots so burying the trunk more than about 6 - 8 inches will be for stability only. One or two wooden stakes can be used to help stabilise the trunk if you choose to use just a shallow hole. By the time the stakes rot away your fern should have developed a sound root system.
I live in an area of Victoria, Aust. where logging of native forest is a big industry. It does bother me to see so much of our old growth forest constantly felled. But maybe a little perspective is needed. Dicksonia Antartica and Cyathea Australis are abundant in my local area. There are millions of them! They may well be the worlds most common tree ferns. I have seen patches of our local cool temperate hardwood rainforest completely denuded by logging operations and some of the first plants to regerminate in the mud and slush left by the bulldozers and logging trucks are treeferns! I have seen denuded hillsides that after only a few years are now covered in almost nothing but treeferns. However some other varieties of treeferns, such as C. Cunninghammi, don't recover so well if at all. I'm not an advocate of treefern harvesting - just trying to put a little balance on the subject.

Should the tree fern be kept in a constant state of dampness.ie should the trunk be constantly damp at all times.How long should i be watering a 6ft tree fern with a hose.Read somewhere else that you should be watering with a hose for a few minutes into the crown.Is this correct ? I'm paranoid about either giving it to much and causing it to rot or not enough ! Have clay soil and planted with compost from my composter mixed with top soil and eracacious compost with some farmyard manure.Dug the hole about 18" so losing quite a bit of height from 6ft.Didn't realise you could plant them that shallow as it doesn't seem that stable at the depth i have it now.

This has been my worst year for tree fern growth. Last year they looked wonderful - this year the majority have minimal fronds and my oldest and most reliable DA has a crownful of croziers which just seem to have 'set' and rotted. I have two Pongas [can't remember proper name, sorry] which were lush last year - one has one frond, the other, zero. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Plus - should I keep watering the DA with no fresh croziers in the hope that some new ones will appear?

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb Europe

I have been cutting the old fronds off my fern (I now know that I shouldn't and won't in the future!) but the trunk is becoming narrower and narrower. Before it becomes a point(!) what should I do to prevent this?

They should be kept moist during warm/hot times. I water mine daily during hot and dry conditions but I don't soak them - maybe just 10 - 20 seconds sprayed over the top of each plant, up and down the trunk, and the soil around the base. If they get a good rainshower soaking I tend to leave them for up to a week or so until the soil starts to dry a little and then I start watering again. The 3-4" of topsoil should not be wet - just moist. Lots of humus and mulch with perhaps a little course sand mixed in, and some old manure, should ensure that the soil is moist, friable and porous - not cloggy and wet. In their natural environment Dicksonias grow in deep shelteted rainforet gullies where temperature, humidity and moisture, are fairly constant - like a cellar. When planted in home gardens they tend to be far more exposed to the elements. In my opinion the main task is to minimise that exposure by planting in protected spots or building screens or shadehouses (often used in Australia) to mimic rainforest conditions.
Spring to Autumn I cut the old fronds when they start to brown a little but only when the plant is actively producing new fronds. I cut the old fronds into small pieces and place them on the soil around the bases of the trunks. They decompose and make excellent mulch.

I find this particular 'Dicksonia Antarctica' fascinating, I have fallen in love with these magnificent and gracious looking plants, so much so that I have 17 in my collection, the tallest one is 12 feet tall, on the label it says 'grown for 130 years'!!!! it together with all my others rewards me with a 'slendiferous' display of leaves, all totaled they have cost me a small fortune, and they are all of them in huge pots which I have sunk into the soil so as to prevent them being toppled by the winds!!

I cut back all the dead and browned leaves at the beginning of March and soon thereafter I am rewarded with a mass of new fronds which are beginning to burst from the crown, I have to cover each and everyone of them with a 'sack bag' which I bought from my garden center, this prevents the squirrels from digging about in the crown, which of course would mean the fronds being broken. As I look into my gardens now I see a mass of tall splendid trees all around, the effect is most magnificent, oh and they all of them are in full sun without any shade, and they are fine no scorched leaves at all.

Reading some of the posts leaves me bemused, should one or shouldn't one cut back the leaves come winter time? I always leave mine on till the spring the following year, I dare say they will eventually wither and drop off as in their native wild habitat? Any comments are highly appreciated.

I've had my dicksonia for about 6 years (2 in large pots) - this year however, nothing - NO Fonds on ONE!! It looks dry near the top (even after water) HELP!!! Is it dead? Can i revive it?? Thanks

Hi,

I have two tree ferns, bought a couple of springs ago. The larger one is sprouting fronds fine (Early May, South-East England), but the smaller one (about 3 ft) shows no sign of action. We had the extreme, persistent low temperatures and three weeks of snow this winter. How likely is it that one survived and the other died? I have looked to find the rolled fronds, but they look kind of black and soft, right down in the middle - not promising. Is there any way to kick start it? And might it come back to life if left? (I hope so, they are my pride and joy in the garden!).

Hello Zoe,

New croziers should be firm, and if you gently remove a small patch of "fur" they should be a nice green colour underneath. If they are black and rotten then I suggest you remove them and let some air get to the crown. If you get down to a layer of white mush without finding any live fronds then it's not good news, they rarely come back from that state.

hi posters i live on the east coast of the uk and have had 2 da's in large pots in my garden for 4 years now and always have new lush fronds every year.i always wrap them with fleece to protect from frost in the winter however this year we had a very cold period when temparatures were down to below -20.the da's soil appeared to be frozen solid for a time.is this extreme cold likely to have killed them? any advice would be welcome thanks

Unlikely to have survived that, unfortunately. Follow Fidgety's routine, above, to check.

