Sadleria cyatheoides grows in company with Cibotium glaucum in its native Hawaiian habitat, so that's an indication of its semi-tender hardiness characteristics. But Sadleria also has more tolerance of full exposure sites and can even colonise bare lava scree where no other ferns have a foothold. It does seem to benefit from quite high light levels by fern standards - so that could be a clue as to boosting its California winter survivability. Glasshouse only in the UK. Direct sun in winter, against a sheltered south-facing wall, together with very free drainage indeed - that would be the key to pushing the winter envelope that little extra bit. In summer you could maybe move the plant to a shadier and damper spot - after all, they stay so small it's convenient to keep them tub-grown and move them around to suit yourself. As for soil: they are strictly acid-lovers and should, like all Blechnum types, be grown in ericaceous compost bulked up with something like composted bark or orchid chips to open out the structure. Although you want to keep them continuously moist all summer, daily watering must flood through fairly quickly - not hang around and get claggy and sour. Both Cibotiums and Sadleria are sensitive to over-feeding with inappropriate chemical fertilisers - use only ultra-diluted nitrate based feeds and be very conservative indeed. Too little is fine - too much is fatal.

Hey Canttype! LOL! great name! Well, about the MG potting mix I use, I have used it for years with great success. The plans indoors are the ones I have to adjust watering alittle but not that much really. My hoyas, I let em really dry out between waterings. The gardern in me is very wary of overwatering, so I tend to err on the side of too dry/ underwatering. Fortunatly, hoyas seem to like that. IF some how a plant gets to wet and stays wet for more than a few days, ill set it in the sun to "dry out". I havnt had any problems with overwatering, but then again, im anal like that and pay very close attention to almost everything about the plants I have, both indoors and out. =o) Thanks for posting that site!! (yours?) I had wondered about that very thing, being that white or pink colored leaves generally do not produce more energy than they use (from lack of chlorophyl correct?) resulting in a net loss of energy for the entire plant. The almost completely white leave itself did come off on its own though. it was just old and finally died off. I think I too will try your experiment and remove white/ pink leaves from the young one. The one i repotted into MG potting mix has to be very young. It looks liek the small ones on your blog. Although it did have a nice growth spurt last winter for a nice 6" long new branch. I guess well see. I will get some pics of it and post them later today or tomrrow. Thanks again for all the help and well wishes! NPG

If the natural predators are not controlling them, and insecticidal soaps are not very effective, the next, least toxic, step is to spray superior oils carefully on the scales. Follow label directions carefully and do not spray if predators and parasites are around.

I have the variety "Jack Frost" which is similar. The first leaves in the spring when the plant flowers are smaller. After, the plant develops significantly larger leaves that vary somewhat in appearance. So I'm thinking that the plant you have with the larger leaves is just further along then the other, because you have it in a sunnier location. Both are lovely by the way.