Bird's Nest Fern
Monday, March 23, 2009
One common plant found in most homes is Bird's Nest Fern. Its leaves are tongue-shaped and apple green in colour with spores underneath and grows out from a fuzzy brown wool rossette. The brown midrib of the leaf is very strong. The rossette looks like a bird's nest.
When my sister-in-law gave one to me, its leaves were huge, about two feet in length (just like the one in picture above). It took up quite a lot of space in my garden. Few years later, I decided to do a re-sizing experiment. I chopped off (or shorten) part of the root (you need to have a good chopper and strong hands to do this!) that has grown from the rosette and replanted it into a pot with lesser soil. I also cut off all the big leaves.
This plant, botanically called Asplenium Nidus, grows nicely either undershade or outdoor here. All we need to do is to always give enough water to it. Lesser water is required when it is placed indoor.
In a tropical rain forest, it is always seen resting on tree branches. It can grow on another plant but non-parasitic (like orchid, it does not absorb food or nutrient from the other plant). In the same way, many gardeners plant Bird's Nest Fern on trees in their garden, making their garden look like a natural habitat. Hmmm... maybe I should relocate mine to the tree outside my house too!
A few months later, new leaves began to grow and they are only about one quarter of the earlier size. The picture below shows its current state. My experiment worked! However now it doesn't look as nice and healthy as before, but I know that it's still growing and will become better in time to come. At least now, I do not have to allocate a big space for the plant anymore :-)
In a tropical rain forest, it is always seen resting on tree branches. It can grow on another plant but non-parasitic (like orchid, it does not absorb food or nutrient from the other plant). In the same way, many gardeners plant Bird's Nest Fern on trees in their garden, making their garden look like a natural habitat. Hmmm... maybe I should relocate mine to the tree outside my house too!
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7 comments
Very interesting! I never would have thought to reduce the size that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie, I love Bird's Nest Fern for their texture (looks almost plastic!) and figure it would be a long lasting indoor. Weird how the root center grows but I'm glad you were successful in dividing it.
ReplyDeleteLynn
Very creative! U created a miniature Bird's Nest :)
ReplyDeleteBut Kelvin (my husband) didn't quite like this idea ;-(
ReplyDeleteBtw, I wish I have snapped a photo of the root.The shape was like a carrot growing from/adjoining the rossette but it was hardy. The length was about 8 inches as the pot was deep.
Very creative! I'm going to try to do the same by myself, I'll let you know if it's working for me.
ReplyDeleteDee
Hi Dee, Thank you for stopping by. I look forward to hearing from you on the outcome.
ReplyDeleteI used to have Asplenium Nidus, it died during winter, I forgot to move it indoor :P
ReplyDelete