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amccour

Blechnum gibbum, update 3.

amccour
14 years ago

Okay, this is the Blechnum gibbum I got back in February.

Here's where it's currently at:

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So, it's on top of the fridge, way back on the porch, behind the san. Getting lots of shade there.

Here's what it currently looks like:

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You can clearly see the new, totally green and healthy foliage compared to the older foliage that got really hurt by the lower humidity. Now, I was assuming that the humidity in my dorm usually runs close to 50%ish, but my P. Macrophyllus also started getting tip burn, so who knows.

In any case, relative humidity's been averaging like 70-80% outside here, which is what you need for... Cyathias, but Blechnums should be able to tolerate lower.

So, I'll make a point of running a humidifier. No big deal. I don't have great ventilation, which... causes mild mite outbreaks every so often, but it does keep the humidity fairly high once it's established.

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Further detail. What's odd to me is that it's still being really slow to drop the bronzed/purpled foliage. And that the bronzed/purpled foliage still is pliable and non-dead looking/feeling -- not crispy, that is.

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You can also see that some of the new foliage it grew while indoors was generally smaller. I have a few theories about this -- either lower light indoors (it was still getting a goodish amount, though...), lower humidity, or my issues with watering -- elaborated on more fully later -- were to blame. Not ALL of the indoor foliage was stunted, although it did all have a permanently droopy look to it -- which is definitely the humidity being low.

And it did keep constantly putting out new growth over the winter. I'm FAIRLY CONFIDENT about overwintering this if I can get the humidity to stay consistently at or around 50%.

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Now, the watering issues. This thing needs a lot of water, and constantly. I'm also under the impression that it's one of those rare plants that really couldn't handle an inorganic growing medium.

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Anyway, as I said, it takes a lot of water, and seems to get unhappy if not kept constantly wet, which is why I have a pie-pan under it. I don't know if the plant itself is using the water that quickly or if it's just the heat outside, though, so the frequency that I refill the pan might be changing during the winter months (especially if it goes a little dormant, which I'm not really expecting it to do except for maybe a brief period of time. It kept growing throughout February and onward, afterall).

ANY sort of dryness in the soil causes horrible wilting. Unlike most plants, this thing seems like it needs to be kept constantly moist. Earlier I tried to follow the typical "water when dry" method, and repeatedly almost killed it (and it made the foliage look really, really bad).

I also have it potted in orchid potting mix, which is mostly bark and really light. Every so often I water from above to flush the soil. In this case, I add some vinegar to the water to kind of neutralize it/make it slightly acid since this kind of fern apparently doesn't like alkaline.

Anyway, so what I've discovered so far, really, is that it needs better humidity than I was providing -- although I'm not sure exactly how much I need, but a humidifier would probably fix things -- and a lot of water. I'm not sure how much indoor light affects its growth, though, since I never isolated humidity or underwatering as the cause of the stunted fronds.

In any case it's looking a lot happier outdoors (although what doesn't?)

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