Kevin

I just bought a small Dicksonia antarctica, and was wondering the best care for it indoors over the winter. I will take it outside for the summer (if it lives that long!). I have had it about a week, and some of the fronds are wilting. Does it need more water? humidity? Or is it just transplant shock from the greenhouse? What temperatures do they prefer in the winter? Do they need cool winter temps or do they just tollerate them? I have a 'cool room', where I grow cold-temperate plants and dormant some, and have a 'warm room', where I grow tropicals. It is in my living room right now, as that is only place it can fit! This is an awesome species, and I've always wanted one, but I think I maybe should have resisted the urge. I just want it to live!

sunfish

Kevin

Thanks, Sunfish, but I knew most of that already. I just want to know if anyone has had success overwintering one indoors. I guess 'moist' means high humidity? I'll just water it more and hope that helps. Most ferns like wet or moist conditions, and a lot of them do well indoors.

sunfish

Maybe a pebble dish will help'

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...28gTAg&cad=rja

palmtree

I dont have a dicksonia, but I do have an Australian tree fern and It was doing FANTASTIC all summer long and then ONE dry, sunny, Autumn day and all the fronds were burned. IT still hasnt recovered, but a new frond is coming up. It is currently indoors in a room that gets to 73F-77F in the day and 62F-66F at night. Humidity ranges from about 35% or 40% to 75% to 90%, but its usually around 50%. So far it seems happy, but it isnt in a rush to grow!
Dicksonias love coolness and Humidity, but I imagine that anything below 50F will slow it down. Best temps for it are probably 60F to 75F and lots of humidity and bright (not necessarily direct) light.
Good luck!

__________________
Location: New York City, zone 7b

Kevin

Not likely with a 5' spread. It would help a bit, but not much. One of those purchases I shouldn't have made, I guess. It does have a new frond coming, so I'll see how that does. I'll just have to try misting it often.

Would there be a way to keep it dormant like a banana, or any other tender perennial? How would one classify a tree fern anyway? It's not a tree, but what is it?

Kevin

Palmtree - Dicksonias are Australian tree ferns. Maybe you have a Cyathea and probably one of the tropical ones, given the temps you gave. Dicksonia has fewer species, but most are tropical. I think only D. antarctica and D. sqaurosa are cool climate ones. D. antarctia does not do well with high temperatures, but maybe with humidity it might do better. I think it needs the cool winters, though - even frost.

Has anyone tried this one inside before? In a greenhouse? a small conservatory? If humidity is the key, and misting it and watering it often will help, I'll do that.

palmtree

When I said Australian tree fern, I meant Cyathea which is more heat tolerant and probably almost as cool tolerant, but less cold hardy and can only survive maybe the low to mid 20s F at best. Dicksonias can survive more cold, and also needs more cold. I dont think that they need a frost because they do grow in California in the US by the water where it is cool, but usually frost free, however, the older ones there probably have seen frosts and Im sure that they had no problem surviving it.

Good luck!!

__________________
Location: New York City, zone 7b

Planter56

I have a Cyatha and Dicksonia and both do very well over winter in the house. See my attached picture. The idea is to keep the trunk misted and water from the top at least once a week. Humidity of at least 45 to 50% is good. DO NOT FERTILIZE. They should be getting very bright light, not necessarily sun while indoors. Mist, if you can, at least once a day. The one in my picture is in my kitchen where it get bright light and I then turn on the over head light on for a few hours after it starts getting dark so it has about 12 hours of light. Just watch out for spider mites and scale. Look in my gallery and you see a picture of it. I can seem to get a picture to appear in this thing right now.

Kevin

Thanks for that info. Good to know someone has tried. Humidity is where I might have a problem, but I'll try to keep on top of it. Why do they need high light in the winter? The ones on the Pacific Northwest barely have any sun all winter, and they seem to do fine. Most are probably wraped to prtect them from the cold, so wouldn't get any sun. Do you find yours do better with sun in the winter? I would think in the native habitat, where it is very wet, and they even get snow int he winter, that it would be cloudy most of the time. Which Cyathea do you have? There are many species of Dicksonia - do you have D. antarctica? How big are those in your photos? Looks like there is a substantial trunk on them too! Good job! How long have you had them?

I don't know much about the growth habit of tree ferns, and I was wondering - are there any roots in the ground of the tree fern, or are they all on the 'trunk'. This is a unique growth habit. I understood that the roots are all above ground, and are what forms the 'trunk', and the lower 'trunk' arae dead roots. Is this right? If that is the case, as long as there is humidity around the trunk, it should do fine. The fronds might dry up a bit at the ends, but it should grow.

Planter56

Well first of all, Tree ferns do not have trunks like trees. It's actually an upright ryizome. If you've ever seen a rabbits foot fern that's a rhizome that travels along the top of the soil. With tree ferns they have evolved an upright rhizome. It consists of old leaf stems, hairs, and roots. All tree ferns have a root system underground and around the plant, just like any fern does. The roots on the trunk it's self also form a function for collecting mist and rain water, that's why it's good to keep it moist. Most tree ferns grow underneath other Trees and there for get indirect or filtered light. If they have enough ground moisture then they can tolerate full sun. There is a good book on Tree Ferns by Mark F. Large & John E. Braggins that give full detail of how tree ferns do what they do.

Up here in the cold north, our winters are very dry, so misting the stem and leaves and keeping the soild moist, but not sopping wet, is essential to keep them happy. Also you have to be careful that the water that you use is tepid and not very cold. Let it warm up a bit from the tap.

