Staghorn Air Plants / Fern - Orchid Board

Benjamincody · #1 09-12-2008, 10:23 AM

Ok I am at my sisters house in Clearwater and I have my orchids with me and they are loving her Florida Room. Here is my question. She has some Staghorn Air Plants / Ferns (depends on what i read as to what they are called) that are growing on a tree in her back yard and are doing ok. I wanted to know if anyone knows how I can move them and not kill them? I would like to put them in a better place of the yard where she can enjoy them more and so they will grow better.

THANKS

JackiBlu · #2 09-12-2008, 01:13 PM

I have some staghorn fern. Its really very easy to attach for the most part. I've never tried to remove 'all of mine' but I have given some of it away by peeling a few pads off for friends. Mine didn't peel so easily when I wanted to give my sister in law a big chunk. I ended up giving her a few pads to, So trying to get a couple pads vs the entire plant is likely going to be very difficult.

When you say it is doing ''ok' I am curious what that means. It can't have strong direct sun. Our morning sun is about all it should get. After that it starts to burn. So basically mostly shade under a tree or within a shady type tree that will protect it.

Anyway,

A neighbor started mine with about 3 pads of hers. She put it on the underside of a sturdy thick limb of my grapefruit tree and wrapped string around it to secure it. I kept it watered (about once a week) In about a month maybe two it attached itself. It got so big (and the tree got old eventually died) that during a drenching rain, my grapefruit tree, still standing, finally broke at the ground and fell over from the weight of the rain held in the staghorn. I still have the limbS with the plant, trimmed back a little and had it moved to an area of my yard so it doesn't get a lot of hard direct Florida summer sun under my . A banana every now and then makes it happy-happy

Oh, and btw, the cinnamon, soap & water concoction is great if it gets spiders.

Let me know if I forgot something. I'll try to help. Glad I could help in here about something after all!

Benjamincody · #3 09-12-2008, 02:36 PM

It gets some afternoon sun but it just not seem all that happy where it is..When you say pads are you talking about the leaves or a leaf with the brown pad thing attached to it? Because there are several plants and I could try and get pads and put some in different places around the yard....How do you give it the bannana? The cinimon soap and water solution how is it made I am new to the site so i am not familiar with it..Thank you

JackiBlu · #4 09-13-2008, 09:45 PM

the pad are what is attached to either the tree its on or another pad of itself. they usually overlap on the limb. Anyway, from the center of this pad comes the staghorn leaf. When you remove a pad the leaf should come with.

Each one of those pads can be made to stand alone as their own plant. Take the pad/s you carefully removed from your main plant and hold them to your new location then take some string and wrap around and around the entire limb securing the the pads, tight, but not so tight to cut into pad.
**BTW, make sure the limb you are getting ready to transplant to is very strong/thick ie secondary from the main trunk as a staghorn will keep multiplying and become VERY heavy.

The banana is fertilizer for this plant. You can use either ripe pieces of skins or ripe banana itself and you put it under the pads where you find a loose spot and just leave it. It takes the nutrients from the naner

I usually forget to do this on a regular basis. After a storm I made a conscience effort coz it was lookin a bit 'droopy' if you will. And I fed it about once a month for about 3 months. I wouldn't try to use any banana until the plant has securely attached itself to its new home. Depending on how strong and direct the PM sun is, maybe why is looking poorly.

The cinnamon stuff is greatl.. In a spray bottle: About 1 tsp of cinnamon extract; 1 tbsp of dish soap and 2 cups water. Bugs hate it and it doesn't hurt the plant. Works great on your orchids

if need be.

SueK · #5 09-14-2008, 08:36 AM

Hi Benjamin

I am from Oz and the Staghorn originates from Oz and some of the islands North of Australia. I absolutely love these things, but they are quite expensive to buy even here in Oz. I have quite a few that are attached to either palm trees or on a slab of wood or on a special Staghorn holder that you can buy here. They grow in the rainforest but high up in the trees so they get strong light. Dappled light is the best for them. My neighbour has one in full sun and it is huge and luxurious but I wouldn't recommend full sun.

They can be moved quite easily. All you have to do is get them free from the host tree. If they are really big this may need a bit of muscle power and they can be really heavy to lift. I have recently transferred a couple from boards to a tree. When you want to tie them to the new host tree, it is easier to use pieces of stretched panty hose to wrap around them and attach them.

I just fertilize them when I am fertilizing my orchids and I throw them a small amount of slow release fertilizer now and again.

I am very curious to know exactly what Jacki does when removing the pad. I can't understand how to do this to start another Stag. I would like to be able to start other Stags from a mother plant but don't know how. Are you sure you aren't talking about an Elkhorn Jacki. Please give us your

cos I want staghorns everywhere.

Sue

JackiBlu · #6 09-14-2008, 09:18 AM

All I've done is find a place on the plant that looks as tho it will peel away easily and take a pad or a few pads (with the leaf/s), depending how is has spread on itself and removed it to transfer it to its new home.

I just peeled some off and wrapped it in some wet paper towels and gave to my sister in law for their long ride home back to Ohio. She attached it to a board since the winters won't do a staghorn any good.

Benjamincody · #7 09-14-2008, 12:54 PM

I have never actually seen the stag horn for sale here but then again I have not really looked. They are so prevalent everyone has one in their yard and most all you see are a mass of leaves three feet wide and about that tall and a tree trunk going up and one going down LOL but most of these plants have been on the property longer than the owners. Thank you for everyones help i am going to try and get some new plants off of the old ones and try to fertilize the old ones see how they like that....

JackiBlu · #8 09-17-2008, 10:40 PM

Benjamincody, you wouldn't like the price for a little piece of staghorn.. Last time I saw it, (at HD) they had it mounted on a small piece of wood with one pad on it, called it a plant and put a $19.99 price tag on it. If the wood was 8 inches long and the stag piece was about 5. Sad day.. that stuff grows wild - seriously. You'll find them usually near the bromalaids and cactus plants at home depot.

I swear I am in the wrong biz.