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Post by dvg on Nov 7, 2018 16:10:52 GMT -5
Has anyone started this ant fern, Lecanopteris sinuosa, from spores before?
Recently received some fresh Lecanopteris sinuosa spores and am just about to sow them on some peat moss, previously heated up to steamy, in a microwave oven.
Still waiting for the peat to cool down, but once cool, the spores will be sown on top and then the pots will be sealed away into zip lock bags until green growth occurs.
This species is supposed to be easy enough to grow from spores and is quite hardy once it gets going.
Will update later with some pics of the spores and hopefully the ant ferns once they get growing.
dvg
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Post by dvg on Nov 7, 2018 19:19:02 GMT -5
The spores are now sown in two 5" pots inside ziplock bags, beside some fluorescent lights, but not directly underneath them.
The sender of the spores said that they start well in temps from 22C to 25C.
Should begin to see some green in the pots in a few week's time.
Will post pics when that progress is spotted.
Here is a link on growing out Lecanopteris from spores.
myrmecodia.invisionzone.com/topic/191-lecanopteris-from-spores/
dvg
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Post by lloyd on Nov 8, 2018 3:24:01 GMT -5
I did it. They grew like crazy, tons of sexual forms, then lots of asexual forms. Transplanting didn't go well, all but one died which is still puny. I followed the method you used on a petri dish. Microwaving is important to avoid algae, etc. overgrowth. Always have a thin layer of water so the motile spores can swim around.
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Post by dvg on Nov 8, 2018 11:06:58 GMT -5
That's interesting Lloyd.
Did you try to gradually harden off the small ferns before you attempted to transplant them, maybe gradually exposing them to the less humid air outside their growing container?
Even so, a few losses are to be expected, according to the online literature, with regards to the transplanting process, especially at this rather fragile stage of their development.
Would you try growing ferns from spores again and if so, what changes would you now try with your next attempt?
Just looking at the reproductive life cycle of ferns is very strange...
...these plants are so ancient, they seem alien.
dvg
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Post by lloyd on Nov 9, 2018 3:31:47 GMT -5
I would definitely try again. Humidity did not decrease. Maybe I should have allowed roots to develop more before transplanting or maybe the medium was incorrect.
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Post by dvg on Nov 9, 2018 4:42:28 GMT -5
Do you recall what media you were using for your transplants? Have read online to try to avoid coir based media mixes, but honestly don't have enough experience to say if that is true, one way or the other. Haven't ever attempted to grow ferns out from the spore stage before, so gaining valuable experience through this evolving process too. Even the terminology with regards to ferns is foreign at this stage, but on the bright side, did find a word that rhymes with orange... ...sporange. dvg
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Post by lloyd on Nov 9, 2018 10:33:08 GMT -5
I first tried living LFS. Then a peat, orchid bark mix. No good. Then just put the plantlet on a piece of orchid bark with a smidgen of LFS. Spray with distilled water alternating with 50 ppm orchid fertilizer every few weeks or so. The last isn't killing it but the growth rate is glacial if steady. Lots of light, high humidity and warmish room temperature light on and lowish room temperature lights off.
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Post by dvg on Nov 9, 2018 10:52:32 GMT -5
How old is your ant fern now Lloyd?
Three years seems to be the time frame for these to amount to anything, when started from spores.
dvg
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Post by lloyd on Nov 13, 2018 16:32:23 GMT -5
Over a year and very dinky.
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Post by dvg on Nov 15, 2018 19:38:17 GMT -5
Hang in there Lloyd and your ant fern will surprise you. Here is a pic of some of those Lecanopteris sinuosa spores that were sown, next to a couple kernels of short grain brown rice. And here is a closer up look at the spores themselves. The spores were spread over the surfaces of two 5" pots and are now sealed in ziplock bags. Will update in two or three weeks when the gametophyte stage or the prothallus stages are reached. Still new to and learning the terminology with regards to ferns, so feel free to correct me where i've erred. dvg
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Post by dvg on Nov 30, 2018 15:13:57 GMT -5
Was looking to see if any spores had germinated into gametophytes.
Checked a couple days back and yesterday too, but wasn't able to detect anything germinating on the damp peat surfaces of the two ziplocked pots.
That changed today, when a spore that had germinated into a gametophyte was spotted in one pot, through the condensation on its clear plastic enclosure...
...and with the help of a pair of magnifying lenses.
The gametophyte was a dull, darker green in color and trickier to spot against the wet dark peat background.
Was told that the spores could germinate in 3 to 4 weeks time, so hopefully will spot more sprouts showing up soon.
dvg
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Post by bonfield on Dec 13, 2018 2:23:23 GMT -5
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Post by dvg on Dec 15, 2018 16:06:10 GMT -5
Had another peek at the ant fern spore pots and have spotted at least nine sprouts in the pot that last had one.
The other pot had no visible sprouts and looked to be drier than the sprouted pot.
Added more moisture to that pot and now it has one visible sprout.
Whereas before the initial gametophytes looked like two circles slightly overlapping one another they now remind me of a lime green colored globular shaped cactus seedling.
Keeping the humidity at the correct levels in the bags seems to be a bit of a balancing act.
Humidity has to be high enough to encourage the spores to sprout, but not so wet so as to encourage green algae growth on the pot's surface.
The pot with one ant fern sprout has hardly any algae growth, whilst the more sprouted pot has a few small green algal patches, that will be monitored to see how quick they are to spread out.
Having never grown any ferns out from the spore stage before, this process has been very interesting.
And because these are grown in a sealed bag/enclosure, they are pretty much maintenence free, save for the odd misting when the pots look dry or when some premptive action is required to counteract some green baddies that show up.
dvg
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Post by lloyd on Dec 15, 2018 22:34:54 GMT -5
From my limited experience, it seems important to really nuke the peat.
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Post by bonfield on Jan 8, 2019 4:23:48 GMT -5
I've got to split up these sinuosa soon, I can't believe how far they've come from spores!
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