If the soil is moist all the time you are overwatering. Let it dry out between watering.

Or water less each time. I'm guessing water the trunk also. The trunk is all roots anyway. I planted one last spring and is doing fine.

Have four planted, first one over ten years ago, second in it's sixth year, both doing great! Newbies, one and two years old are struggling! Look great, then demise! But always come back with vigor! Hang in there, all of sudden they take off.......winter approaching is their worst enemy. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the advise everyone!

How often do you water wallisadi? And do you water the ground, trunk and fronds? Do you water the new ones differently from the established ones? Great to know that they do better once established.

I've started misting the new fronds in addition to the regular sprinklers to see if that helps. Too soon yet to tell, but the latest frond seems to be unrolling a bit better.

I planted mine in the most sheltered spot I have, so hopefully that will give it an edge during winter!

Water the trunk and surrounding soil. If it's well drained like most of Florida, you can't overwater them. Trunks suck and hold moisture. Just read an article in smithsonian magazine about them, very invasive on one of the wettest islands in Hawaii. Trying to eradicate them. My wife buys slices of tree ferns to attach her orchids to.....beautiful specimen if you can get it through winter....m

Thanks wallisadi! Very helpful! I planted mine in a spot where it may be getting some root competition from an oak. So I'm wondering if it did better to start because digging up the bed to plant it, we destroyed the oak feeder roots in that area, and maybe now they are starting to grow back and take too much of the water. I'll make sure when I water that I water the trunk too. Misting has helped the latest frond to unfurl properly, so that does seem to be evidence that the problem is not enough moisture.

Hi
i'm having a similar problem with my australian type .It's growing in a pot so no root competition and since it's rained every day certainly not a lack of water was figuring too much water as well as the heat lol has not affected the brazilian or N.zealand types even the finicky maiden hairs are doing well. Always something ??lol good luck with yours!! gary

Very interesting Gary. Misting the fronds has helped, so I'm wondering if it is reacting to the drop in humidity as we switch from summer to fall?

Hi
They don't like low humidity and dryness for sure but in my case it's been just the opposite ,rain every day and humidity above 70/100 percent.?? I checked it yesterday and the drain holes seemed to be plugged Got two new fronds coming so if they have the same problem will repot .
. only thing i can think to do ?? lol gary

I remember reading an article by Georgia Tasker when she was still writing for the Herald. She suggested rigging up a sprinkler on the trunk because, if I'm remembering right, they get more of their water from the trunk than they do from their in -ground roots.
That said, the three I put in died before they got tall enough to even need that. They're finicky, but I've seen some beautiful ones.

Gary, that's very interesting. Do let me know if plugged drainage holes is causing your issue.

Now that I've been misting the leaves, I have had 2 fronds unroll properly. So it does seem to be a lack of moisture in the right spot. Nativesandveggies, thanks for the info. I think that might be the issue that maybe they can't uptake all their water through the soil. I do want to get back to not needing to hand water. I think I'll switch to watering by hand as if it were a small sprinkler on the top of the trunk and see if that works. Would be quite possible to tap into one of the existing sprinkler lines and run one of those flexible hoses to a sprinkler affixed to the trunk. Sorry to hear that yours all died! They are so gorgeous, really do want to get conditions right for it. But a plant that needs daily hand watering won't last long term, so I have to try to figure out a more automated way to care for it=)

Hi
Two new fronds haven't started to unfurl as yet .Failure has been limited to two previous fronds and the only to one side . Hasn't affected any old fronds .One new one opened
perfectly lol Only in a 12x12 pot and it's pushing 5 feet both ways was under a foot when i got it last spring . Obviosly hasn't affected the growth rate ?? See two new frond starting and the last haven't even unfurled yet. I grew them in the yard many years ago , and don't recall this problem and just used a hose for watering.
gary

I keep my potted one sitting in a saucer of about one inch of water at all times. I believe these must never be allowed to dry out or they start to pout almost immediately. You can tell they are pouting by the dried, brown fronds.

Carol in Jacksonville

Hey Gary, how long do fronds usually last? Some of the older fronds on mine are yellowing. That looks natural to me as opposed to the drought stress causing immediate browning of parts of a frond.

Carol, that is excellent information. So maybe it is possible for them to uptake all their water through the roots so long as the supply is adequate. The pic you sent didn't come through, could you try sending it again?

Hi
has your fern improved?? i took mine out of the pot and found it was severely "channeling" ,Water ran right through
so there were huge pockets of bone dry. Decided to put it in the ground in an area where I'm making a fern bed
The latest frond is almost perfect in spite of being transplanted . Think I found the problem.
Already started another frond so should see shortly.
Way too big for a pot anyway. Good luck with yours!!
My other types are chugging along so far but are in the same mix.. have no plan on what to do if all these actually grow lol gary

Hi Gary. Thanks for the great update on yours! Having dry pockets makes a lot of sense. Great to hear that the new frond is doing better! My tree is doing better too. The hand watering helped immensely. I have backed off on hand watering in the last two weeks and am carefully watching it to see how it does. I have concluded that the problem was definitely lack of water, but it is still not 100% clear if it was lack of water in the soil vs. water directly applied to the fronds.

Just wondering if the tree ferns are the type that is used dry for orchids?

Gary, I bet you would know.

Jane

jane
have been assuming Sun has the the australian type??
like orchids there are a gazillion types but generally dicksonia/ cyathea are the types used for orchid media
"tree fern ' has always been a favorite media for me particularly the types formed into pots
As my "forest " gets going would like to try some orchids on the living ferns . Suspect it might be a burden on the fern though??
Sun noted when i took it out of the pot that there are no
tap roots just the very fine hair like ones . Would assume from this that they get a lot of their moisture through the "trunk'"?? watering the trunk seems like a good idea?? gary

I got a Dicksonia antarctica this past March. live in New York and had it indoors for several months. It did very well indoors and I moved it outdoors in June until September. It did extremely well out doors and benefited from the wet summer weather we had. Since September I've moved it back indoors and it doesn't seem to be doing well. The older fronds at the bottom have been turning yellow at the tips and then going brown. New fronds have come in however they look smaller. I'm watering, misting and have a humidifier going. I've read it may be acclimating to a new climate but it seems strange to have so many fronds dry and wither. Please share any input. Thanks,