I got a bunch of these because they were fairly cheap and I think they're pretty much the coolest things ever next to, like, Wollemia and Norfolk Island Pines. The first two I got I left in the pots for awhile, as the soil they were in is fairly light and they were doing alright. Eventually they got a bit top-heavy so I put them in a hanging basket. The basket is one of those metal things, where the entire base is lined with one of those coconut coir... things. Anyway, I filled the inside up with peat moss and just stuck the staghorns down in that (along with an ailing pteris mayii which is coming back again). So basically they're just sitting on a clump of dirt which is sitting in a bunch of dead sphagnum or peat. I don't know if I should've removed the dirt or not, but I figured that since you can get staghorns to grow on a piece of wood, it probably didn't matter too much.

I mostly just mist them or if I forget for a few days and they wilt, dump some water on them. They drain really fast as there's nothing there to really hold the moisture.

I've got two others in small pots. Actually three -- two being in one pot. However, one of them died, I think. It might just be dormant so I still water it, but it lost all of its fronds and I don't know why, given that the other staghorns (that's the doubly potted thing) sitting *right next to it* is doing fine. This one was growing more vertically though, so I'm wondering if the fronds on the one just got too heavy and snapped themselves. It's odd because they fell off when still green.

I've also noticed that sometimes the fronds turn yellow and brown and drop off. Apparently this is normal and a result of age. They actually grow new fronds really quickly if given enough warmth in light so I guess keep them outside in the summer. Not full sun, though.

Mine is attached to the side of a magnolia tree. I think it was originally on a board, but who knows what is back there now. When it was younger I used to stick black bananas behind it. Now I just water. In the summer it needs water almost every day.

Are you folks keeping yours inside?

Do you think it is injuring the tree it is on?

{{gwi:74251}}

Nice cycads :) Also is that a pineapple I see?

Anyway, I don't believe they can damage trees unless they get really heavy. They're not parasitic and their roots are apparently pretty superficial so it's not going to be like how ivy can sometimes get.

I believe these are epiphytes, like orchids and shouldn't be in soil but a very well draining medium.If yours is still sulking after being watering, I have to wonder if it's over-watered and possibly rotting.

I grow mine in one of those wire baskets, I think 8" filled with a couple inches thick of sphagnum moss lining the inside of the basket, then filled with orchid bark chips to about an inch from the top and the staghorns are planted down in the chips.
It's in indirect but bright light with dapple sun later in the afternoon and only gets watered when the bottom of the moss feels bone dry.

Billy Rae

Thanks for the replies. The plant of Socks is what I'm hoping mine will look like. It's beautiful. I've got sphagnum moss and orchid chips so will experiment. Should I remove all the dirt around the roots, or would it be safer just to shake off some excess and plant with the soil left around the root ball?

I have 3 staghorn ferns that are in the wire baskets with only the sphagnum moss. I fill may baskets with the sphagnum moss and sit the fern on top then run a wire thru the fern to secure it to the basket, so when you hang them from a tree during a storm they will not be blown out of the basket.

Socks that is a nice staghorn fern you have.
I keep mine in the garage during the winter with a heat lamp on them and the rest of my tropical plants.

Rigo74

Yes, take the soil off if your going for the basket. You can wet the sphagnum moss a little and squeeze out any excess before pressing it down inside. Wetting it will make lining the basket a little easier.

Billy Rae

Amccour, that is a pineapple! Good eye. The pineapple is 16 months old, started from a pineapple top. I'm debating about potting it up but just not sure if I should. It would be so much fun to have it flower and fruit, and I don't want to disturb any of that process.

Beautiful stag, socks! But if I may inquire, why did you "used to stick black bananas behind it"?

