that's one of my favorites! i keep mine in a large aquarium converted to terrarium with other tropical ferns. They're quite easy to keep, and propagate from shoots that pop out of the leaf.

More info at http://www.plantcare.com/encyclopedia/heart-fern-1345.aspx

cheers,
shireen

Sorry for dredging up an old topic, but I just got one of these.

What relative humidity do they require? The leaves feel like they've got a waxy cuticle of some sort on them, but that's not always a good indicator. Anyway, I have an aquarium I was planning on growing some ferns in, although if I could grow this outside of a terrarium/Wardian Case I'd rather do that and leave the aquarium real-estate for the plants that have really high humidity requirements.

Also would I need a grow light for a fernquarium, and if so, any particular recommendations? I'm having a hard time locating grow light reviews that AREN'T coming from really dodgy sources.

They're terrarium and bottle garden ferns really - warmth and humidity is the key. But, as you can see from the photos here, the fertile fronds can be rather long...so you need a good-sized container with plenty of headroom. You'll struggle to keep Hemionitis long-term unprotected in ambient room conditions - I think it's an aquarium or don't bother. Misting or wetting the fronds is not a good idea, though - this species is very prone to rotting from permanently wet or waterlogged conditions.

As for the growlight: yes, you'll need added illumination unless your fern terrarium is positioned in a conservatory or directly under a rooflight. No need to waste too much time on 'reviews' for a light fixture for a simple terrarium - ANY cool white fluorescent fixture of sufficient wattage will do the job. Either one or two tubes (plus reflectors) depending on the area you need to illuminate. Cheap homestore fixtures seem to work almost as well as expensive purpose-made aquarium lighting rigs, although the convenience of the latter (ie, ready-to-go without any additional wiring or attachments) is worth considering.

Subject to pests such as scale.