Bird’s-nest fern is a very popular houseplant. In Sarawak, Malaysia, which has a tropical climate and the humidity is high, and daily temperature of 27⁰C to 32⁰C, it is very easy to spot a bird's-nest fern everywhere. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, bird’s-nest fern is a large epiphytic spleenwort (Asplenium nidus) of tropical Asia and Polynesia that has large lance-shaped leaves and is often grown as a houseplant.
Bird's-nest fern is a kind of parasitic plants and has a lot of varieties. As explained in Wikipedia, they grow in a tight, nest-like clump, with a linguate leaf rosette and are usually epiphytic growing in trees. It has a short stout erect rhizome (stem) which bears a rosette of simple, long, pointed leaves (fronds) to form a "nest".
According to Lee-Khoo, Guan Fong,(2003) explaination, the stem is usually not visible from the top. The nest traps fallen leaves and other debris which eventually decompose to humus. Beneath the nest of fronds is a large spongy, mass of roots which are covered by the reflexed dead leaves. Rain water is soaked up and stored in the mass. In this way, the plant provides its own food and water and can continue to grow in a soilless condition as long as it is not left to dry out for too long. When the plant grows upward and outward and the root mass become deeper and spongier, it attracts other ferns, mosses or algae to grow on the root mass.
Bird’s-nest fern is a non poisonous houseplant, and it is one of the beautiful houseplant which can give a very nice greenie looks in a small compact area around our home. By my experience of growing this wonderful houseplant, especially in a tropical country like Malaysia, it is quite easy.
It is best planted in a flower pot made of clay (porcelains). As Jon Van Zile said, this plant is quite easy to grow. Bird’s Nest Fern prefers soil that is kept partially dry and can even handle dry soil for short periods of time. It can live in drier air than most ferns. It enjoys warm to average temperatures, and prefers bright indirect light. Do not place it where the sun will shine directly on it. Always protect Bird’s Nest Fern from drafts.
Here I’m writing some simple tips how to grow bird’s-nest fern.
Step 1:
First, how to find a good bird's-nest "seedling"? If you have time, especially during weekends, spend a time rooming around the farm yards that is planted with fruit trees because this plants like to grow at some fruits trees. Here, I managed to get some good bird's-nest fern "seedling" which nestle nicely at some trees around my mum orchards, just behind her kampung house.
Step 2:
This is the best bird's-nest fern I can find, especially during this dry seasons. As we know, bird's-nest fern is a kind of parasitic plants, so we have to remove it from it host carefully, but it is not difficult as we would think. Use our bare hands without any added tools needed. Here is the bird's-nest fern after I removed it from it host.
Step 3:
After removing the bird's-nest fern from it host, the first thing to do is watering it with a good amount of water, especially when you are traveling far. Here is the first rule, bird's-nest fern actually needs a lot of water to grow nicely.
Step 4:
Find some nice flower pot. Get one flower pots that is big enough because the bird's-nest fern can grows big. The best flower pot is between 30cm to 50 cm wide, and around 30cm high.
Step 5:
Get a good top soil. Mixed it with chicken dunk, around 250gm to 300gm. Put the mixed soil into the flower pot.
Step 6:
The next step is get your bird's-nest fern and plant it nicely as shown in the picture. Make sure that the top part of the bird's-nest fern is not covered with the soil.
Step 7:
After the process of planting the bird's-nest fern, make sure to water it with a good amount of water. Keep your planted bird's-nest fern in a shady place, and no direct sun light. This is my seven simple steps of how to grow Bird's-nest fern.
Make sure to water it with a good amount of water at least once in three days. Put some compound fertilizer with a mixer of N:12%, P2O5:12%, K2O:17%, and MgO+TE:2%, for a duration 3 months once. The picture below is my newly planted bird's-nest fern. Good Luck and have a successful trial.
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