Just an update. I took mine out of its pot a week ago and shook off a lot of soil which i was surprised was quite wet. I didn't have the nerve to disturb the roots any more than I had to, so it still has a fair amount of dirt around the root ball. I put it in a pot of sphagnum moss. As of today it dosen't look any worse, and I'm thinking that it actually looks better (might be wishful thinking, but may as well be positive) Thanks again for the great advice.

socks, that is a beautiful stag you have. i heard the bananas are good to feed them with but never tried it myself. i have a piece of one left after the hurracanes in florida that i brought with me to ga when we moved. does not seem to get vety big before the frosts and freezes start in south ga. i think i will bring in to my plant room and try to grow there, stays about 60 degrees in winter in room. thanks for sharing

I couldn't water mine for about a week so it got droopy. I've noticed they can take a distressingly long amount of time to get springy again. The croton that I also couldn't get to for a week was a bit droopy too, but it's already perked up a lot(Ignoring the fact that I didn't pot it straight and it's growing in something that's about 70% perlite right now. I need to fix that).

It is sending out new shield fronds though, so maybe I can expect some more frond-fronds soon.

I have 2 wood mounted staghorns and this morning out of nowhere all of the foliar fronds coming out of the center of the basal frond had broken off and fallen (about 6 leaves). These were green, healthy, and perked straight up the night before. I donâÂÂt know if it is from the new chill in the weather or if it is a result of rot at the base of the fronds but I was wondering if you had any advice for me! I usually hose them down once a week as a means of watering and mist occasionally in between to help with humidity but IâÂÂm wondering if the basal frond is holding all this water and causing rot. Perhaps its better to simply submerge the base holding the roots? IâÂÂm hoping the fronds regrow but IâÂÂm worried about the plant in general. I just love them! Thanks so much for your help!

My staghorn fern's fronds tips are turning light brown and starting to curl. I currently reside in Florida and recently we have been getting a lot of rain in the afternoons. I keep the staghorn outside. I recently moved it to the patio because I think that it is getting too much water, but not completely sure it that is the reason why the tips are turning light brown and starting to curl. Can anyone assist? Or give guidance of what I can do to help my staghorn?

Do you have any photos of it?

Thank you for replying to my post. Any guidance that you could provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

Those are just spores on the fertile fronds. It's how ferns reproduce, since ferns don't bloom and produce seeds like flowering plants. It's nothing to worry about. If anything, it means your fern is happy.

I found this image online just to provide another example.

I bought one earlier this year and mounted it. So it hasn't yet produced any spores. Although, it has been growing lots of new leaves. I hung it on the front of my house and get asked about it quite often.I had one of these many years ago and wanted to try mounting one myself. I love the way it turned out. It's getting some direct morning sun in this photo, some direct sun as it's setting in the evening, and it gets shaded by the overhang of my roof throughout the hottest part of the day. All I do to care for it is spray it with the garden hose in the evening, so that it can soak up as much water as it needs during the night and dry out in the morning sun. Such interesting plants.

That's right, it's producing spores. Platycerium bifurcatum has two types of fronds/leaves, 'nest' and 'fertile'. The nest leaves cover the rhizome and root system allowing accumulation of leaf litter and other organics at the top. The fertile leaves project out from the base of the plant and do their 'fertility bit'.

I gave a small one to my father many years ago. He put it on a (self sown) cherry tree. Over the years it grew into a huge mass of about 2.5 metres diameter. It was out in all sorts of weather, hot and cold and only got watered by rain, or the hose during dry times. But eventually the cherry tree started to collapse under the weight. Full of water, that plant (hundreds of plants actually) was very heavy.

Thank you everyone for replying to my post. That is great news. I have a happy staghorn fern and that makes me happy. Thanks again! :)

This is our 50 year old staghorn, that my husband & I received as a wedding gift from our dear friends 41 years ago. We live in Fla, so notice the pulley system, we lower it to ground for every hurricane. Make sure you use a stainless steel pulley or else it will rust and break! Irma really did a number on it. I only water it during droughts and our friends said the "black banana" idea also but we've never done it. It would probably get too big if we fed it!

FYI... my 12x10 ft, (yes foot) gardenia LOVES coffee grounds!

That one looks really nice. And that's right, if planted on a tree they will get much bigger than that, but suspending it slows the rate of expansion.