Live tree fern

[OkiFred]

Hello,

I am sorry if this was already asked, I looked a bit but could not find the info...

I have the chance to live in a place where tree ferns grow almost anywhere. So while I have almost unlimited supply of tree fern trunks and pieces to mount my orchids (simply driving around forest roads after typhoons or heavy rains provide with a lot of ferns fallen across the roads, maybe not a lot, but plenty enough to keep you sawing them until you are fed up).

Now next year I will move to a house with a garden and I am seriously considering the possibility to plant a few ferns in the garden (although I was warned against the "hairs" they shed) and I would like to mount some orchids directly on them. I am wondering if someone already tried this and if there is any defence mechanisms against epiphytes on tree ferns (somehow I seldomly see healthy tree ferns packed with epiphytes...).

Best greetings from cooling down but still warm Okinawa.

[estación seca]

Very interesting question. I look forward to finding out what people say.

[WhiteRabbit]

[Bud]

When I read your post, I tried to find online information about tree ferns in the forest. As I looked at pictures, it is clearly apparent why no orchids will survive in its trunks. The leaves die and dry up and fall on the sides of the trunks making anything that clings on it lose the sunlight. Unless you clean the dead leaves on your live tree fern....then you can be successful in making orchids cling to the bark of the tree.

[Bud]

but notice the tree on the left=the part that is not covered by dead leaves have moss and tiny plants growing on the trunk

[Yazz]

Lucky you to be able to live where the tree ferns are!

Lived outside Brisbane, Australia for a few years and had a tree fern in the yard. So beautiful...

You trim the dead fronds the same way you trim palm tree fronds. They live at the bottom of the canopy, so good shade is a must.

Don't know about mounting orchids on them. The garden had some stag-horns mounted on date trees, but nothing on the fern tree.

Good luck on you move and enjoy your new garden.

[voyager]

This thread is up high on the list, but it is pretty old.
But, better late than never.

Yes, wild tree ferns like banana trees end up with their trunks covered with their old dead leaves.
But, tree ferns like banana trees when under cultivation usually have their dead leaves trimmed off to keep them neat and compact. This will also make a tree fern useable as a growing substrate:

I have several scattered around our property. these two are adjacent to the house.
The taller one on the right needs to be cut off soon as it is beginning to threaten the electrical, telephone and cable line coming into the house.
It has two smaller offset pups beginning on it near the base.
I can cut it off just above them allowing them to continue growing.
Then, I'll take the upper portion, trim most of the leaves off and replant it elsewhere.

I have a Cattleya and a Bromeliad growing on the smaller one on the left:


The larger one on the right has so many large leaves that it blocks too much light for many orchids where it is now located.

If given the proper care, you can just lay a piece of trunk down on the ground and it will start growing another tree.

Keep in mind that they are very slow growers, maybe 3"/year, possibly a bit more.
I hope that this is not too late to be of help for you.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by voyager

Keep in mind that they are very slow growers, maybe 3"/year, possibly a bit more.

That's one of the reasons attempts to cultivate them for harvesting as potting media and mounts hasn't been I particularly successful,
And is why artificial substitutes like EcoWeb have done well.

[voyager]

Originally Posted by Ray

That's one of the reasons attempts to cultivate them for harvesting as potting media and mounts hasn't been I particularly successful,
And is why artificial substitutes like EcoWeb have done well.

True.
Growing them to cut up into small blocks for mounting orchids and other such things is cost prohibitive.
Places where they still allow tree ferns to be harvested for such uses, if their are any such places left, see their tree ferns disappearing.
Plus, I believe that it is illegal to harvest wild tree ferns from public land in Hawai'i.
I do not know that for certain.
Tree ferns on private land are often sold at fairly expensive prices by the foot, by people that are clearing land, to people that want to plant them on their property.
I am plotting on acquiring one at least 6' tall [to the top of the stem, not the leaves] to relocate into our yard specifically to be used as a mount for orchids.

[Ray]

Many moons ago, I had one in a pot, and it was a lovely plant. It was lost to the "big freeze" that wiped me out in 1994, and I'd love to get another, but I haven't seen them for sale anywhere locally.