Stag horn Fern advice please?

I was recently given a staghorn as a gift, lucky me!! it is about3ft round and 3ft high, I understand they prefer to hang up a tree and I have plans to suspend this one, what can I feed it?? can I get little plants of it and if so how do I do it? I have checked a few websites but I would appreciate your advice, by the way I live in sarasota florida, I mention this as I am not sure of this plants tolerence to weather. Many thanks!!

Stag horn Fern advice please?
If you'll wander of to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (one of my favorite places!), you'll see they have staghorns hanging about all over the place.



A sprayer with some Miracle-Gro should do ijust fine for fertilizing, though they don't need much, nor do they need it frequently.



Small plantlets can be cut off with a sharp knife. They can be placed in a wire basket filled with sphagnum moss or mounted on a board with a nice pad of moss behind the plant.



You are indeed lucky! I recently lost one I'd had for 25 years, so I'm starting afresh with 3 small plants in a steel hanging basket.



Maybe I'll see you next June; we'll be in Sarasota to enjoy!.
Reply:Thank you. The other response were equally good, It's very unusual to all good answers to a question!



Jay Report It
Reply:The Platycerium, Staghorn Fern, grows in tropical regions. In nature they grow on trees. Gardeners grow them on slabs of bark sometimes in hanging baskets or on trees. Most should be kept on the dry side watering only when slab or moss to which the plant is attached is actually dry to the touch.Wire the plants to pieces of bark padded with sphagnum moss.When the fern is grown in a hanging basket prepare a mixture of 2 parts peat,1 part sphagnum moss, and 1 part fibrous loam. Each spring give established plants a top dressing of 2 parts peat and 1 part fibrous loam, with bone-meal added. During the winter keep just moist and maintain a minimum temperature of 50 deg. F. Sowing spores in March is the only way of raising a large number of plants, but this is not always successful. A more certain method is to detach young plants from the stolons and attach them to fresh bark, or plant them in baskets.
Reply:First off, you are in a great climate for growing the fern.



Since they are epiphytes, I doubt they need too much in the way of feeding, but if you want to I would feed them a diluted fertilizer via foliar feeding. Perhaps something like Miracle-Grow?
Reply:You can hang it up a tree, it needs some shadow. There are different stag horn ferns. Some of them produce pups. When they are big enough, you can separate them from the mother plant. Others don't produce pups, but spurs.

About feeding, I have never fed mine, and they are gorgeous..

good luck