Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Quite possibly a newb question, but how do you catch fern spores?
I want to put a fern in my tank but all ferns i can buy are planted in fertilizer which is no good.
thanks

The fertile fronds will have dark brown "spots" on the underside. You can remove a frond and place it over a wet surface such as a porous brick or I have grown them on wet corkbark that caps off the waterfalls. You can also put the frond over a piece of white paper and let the spores fall off onto that before blowing them onto the substrate. The spores will fall off and germinate into a prothallium, which looks somewhat like a liverwort. From this, a male zygote will form on one side, swim across the undersurface to a female zygote on the other side, and from this union, the actual fern will grow. It's great fun to try, and works very will in a humid vivarium. I have also had some ferns grow "spontaneously" on unplanted cocas panels. The spores must be in the cocoanut fiber they are made from.

I'll try to post a picture later this evening of some tiny fernlets (Heart fern) that have sprouted on some cork bark in one of my vivariums. I don't have anything in the prothalium stage right now that I can find.
-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus

Here they are. You can see the adult Heart fern on the upper right. In this case, one of the fronds shed the spores onto the bark. I didn't "plant" them.
-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus

Sorry, it didn't load.

-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus