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elizabeth_101

Stag horn fern

elizabeth_101
9 years ago

Does a stag horn fern have to be mounted or can it live happily in a pot?

Comments (8)

  • fawnridge (Ricky)
    9 years ago

    I've seen them started in small pots, but never grown to maturity. If you filled the pot with large wood chips/chunks, I guess you could lay the fern across the top of the pot and let it root down into the chips.

  • asleep_in_the_garden
    9 years ago

    Mine is in a coir lined hanging basket in a mix of pine bark perlite and MG. When I first got it,it was in a 4'' plastic pot and from there it's been in pots ever since...that is until I put it in the basket.

    Point being that it's never been mounted.

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    In a pot they're laying in the wrong direction, horizontal rather than vertical. They'll always be trying to grow back into what's normal. That includes swallowing up the pot (or basket in Asleep's case). In good conditions that could happen relatively quickly. So, can a staghorn grow in a pot? Yes. Will a Staghorn grow happily in a pot? No.

  • asleep_in_the_garden
    9 years ago

    Heh...that figures!

    Seems all too often I'm asking too much from my plants.

    My stag says ..."but I don't want to live in a basket!" to which I respond "oh,but you WILL!" The hoops I make them jump through! If there's an unorthodox(wrong) way to do something...leave it to me to find it! lol

  • garyfla_gw
    9 years ago

    Hi
    have seen them attached to the outside of wire hanging baskets . You can add other types of ferns ,broms to the top and bottom makes a nice rounded display rather than flat. gary

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    I was going to say what Gary did. They will eventually 'swallow' up the basket and be just like a mount.When you see them in the rainforests they often have other species of fern growing in them, sometimes orchids as well. Something you could achieve, Asleep. Even try some Philos as well. You'd only be limited by the weight.

  • asleep_in_the_garden
    9 years ago

    Sadly the basket is a touch too small to mount this sucker to the outside without making it lopsided. The more I think about it,the more I just wanna mount this character on something else next year and get it over with. The above info makes me think about the growth habit and what looks "normal" compared to results you get with the "just drop it in a pot" method. Not even sure what all will come to me as to what to do with the basket once it's freed up...of course I don't expect I'll give it much thought 'til then. lol

    Here's my stag...

  • elizabeth_101
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I watched a good, "how to mount a stag horn" video on YouTube. I'm going to leave it in a pot for now then look to mount it in the Spring. It's still small enough to leave in a pot.