Q&A for How to Grow a Staghorn Fern

No. You can make compost out of your vegetable scraps and use the compost in your potting mix, but ferns prefer a soil-free medium to grow in.

Staghorn ferns can grow to weigh up to {{convert|100|lb|kg}}, depending on their environment and growing conditions.

Yes you can, as long as you keep it moist and in the shade.

I've had good luck growing them in strawberry pots. I use a 50/50 mix of Sta-Green Flower and Vegetable Garden Soil and Fafard Organic Peat Moss.

Yes, they grow best in a wire or orchid basket. I have 2 ferns right now, growing on either side of a cedar bird feeder.

About six months.

Yes you can. Make sure to wash the cutting instrument before you use it. You can use lime or lemon juice. It's best to cut the fronds with something very sharp.

Some species can handle temperatures down to 50 degrees Fahrenheit in winter (outdoors in zones 10 and 11), but the best temperatures in the 70s and 80s.

I just purchased one one for $100 at a yard sale in Boca Raton. It weighs in at 247 lbs and is almost 7 feet around.

Yes, it will be quite happy in this environment.

You don't even have to grind them up, just lay in and around the fronds. My mother's massive fern was over 40 years old, using nothing more than banana peels. My 10 year old fern is thriving using this same method.

Keep it over the winter by mounting it to a piece of wood and hanging it inside your home. Follow the instructions in the article for mounting, and hang it in indirect sunlight.

Cut away any fronds that have the spots on them. Then stop misting your fern or allowing any water to sit on the leaves. Simply watering the soil is enough.

No, it is not recommended to plant a Staghorn fern in mud. It needs a well-drained growing medium.

If they're small enough, pluck them out with tweezers. Otherwise, use your hands to carefully pull them out. Lay fresh peat moss or potting soil, depending on how you're growing the ferns, and then replant.

No. That happens as the leaves age in certain circumstances. As long as the long, fertile fronds are looking green and healthy, your staghorn fern should be good to go.

Sounds like patches of spores; they are natural and a sign your plant is mature and happy. It is also an opportunity to try propagating the plant by spore as is described on this page.

Because it's an epiphyte (like an orchid) it needs a lot of ventilation in its soil to mimic the conditions it would have living off of a tree in the forest. A large ceramic pot may not provide this. I've got mine living in a large orchid pot with an orchid. This said, the problem with growing them in pots is that they retain a lot of water, so you really have to be careful when watering to check the soil beforehand.