Java Ferns

[PETsMARTchick]

I just bought a java fern but I'm still learning about plants. Do java ferns really need to be anchored to wood & rocks or can they simply be rooted in gravel?

 

[endparenthesis]

Don't worry about rooting it... it won't really matter either way unless you want it to stay in one place. Many of mine I just set on the gravel and after a while they hooked onto enough gravel to weigh them down.

 

[susangc]

I have one tall java fern that simply would not root on its own, so I rubber-banded it to a rock. It's still not rooted, but it's doing just fine.

After almost four months, my little fern is finally loosely rooted. It can take a while...

I also have a floater, really a leaf that brokeaway from the tall one, but it's got such a good-sized plantlet on it that I didn't want to throw it away.

Susan

 

[luxum]

Mine never rooted in gravel but man it loves fluorite, the roots are hanging onto a baseball sized hunk of it. That's pretty convienient, i can move that clump anywhere i want it easily. Just make sure you do not bury the rhizome (that's the horizontal stem that connects the leaves) or it may rot. It will also root to porous driftwood fairly quickly, rock takes a long time.

 

[guppymonkey]

My java fern rooted onto gravel fairly quickly. It also rooted onto my plastic ornaments in not that much time.

 

[Lateral Line]

The roots can do what they like, but if you bury the rhizome, it tends to rot and kill the plant.