NOTES ON FERNS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVIII, Issue 11366, 6 September 1897, Page 2

NOTES ON FERNS.

(Australasian.)

At this season of the year, when the new fronds are beginning to shoot, is the _ time to clean, re-pot, and divide ferns. It is not necessary to repot large specimen plants every year; it is sufficient to remove a little of the old exhausted soil from the top, and to replace it by some fresh compost. Expert growers make a little difference in the soil they use for different classes of ferns. Some'do better when more peat than loam is used, and vice versa , but, as a broad rule, the best compost for strong growing kinds is one part each of good fibry peat and turfy loam, and one part of silver sand and well-rotted cow-manure ; leaf-mould is excellent, but in this country difficult to procure. The soil should be as fibry as possible; it should not be sifted or broken up too fine, but the ingredients used must be well incorporated. Thorough drainage is essential, for although ferns love 'moisture, .stagnant water at the roots means death to most of them. Plenty of crocks must be used, and over these moss or some fibre should be placed to prevent the earth from being washed down to choke the hole at the bottom of the pot. A little charcoal run through the soil is also valuable. In potting, it is not necessary to firm the soil quite so much as with some plants, the azalea for instance. After potting. water must be used carefully and sparingly, or the new?soil will become sour, and made noxious to the young roots. Neither should syringing be so freely applied as when the plants are established and growing. For a little while less air will be needed, and, of course, hot suns must be guarded against. Any decaying fronds should be cut away at the time of potting, and if any scale or bug be visible, the plants must be well cleaned by washing off with soap, or some insecticide. It is tedious work using the sponge and soap, and great care must be taken to prevent injury to the fronds. If the fronds are very badly infected the best way is to cut them off, although to some delicate kinds the cutting away all the fronds at once might mean death. Thrips are very destructive to ferns. Constant syringing helps to keep this pest away, but an antidote is found by fumigating with tobacco. This must not be too strong, or the foliage will suffer; it is better to smoke the plants two or three times moderately than run any risk by using too heavy a dose. Slugs and snails are very destructive to the young fern fronds, and watch must, be kept for them at the first sign if damage; a cabbage leaf and a bit of bran, or a slice of potato, make a very good trap. Beetles and cockroaches often do havoc in the fernery, These may be caught after dark with the aid of a candle, or poison maybe laid for them. Woodlice may be captured by placing dry moss in small flower pots; they nestle in the moss, from whence they must be removed and destroyed. Our common native tree ferns will stand a lot of rough usage, without resenting it. Plenty of moisture, both at the roots and stem, is necessary to keep them healthy. They do best in peat and loam, with a little sand and rotten manure, but they are frequently found growing in their native state in quite a stiff loam, and also in the debris of decayed trees. They are very tenacious of life, for if the stems are found to be too tall for any particular purpose, the top part may be cut off at any required height, and if planted and attended to, will grow away as if nothing had happened. Specimens which have become exhausted in tubs or pots, may be restored to vigour by disrooting and re-planting, but where fresh plants can be had cheaply it is better to throw the old ones away and start afresh. The Stag’s Horn or Elk’s Horn Ferns are epiphytal in habit, and although they will grow in pots like ordinary plants, they are seen to the best advantage when fastened on to a block of wood or bit of the stem of a tree fern, or in a suspended basket. The common Elk’s Horn (Platycerium alcicorne) is the hardiest kind, and will thrive where P. grande would fail, but the latter is the handsomer. They thrive best in very rough fibrous peat, or peat and sphogorum. The drainage must be perfect. The well-known Bird’s Nest Fern (Asplenium nidus avis), requires similar treatment to the above.

There are thousands of species and varieties of ferns. A few of the most useful only can be mentioned. Most of the Adiantums are worth growing. A. cuneatum is one of the beat. It is of easy culture, and is invaluable for bouquet making; it is also a good window plant. Hispidulum, formosum, pedatum, and renifornie are all good Adiantums, suitable for the coolhouse or for fern cases. Where heat can be given, no collection of ferns should be without Adiantum Farleyense, and also lunulatum,, trapeziforme, macrcphyllum, '.and concinnuin. Some of these maidenhairs do well enough in a coolhouse.

ror cutting and lasting, no fern-fronds can surpass some of the Davallias, or hare's foot ferns; many of them are quite hardy. D. Canariensis is well known, and is one of the best. D. bullata dissecta will produce fronds 2ft in length; and is a beautiful kind for baskets. Fijiensis and a few other Davallias want heat in the winter.

Most of the Pterises are very popular, and easy of culture. P. serrulate ’ and its varieties are all elegant. Hastate, scaberula, umbrosa, argyrea, and cretica are all good kinds, suitable for the greenhouse or shed. P. tricolour is a most beautiful variegated fern; but it requires heat to do •well.

Some of the Blechnums are very handsome. B. Braziliense requires heat; it is a noble-looking plant, and in time forms a stem about 2ft in height. Cartaligineum is not uncommon in the Dandenong Ranges; it is a very striking species. Nearly all the Blechnums are worth growing. Most of the Lomarias are worth cultivate ing. ■ The best are cilihta, discolour, fluyiatilis, gibba, and.prdeera. ■ ' • The Nephrolepises are a distinct family of ferns. The latter fern (N. cordate) is suitable for hanging baskets, 'and-will grow in any ordinary room. Exaltata, undulate, and davallioides are all fine species of this popular genus. Exquisitely beautiful are most of the Gleichinias. They are chiefly, natives of Australia and New Zealand. The most striking are circinnata, dicarpa, and flabellata.

The gold and silver ferns (Gymnogrammas) are more difficult to grow than many others ; but where proper attention can be given, their rare and singular beauty will amply repay the trouble. Heat is needed for many of the finer kinds. No list, however select, would be complete without mentioning the elegant Cheilanthes, the pretty Doodia, and the climbing Lygodium. What are termed “filmy” ferns are the most lovely, but they require more care than those mentioned. They are well adapted to the Wardian case treatment, or they will thrive in a glass frame inside an ordinary greenhouse. . In purchasing ferns, unless the buyer is acquainted with them, it is better to place yourself in the hands of a respectable, nur-

jUCTjljgnTf— —..—I .-.uwiwiwimuiimiumww—* serymah) who would select kinds most adapted to the place-in which' they Cue to be grown. • ° • - . . • ' ■ -1 _