Growing Bird’s Nest Fern While Knowing Its Problems and Benefits

Asplenium Australasian, or commonly known as the ‘Bird’s nest fern,’ is a native plant to Australia’s east coast. It’s from Cape York in Queensland down to the south coast of New South Wales. The plant’s common name comes from its large, nest-shaped rosette of light-green. The plant also has slightly leathery radiating fronds and its ability to grow on trees due to its shallow root system. Its natural habitat is found in moist and sheltered forests where it grows on trees or rocks. Still, it is happy to grow in urban settings in protected gardens and indoors. Bird’s nest ferns plants have a striking upright vase shape and add structural interest. The plants also have green fronds reaching up to 1.5 m long, creating a fantastic garden focal point.

Sometimes, gardening can help us and provide a much-needed escape. Not just by working with the plant but also in their appearance in general. Take the Bird’s nest fern, for example. These plants are popular as a houseplant. Fern has long, waxy, apple-green fronds—sends us daydreaming to a tropical paradise.

But sometimes, other variety of the fern doesn’t look much like a fern at all. Sometimes the plant has solid, uncut, leaf-like fronds extend 18 inches or more from a fuzzy rosette. It’ll look like tiny eggs as they begin to unfurl and stretch. In some countries, the fleshly leaves can be cooked in stir fry and some other dishes.

This plant is native to the southeast Asia region. The spleenwort, Bird’s nest fern (Asplenium nidus), is easy to grow as a plant. If you give them proper conditions that include mainly warmth and humidity, this plan also knows as an epiphyte or plant that can grow without soil. Usually, they will attach themselves to a host plant in nature. This kind of fern will grows naturally high in the rainforest trees. Therefore it suitable nicely with bromeliads and orchids. But if you grew it alone, it’ll perfectly makes an excellent specimen plant.

1. How do you care for a bird’s nest fern?

You have to avoid watering the plant’s center (the rosette). It acts as a cradle, and watering them can cause the plant to rot. Instead, water the soil near the perimeter of the plant.

• You can test the moisture of the plant by sticking a finger an inch into the soil. The perfect condition is it should be damp but not soggy. If the plant is dry, you can add about an inch of water.
• Give the plant plenty of humidity. You can occasionally be misting the fronds with a little water from a bottle.
• You can also add one layer of mulch over the soil surface to retain moisture.
• You can feed the fern every other week with a water-soluble fertilizer during the growing season. There was a report every couple of years in a larger pot with new soil.
• Don’t forget to water the plants every 1-2 weeks, allowing the soil to dry out halfway down between waterings. You can expect to water more often in brighter light and less frequently in lower light. Please remember not water directly into the center of your fern, but instead, water around it.

 

2. How Birds Nest Fern Reproduces

Bird’s nest ferns use spores to reproduce, which appear as little brown spots on the fronds’ undersides. When the spores on a frond look fat and a little fuzzy, wake away a frond and put it in a paper bag. The spores should fall from the front and collect in the bag’s bottom in the next few days. Bird’s Nest Fern Spore Propagation Bird’s nest spore propagation works best in sphagnum moss or peat moss that has been supplemented with dolomite. Put the spores on top of the growing medium, leave them uncovered, water the pot by placing it in a water dish, and let the water soak up from the bottom.

3. How to grow bird nest fern

If plant Fern outdoors, Bird’s nest fern is hardy only in zones 10 and 11. Therefore, it’s yet another reason that makes these plants such a popular houseplant.

When you plant Fern indoors, give it temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees and bright but indirect light.

This plant is a fast grower. An all-purpose potting mix is good for the Bird’s nest fern and because it’s a jungle plant that prefers soil that is well-drained but remains evenly moist.

 

4. Why bird nest fern grows on trees

These plants can be grown in the ground or pots, and some thrive on branches of trees. These are termed as ‘epiphytic ferns.’ They thrive on trees for support, and they make their food rather than tapping nutrients from their hosts. The fern, which produces, has a unique ability to trap water and develop its humus store.

 

5. How much sun does a bird’s nest fern need?

Bird’s Nest Fern can grow best in filtered or indirect light. You can put this plant in an east-facing or north-facing window.

Remember to keep the potting mix evenly moist. But do not too soggy, because it’ll be bad for the roots. When you water these plants, remember to water your plant as necessary. This magnificent plant can also benefit from moderate humidity when grown indoors.

These plants need filtered light to light shade. Only expose it to the very early morning sun. The ideal way to place the fern is facing to the east or the north window.

 

6. How big does a bird’s nest fern get?

Some bird’ s-nest ferns can grow up to 4 feet in diameter, with fronds 2 to 5 feet long. The plants also do best in warm, humid climates and prefer filtered sunlight and shade.

 

7. Do birds nest ferns like to be root bound?

Since the Bird’s nest fern is naturally epiphytic, its root mass doesn’t grow large enough to require repotting to prevent root constriction. However, it can become unstable as it becomes more extensive and will need a larger base to attach itself to.