Growing giant tree ferns??

I love tree ferns, especially the really big ones like the Cyathea brownii they have inside the shade house at Balboa Park.



A friend, here in Encinitas, had a huge one in his front yard. The trunk was over a foot across. But he sold the house and I think the tree fern was removed to expand the house.

Anyway I wanted to grow big tree ferns of my own but I couldn't find anybody who carried Cyathea brownii, or the other really big ones. And everyone who had were sold out.

So I decided to get the spores and grow them myself. So I bought some spores from B&T seeds, and I've got enough that if I'm successful I want to sell the extras.

Has anybody here grown ferns from spores? Could you give me some advice? Should I use the standard half peat moss half sand mix -- cooked in the oven to sterilize it?

Ooo I love tree ferns.

There is a an excellent guide to growing from spores on pages 159-160 of Plant Propagation by Alan Toogood. Certainly growing from spores or a young plant is magnitudes cheaper than buying a mature specimen.

Last year the Walter Andersen nursery Poway store had a nice collection of tree ferns -- I'm not sure if they survived the freeze. Certainly they can order any variety you can grow here.

Now C. brownii is a real water hog -- one hundred gallons per week for a mature plant. The Australian tree fern Cyathea cooperi is also beautiful but far more water-wise.

Be careful, tree ferns can be invasive.

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Richard Frost wrote:

Ooo I love tree ferns.

There is a an excellent guide to growing from spores on pages 159-160 of Plant Propagation by Alan Toogood. Certainly growing from spores or a young plant is magnitudes cheaper than buying a mature specimen.

Last year the Walter Andersen nursery Poway store had a nice collection of tree ferns -- I'm not sure if they survived the freeze. Certainly they can order any variety you can grow here.

Now C. brownii is a real water hog -- one hundred gallons per week for a mature plant. The Australian tree fern Cyathea cooperi is also beautiful but far more water-wise.

Be careful, tree ferns can be invasive.

A hundred gallons per week? I don't think my friend was watering his anywhere near that much.

Are the roots of tree ferns invasive?

Richard Frost wrote:

Ooo I love tree ferns.

There is a an excellent guide to growing from spores on pages 159-160 of Plant Propagation by Alan Toogood. Certainly growing from spores or a young plant is magnitudes cheaper than buying a mature specimen.

Last year the Walter Andersen nursery Poway store had a nice collection of tree ferns -- I'm not sure if they survived the freeze. Certainly they can order any variety you can grow here.

Now C. brownii is a real water hog -- one hundred gallons per week for a mature plant. The Australian tree fern Cyathea cooperi is also beautiful but far more water-wise.

Be careful, tree ferns can be invasive.

Richard,

I've done a little research on the subject and I concede that you are right. They apparently do use a lot of water. Made Wijaya -- the well known tropical landscape designer -- suggest that you run a small tube to the top of the tree fern crown and continually drip water down the crown during the dry season.

Anyway I found Cyathea brownii for sale as Fernfactory.com -- and throwing caution, or good judgement, to the wind I bought four of them! I want to line part of my driveway that is covered by large oak trees with them.

The roots are not particularly 'invasive'. They have lots of 'tiny' roots that can travel into areas that are moist, seeking water. In those areas the soil might become 'matted' with lots of roots, but usually not lifting sidewalks, etc. If you planted spore three years ago, I hope you have some small tree ferns by this time. Growing ferns from spore can be tedious and 'trying', somtimes not for the novice.
For what ever it is worth the San Diego Walter Andersen Nursery has some Cyathea cooperi "Brentwood" the 'extra large' growing variety, in one gallon containers on this date.