Resin

I NEED HELP..!!!

I've had 2 good years from a 4 foot and a 2.5 foot fern and other than the harsh winter, they have been looked after very well.

The crowns of both plants now have a yellow, bubly looking fluid secreeting from them. One plant has the same fluid secreeting from a point of the trunk. I can't see any sign of infestation and i've treated with an insecticide just in case. I've also tried drying them out and a strong jet of water to wash the crown but the secretion keeps coming back.

Its not looking good to me and my hard earned money and time seems to be lost. I can't find anything like this in the thread, can anyone help? Any suggestions at all as its pointless just watching them die.

Many thanks

"The crowns of both plants now have a yellow, bubly looking fluid secreeting from them"

Winter kill, followed by fermentation of the dead sap. Sorry, but they're dead, and have been so since the December freeze. The severe winter has caused a massive wipe-out of Dicksonias across most of Britain (so you're not alone, if that's any consolation).

Resin

Hi
mine also got wiped out,it has a puss coming out of the top and very damp musky smell.Just not sure If I will risk my cash on another

Hi, I bought two Dicksonia Antartica last year (october)kept them wrapped over winter with straw in the crown and all seemed well,but now(may)some of the crown seems to be going black and hard I water regular and some of the crown is nice brown fur but no show of any fonds can any body help.they were in pots but I have now planted out not in full sun.thanks tony manchester england.

Just purchased a 4ft DA as a gift - slightly concerned as 3 out of the 5 fronds have detached from the trunk (probably during the delivery process). The plant is looking a little worse for wear as a result - a huge trunk with just two small fronds remaining. Should I be concerned? Will more fronds grow? Or should I return to the vendor as damaged goods?

Thank you!

Kath
e mail or phone them and let them know your concerns,I would say it will probably e ok.Put your fingers in the crown to see if you can feel any fronds coming through

Hi. I am so glad to have found this site. I have been trawling the web for ages trying to find out two things about my Dicksonia antarctica which I have had for four years. Over that period of time, as I was led to expect the fronds have got somewhat smaller but quite a good number of them. This year however, having firstly survived the horrendous winter (Croydon Surrey) my tree fern has produced some 11 fronds looking very healthy but not huge, also two small offspring are also growing from the crown! I am amazed! What should I do with them? Can anyone please advise? My other queery is that the fronds always grow from the centre of the crown, it is evident that in it's former years they were sprouting from the centre right to the circumferance of the trunk. The question is will it ever return to it's former glory of fronds growing right across the crown? Any help and advice would be truly appreciated particularly if there is anything I should do regarding either question! Thanks.

Are you sure they are offspings,maybe just seedlings that have caught on the fern and sprouted. (that is blown onto tree)
Not sure about your other question without seeing it.Are fronds fully formed or still un curling?
Give it a good feed.

Very excited, just bought a Dicksonia antarctica too! I asked at the nursery if they had any in stock. The main owner wasn't in and so I described what they looked like to the assistant and she responded with a little excitement too as she guided me towards their 'private' poly tunnel where they keep plants that aren't at their 'showy best'. I was trying not to show too much glee at seeing the very wide stump in the large pot in front of me and so commented negatively on the few tatty fronds that remained on the plant. The assistant rang the owner and he asked for 30 pounds. I genuinely only had 20 pounds in my wallet as I wasn't intending to buy anything until I had fixed the garden first. They accepted and I brought my new baby home!
I hadn't given it too much of an examination in the nursery aside from checking for new growth (of which there were new fronds just about to make a break for daylight), but as soon as I got it home I realised why the plant looked so wide... It was two!!! The larger trunk is around a foot tall and the smaller trunk is around 8 inches. BARGAIN ALERT!! The largest remaining frond is easily 30-36" long. A good watering of the crown washed away some of the brown fur and fully revealed very prominent new growth.
Upon my discovery I did wonder if to separate the two plants but I have now just about decided to keep them together to form a more bushy tree. When I am ready to plant them in the garden I may take a look at the roots to see just how entwined they are and let that be the decider. Any comments on this?

As you may be able to see from the photos, the area where they are going to be planted does look quite flooded after heavy rain. This soil has not been forked for many years and it is hoped that doing so (and raising the earth to a slight mound will help drainage sufficiently. Is there anything else I can do to assist drainage or do you think the ferns will be okay?

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics of my tree fern(s)!

I was most interested to read all the replies (Re;Tree Fern), having just purchased one a couple of months ago.
At first it seemed ok, now however the fronds have started to go brown. I was wondering what to do about it.
Now have dug the plant up, soaked the roots for around 4 hours in water. Made a new planting area, which has more shade, more humus and is protected a bit more from wind.
Hope this works. A few years ago was gifted a plant but the Minus 14c must have killed it. This was when I was living in a different area to where I am now.

June 21st-update.
My Tree Fern likes its new planting area, and has produced more new Fronds.
When I examined it after finding the Brown dead Fronds, I found plenty of Woodlice in the middle of the stem.
Put some 'Louse Powder', (the kind sold in Farm shops used for Livestock etc). It must have done the trick stopped the Woodlice in their tracks, and killed them.
One word of warning though, do NOT use this product anywhere near a Fish Pond, or on a Windy day. Only put it in the Base of the top of trunk, (if there is a Woodlouse problem).