As far as high light, even in the north west, that is very bright light. If you were to take a light meter and go outside on a cloudy day and take a measurement, and then go inside and take a measurement, you'd see a very big difference. But generally you try to keep your Tree Ferns from growing during the winter as much as possible. In the upper north west, they protect the stem and growing points as much as possible (even to the point of using christmas lights to do it). As long as the growing area when the fronds are is protected from freezing, it will make it.

In the wild it is different. Most of those ferns are protected by way of the trees above and around them. Also the winters they have are not like ours when the ground freezes solid. Most of those that do get frosted , will suffer some damage, but come the growing season, those old fronds will be replaced by new ones and look good as new.

I hope this helps somewhat. I'm not an expert and I would love to have a few more Tree Ferns, like a cousin, angiopteris evecta, whis is a huge fern, that has a large basketball size foot instead of a trunk. In time, I hope to give that one a try as well.

One more think, put the pot on top of a saucer filled with pebbles and keep water in that. That should help keep humidity up.

sunfish

[quote=


one more think, put the pot on top of a saucer filled with pebbles and keep water in that. That should help keep humidity up.[/QUOTE]

Good idea

Kevin

Yes, I agree, good idea, but when you are talkgin about a very large plant, a saucer under the pot won't do a whole lot of good. The fronds won't get any of that. I do have it on a saucer anyway, just like all my other plants, but I will need to mist and water more on this one.

Kevin

That makes sense. I was wondering, though, why tree ferns seem to always be potted in the smallset possible pots. If there are any substantial roots, you would think the pots would be proportionally big, according to how big the trunk is, or how tall the plant is.

I am trying to compare growing conditions to what I have seen, which is the lower mainland of B.C. It is cloudy and rainy most of the winter, and it can get cold, but the ground doesn't freeze solid. The latitude there is not much different from Winnipeg, so the light intensity should be the same. If they protect the plants by covering them, then the growing tips and fronds are not getting any light during winter. In the summer, if grown in dappled shade, it should be the same here as there.

Planter56

HI Kevin,

Well lets see pot size, when grown from spores they will increase the pot size when the roots take over the pot. But, in a lot of cases, the tree fern itself was cut down and sent as a bare root so to speak plant. The plant will have been sent with just the growing tip and maybe a foot of trunk. When it's received it's but in a pot proportional and suitable to the amount of roots, which in this case is none. As I said I'm not an expert, and anyone selling these plants has to do what they can to keep costs down. But a rule of thumb with ferns is not to repot until the roots have taken over the pot. I have not idea if I am making any sense here, but I'm trying.

As for the light thingy, and growing out side in BC, it's not so much the cold as is the growing cycle. During the winter the plants are not growing, and adding protection to the growing point only improves the chances that the fern will make it through the winter. Removing the fronds, either partially, or entirely will not affect the plant since it is dormant during the winter. They will produce a new set of fronds come spring. Where as in the house they don't have to put up with the cold and remain dormant. They can and sometimes do produce a few fronds during the winter while in the house. As for putting the plant on a tray with stones, the water evaporates and creats a buble of humidty around the plant, giving it some help. If you have a humidifier on your furnace turn it up to 50%, and give it some extra help. Keeping water in the try with pebbles will help keep that humidity around it. A nice cool room and humidity will make it comfortable not only for the fern, but you as well, because the humidity makes any cold room feel warmer.

Also those plants that are out in BC are probably a bit more mature than yours, and can tolerate the damp cold weather better.

I'm not sure if I am making any sense at all, but keep moist, normal humidity if you can, bright light as on a cloudy day, mist, no food during the winter, watch for bugs and go with it. The plant that I have, I have had for about 10 years. It's in a 20" pot and will stay in that pot for many years to come. Hopefully I can keep my plants with me as I am not what you would call financially stable due to lack of employment. I might have to give away all of my plants, which range from small to banana size. If I lose my house, I will have to give them away.

I hope I have given you a little hope. I would also try the Blond Hawiian tree fern and the Mexican tree fern as well. They are all beautiful. I think I really need a BIG green house to put all my babies in during the winter or permanently in the ground Ahhhhh dream on me

saltydad

Kurt, may you have good luck with your plants and your job search. I've been there, buddy, hang in.

__________________
Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

Planter56

Thank you SaltyDad and Happy Birthday to you as well. I think ageism is alive and well in the business world

Kurt

Kevin

Thanks. About the pot size - I never thought about it that way. Tree Ferns are very cool plants! Almost like epiphytes, but they are growing on themselves! So, if a tree fern is cut down, it will continue to grow? Very cool.

I'll have to Google the other two tree ferns you listed. Don't know much about any tree ferns other than D. antarctica. I like this one because of the climate and ecosystem it grows in - and I've seen them growing in Vancouver, another very cool place to visit.

Sorry about your financial and employment situation. I'm thankful I've never been in that situation, and hope things turn around for you soon.

Planter56

I hope you have a great time with your Tree fern Kevin. If you can find that book I mentioned about tree ferns, it has a lot of info and pictures of the different types of Tree ferns out there.

cincinnana

I just saw this thread and had to add to it.

Many big box stores in the south will sell this type of fern for less than 10 bucks for a 1 gal plant.
And they are readily available on the web.

Dicksonia's are a wonderful long lived tree ferns which adapts well to containers in colder zones.
Most of my tropical ferns are brought indoors and put under lights

This tree fern is easy to care for when small but require some space when larger.
The plant grows well under LED and CFL grow lighting however the plant has a very large footprint.

This moisture loving plant is an excellent addition around the pool or in your dinosaur garden.
They are said to be deer resistant but mine tend to have some fronds come up missing.

Fern collection by
Hostafarian,
on Flickr


Stepping up a container size
by
Hostafarian,
on Flickr

.Mower for scale.
This plant is still small and will continue to grow.

Tree fern by
Hostafarian,
on Flickr

__________________