I don't think my huge Oak leaf fern is going to make it through some of our cold nights (no green house). If I scrape off some of the seeds (is that what they are called?) from under the big fronds, should they be OK to start all over again with next year?
Kuntrygal I've done it with some of the ferns I have in my garden and the seeds have germinated for me without any problems. Good luck.
Fern /seeds????????????? I didnt know ferns had seeds......Are they corsage ferns or some other type?
Barb, they may not be called seeds (that's just what I called them for lack of knowledge). No it is not the 'airy' corsage fern. The leaves are HUGE (maybe 12" long and about that wide) and shaped like an oak tree leaf. I was told it was an Oak leaf fern, but that may just be what the person that sold it to me thought it looked like. Anyway, 'they' are on the bottom side of the frond and are brown.
I've never done it, but it sounds like an exciting experiment. Good luck, kuntrygal, please keep us updated on the progress, won't you?
fern seeds..... Do you know if they are perennials? If so do you have any extra seeds???????? If it is huge ......It might be fun outside/ wow.. :-D
Don't know if it is perennial, but I plan on capturing 'seeds' today. It will be a fun experiment and I will have plenty of 'seeds' Barb. It is outside, because it is so big ... Texas size
Are you going to send me some? I have lots of flower seeds.....I planted all my christmas tree seeds .Only 5 came up. goodie .. Maybe I can grow a huge fern an showoff.. :-D
Ferns produce spores. These are incredibly tiny. The 'seeds' you see are in fact spore cases, each one containing 1,000s of spores. I have an article that I wrote on growing ferns from spores. I will go looking and post it for you if and when I find it.
Found it. Fern Spore Sowing. The first, second and third essential is sterility of every part of the growing system (except perhaps the grower!). This is the method I used and it worked for me, no doubt others will have their own system. 1.I use new plastic 7cm. plant pots and sterilise them by immersing them in boiling water for about a minute. (Test one first to make sure it does not lose shape. Otherwise you must cold sterilise with a mild bleach solution. 2. Any seed sowing compost is OK. Fill dry, cool pots to about an 1 cm below the top and firm down gently. Cover the top with a piece of kitchen towel or coffee filter paper. Pour boiling water through the paper. About a cupful will do. 3. Cover the pots and allow to cool. No further watering is necessary. Remove filter paper. 4. When cool sprinkle fern spores on the surface. Each pot will be big enough for about as many spores as you can fit on the tip of a penknife. They are very tiny and really do need to be spread thinly on the surface or they will not have room to develop. DO NOT DO THIS IN A WINDY SPOT! or sneeze. 5. Place pot in a plastic bag and seal. I use sandwich bags and the paper ties which come with the roll. 6. Place in a warm (unless they are hot house ferns, in which case they need more heat) light position. A north facing or shady window ledge or in the greenhouse but put some shade netting over the top. 7.Eventually the surface of the pot will become covered in what looks like moss (if it is going to work). Open the bag and spray the surface of the 'moss' with distilled water( take the chill off it). Close the bag and put back in a warm, light area and wait. 8. If you have been successful, before long the moss will change to baby ferns. Gradually acclimatise them to growing outside the plastic bag. 9. Prick out the babies, I usually do this in little groups, you can always do it again when they are bigger.
Gosh I suppose I was really lucky to get the few new ferns that I did then as I just threw some of the 'seeds' onto the ground and covered them with a fine layer of top soil. Thanks for putting us right Eric and I've stored your info into my gardening file so that I can refer to it when I decide to propagate some of my rarer ferns.
If you ever see a book called Hardy Ferns by Reginald Kaye (well out of print now) it is worth a read. Also good is M Rickard's book Plantfinders Guide to Hardy Ferns.
Thanks Eric... I was just going to through the 'spores' in some soil and see what happened This fern is so root bound that roots are curled around and around. I may have done a 'no-no' but I took a sharp knife and cut a section of the root and am going to lay it in some soil, water and watch and see what happens. The root is all 'hairy' with little roots shooting from it. Don't know if this will take. Don't know if any of this makes sense, but I know what I am talking about I only paid $3.00 for it at a yard sale and the basket is about a 14"-16" in diameter. So I won't loose a lot if it croaks, but I am hoping my experiment will work. Wish me luck, gardening gurus
You can certainly divide the rootball of these ferns. Drynaria quercifolia is its proper name by the way. However, you may need to find a pice of root with a growing point on it. But, what the heck, best of luck with it.
