I do. I bought 2 small ones at the farmers' market. $5 each. One that might be P. veitchii is growing really fast, in small clay pot, rootbound, hanging on the window.
stefano

Have you ever considered mounting them? Or is it not practical for your growing space?
I have several and want to expand on growing them with shared knowledge and secret information.
I hope to post more innovations and images here as time goes on.

I have what I am almost sure is P. supurbum, but it doesn't have any basal fronds. It didn't when I bought it, and still doesn't. It has larger, forked fronds that stand up and smaller, non-forked fronds that until recently also stood up. A few of the small, non-forked fronds have recently begun to lay against the moss it's planted in. Maybe it was just confused this whole time...

Texaskelley,
What your ferns has is basal or shield fronds. What they don't have are fertile fronds. Mosre than likely it is a tissue cultured form of P. superbum. Although it has a different venation than true superbums.
Is it in a pot of basket? This one likes to be mounted on a hardwood plaque and likes lots of air circulation, good light and ample growing room.

I still find it difficult to believe that the ferns are grouped together with lichens and mushrooms in one column.

I don't have any Platyceriums right now, but I hope to get one soon. Maybe a P. coronarium or ridleyi. I recently got an Ophioglossum pendulum which is a ribbon-like fern commonly found hanging from Platyceriums. Hopefully I can grow them together at some point. I'd love to hear about any techniques or pictures you might have.

RainforestGuy:

My fern is planted in a hanging wire basket filled with sphagnum moss. It used to be in a wicker basket which allowed it to grow like it was potted, but when I moved to Texas I put it in a largerwire basket tilted on it's side so it grows perpendicularly from ther growing medium. It also holds moisture longer in the wire basket, which is important since we're in the middle of a drought here.

it's doing well, sending up new fronds all the tims, it just hasn't ever created that sheild that most staghorns have. I guess I shouldn't worry about it, since it looks good and is growing...

It also has a family of anoles living in it. They eat the fruit flies from the banana peels I give it...

~AOK

Just a suggestion penfold; practice growing easier species of Platycerium. Coronarium is VERY tricky to grow well unless you live in the tropics or have a good greenhouse growing other sensitive tropicals. Expert growers struggle to keep ridleyi alive. Hey Texaskelly, you might consider the Texas Gulf Coast Fern Society if you're driving distance from Houston. I'm always looking for homes for various Platycerium cultivar divisions.

Yes, leave it to me to pick the most difficult species. I do have a greenhouse for all my tropicals, and I grow a number of epiphytes, but no Platy's yet. There were a couple P. coronarium on eBay recently that I considered bidding on, but maybe it's better that I didn't. I'll have to do some reading on what makes these species so difficult. Or find an alternate species that suits my taste.

Thanks for the suggestion.

P. coronarium is much easier to grow than ridleyi, but both prefer tropical climates where humidity and sunlight is sufficient and ample the year around.
P. coronarium also gets rather huge. P. ridleyi needs growing in a well ventilated area in high light. This accounts for its thinner narrow fertile fronds and upright growth habit. In strong winds this plant can with stand strong gusts of wind and thrive in dappled to full sunlight as in nature of their small leafy trees which they inhabit.
I must stress that growing any platycerium that you must be able to supply your plants with adequate moisture at its roots then near dryness in between watering. The major problems for loss is due to overwatering and fungal issues.
Allow moss to dry out between waterings and after they have dried out thoroughly allow a rewetting process in the early morning to allow rapid and even drying out by nightfall.

I have used old nylon stockings filled with small amounts of MagAmp and Osmocote to hasten rooting and growth. Place these nylon stocking balls at the top of the mount to allow frequent fertilizing at each watering. Plants have adapted and grown much faster with this method of fertilizing. I also use soluble fertilizers such as liquid seaweed extract and even Peter's soluble plant fertilizers too!

HoustonPat:

I have been to the Texas Gulf Coast Fern Society's webpage a few times, I need to just jump in and go to a meeting. If you're looking for homes for Platy. divisions, I'm always looking to expand my epyphite collection; just shoot me an email!

RainforestGuy: thanks for the informations on various cultivars of Platy.s. It's very interesting to learn the various needs of these different plants. ever since I got this platycerium I have been interested in learning as much as I can about them. Keep the info coming!

~AOK

One of my goals will be to set up a blog just for platyceriums and growing them to perfection. I will hopefully be able to post some images on here as well. It's very funny, every time I look at my plants, I feel they look so underdeveloped so I shut the camera off and move on.
Platys are for the most part easy when given the optimum light, humidity and moisture. The rest is about the space as most are huge or will get huge over time.

I find P. willinkii a nice species that is relatively easy to grow at my house.

{{gwi:424872}}

HoustonPat:
That is a beautiful specimin! I am so jealous. I wish my P. Superbum would figure out what it's doing. It keeps putting out more and more fronds but can't seem to get organised, if you know what I mean. It doesn't look nearly as good as your Willinkii.

I wish I could post a recent picture of mine, but with the recent move, and the fact that my phone's camera died, my picture access is limited. I'll have to see what I can dig up in the next few days. I might have to ask DH to borrow his phone and snap a pic.

~AOK

HoustonPat,
Your P. willinckii is awesome. How old, what variety and where did you get this from. There are so many different forms of willinckii I didn't realize there were so many kinds.
I was just recently turned on to them, so my starters are still immature and without distinctive features.

I also like your mounting boards. I would someday like to start a thread on the different kinds of mounting bases people make/use. I like your mounting board.

I will try to post some from my collection.