I was very happy to have found it because, as I mentioned, I had reservations about hanging a wood board on my wall that would need to be soaked when I watered the fern. Hanging will also be much better when it goes outside for summer because I can easily hang it in a nice sheltered spot under the pergola on the deck.
The method was really easy. I just grabbed about a 6-inch grapevine ball that I had (probably from a Christmas decoration or something) and cut a hole in it using my pruning shears. It’s always nice to have an excuse to pull out the garden tools in the middle of winter.
Then I lined it with sphagnum moss. Kylee recommends sheet moss, but I found this on Amazon and that seemed way easier than running to the closest store that might sell moss. Someday, when Amazon has taken over the world and created the world’s biggest monopoly I will be really angry I gave them so much business, but it sure is convenient to have something as random as sphagnum moss show up at your door in two days.
This moss comes as a very thin square. Cut off a small amount of it, no more than a third, and rehydrate it by soaking it in water and watch it expand. I figured out that you only need a tiny part after I soaked the entire thing and ended up stocking the compost bin with a lot of moss.
I shook some of the soil off the roots and put a little fresh potting mix and worm castings in the moss-lined ball. I also put some banana peel in there. Lots of people out there swear by banana peels as a little bit of fertilizer for staghorn ferns. Normally I ignore those old wives tale kind of gardening treatments but I figure it won’t hurt and might just help.
Once I got the root ball in the hole, I just filled in with more moss and that was it. Make sure to check out the full tutorial for more details. I haven’t put the strings on it yet because I can’t hang it quite yet, so for now it’s sitting on top of the pot it just came out of. Now we just sit back and see how it likes its new home.
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8 Responses
This is a fine idea. The vines should compost and it will be easy to put it into a larger one when you need to. I bet it makes babies all around the ball.
So cool, Erin! Thanks for the mention and link love! I'm glad it worked out well for you! Interesting about the banana peels. Let me know if you don't have a problem with fruit flies, because in my house, nothing brings them in better, unless it's an overripe peach. It's worse in the summer though. I hope you get babies!!! Uh…fern babies, not fruit fly ones! LOL
Awesome! And I like the grapevine ball so much better than just sticking it on a plank of wood. Can't wait to see where you hang it.
This is such a cool plant! I am going to have to add one to my collection
I had one on a plank and outdoors. Yes, you guessed it, the plank rotted and I had my staghorn on the ground one day. This is a good idea. I am going to try this making a ball out of the vines I have in the garden. I have no sphagnum moss. I will use the soft coconut husks to line the ball. The idea of banana skins is swell. Thanks for that. Great idea, and thank you for sharing.
Very pretty! I have a rather large fern but I’m afraid I will lose it if I try to do something like this. For now she’s sitting in a hanging pot, but too large for it. Any suggestions?
looking to buy Platycerium Madagascar any names of dealers will be much appreciated.
I really just have a question can I grow a staghorn in a ceramic pot plz help before I kill it I just bought from loes last month