The soil in the pot it came in was completely packed with it's tiny delicate thread-like roots, so there was no way I could break any soil off it. So all the original soil went into the new pot, and then I surrounded it with the potting mix. Luckily the pot it came in was quite small.
Bought another one today. Can't resist them. Would love a damp drippy mossy corner in my garden but they and I will have to manage with what we've got.
I am wondering how to approach the watering of my Arachnoides Aristata Variegata now? It's been 5 months since I potted it.
I
did let it get very dry over winter, maybe too dry I don't know. Thankfully it seems to be
doing well at the moment, though I noticed one frond has a brown tip.
I am very new to looking after plants and would appreciate any tips! I don't want to mess this one up.
I watered it today and took a couple of photos. Although it looks bright in the photos, it is in a very shady north facing porch that gets no direct sunlight. When I potted it in September, I used a mix of garden soil and compost with some tiny stones mixed in, and lined the pot with black plastic with holes in.
Thank you @micearguers for your advice earlier in the thread:
"The main thing is the dry-wet cycle (not parched dry). Most plants like a
variation of dry/wet, but it varies depending on many factors. In your
case, the most important ones are that it's a newly (re)-potted plant
and that it's autumn. In autumn plants evaporate less, so they need less
water and less frequent watering. As long as the soil feels 'quite
moist' the fern would not need watering. In winter it should need no
watering or almost no watering, assuming it's not being kept in a heated
room with dry atmosphere."
@Pink678 your fern looks fantastic, well done. Just the one brown tip is like a mark of beauty. Evergreen plants like your fern will always rejuvenate and have new foliage coming up and old foliage dying off. Your plant is quite young, so it hasn't happened yet or not much.
As for watering, it depends a bit on temperature and growth cycle. As the days get warmer and your plant starts to come into growth phase again you can up the amount of watering. The dry-wet cycle principle still applies, but as the plant takes up more water it can handle being given more water. I would still allow time for the soil to become less moist (but never bone dry). This cycle is compressed if it becomes very hot, e.g. in a mid-summer heat wave you might water every day. But we are very far from that (assuming you're in the same seasonal cycle as UK), so it is still little and gentle. If you have other plants it can help in becoming a bit more at ease with this watering cycle, and you'll find that different plants have different root systems, different rates of taking up water and evaporating.
I'm fairly envious of your beautiful fern. As I said earlier, I planted mine in the soil and it was apparently one of the best snack menus I've ever set for the snails and slugs.
@micearguers thanks ever so much for the kind words, I really lucked out with that fern - I can't believe I bought it online (ebay I think it was) and it actually looked like the picture when it arrived!
It's very useful to know about the brown tips and a relief to know they are not a problem, and about the dying off and rejuvenating - this is all very new to me - what wonderful plants ferns are.
The wet-dry cycle makes a lot of sense. I will regularly touch the soil top with my finger and then I will learn over time what it likes according to conditions. When making it wet with the watering, the water does seem to run through a bit but that might have been because it was the first watering for a while. When I next water it, I will perhaps get the soil a little more moist if I can. Thank you for the great advice
Wear gloves if doing any heavy work with ferns. For those that do not know ferns contains anticoagulant. It takes ages for the blood to stop flowing speaking from experience.
Wear gloves if doing any heavy work with ferns. For those that do not know ferns contains anticoagulant. It takes ages for the blood to stop flowing speaking from experience.
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