G'day Andrew,
Either way should do the job but the first would
give you more control.
To collect the spores, slice off a piece of leaf with the brown spore
casings underneath and place it in a paperbag. Keep the bag in a dry
protected spot, preferably indoors. If the leaf still holds spores you will
see them start to gather in the bottom of the bag after a few days. They
look a bit like fine pepper. You should end up with millions so you can try
several techniques.
If you use the glass top, (which is used to keep in
humidity), make sure it is completely out of the sun (best anyway), as it
will act as both a glasshouse and a magnifying glass, cooking all within.
You can propagate most ferns this way.
The hardest part is usually when you try to 'harden
them of' and transplant them. I recall that some large propagators used to
pot the young ferns into small pots with a mix high in peat to get them
established before trying to mount them on backboards.


China
Wingham
NSW




1) Basically get a sandy soil mix, I'm guessing seed raising mix, or a
propagation mix of 4 parts coarse sand, 1 part peat.
2) Collect the spores about this time of the year (Late sumer) and
sprinkle
them on the surface, make sure it's damp and cover with glass.
3) 4-6 weeks later they should appear, 4-6 weeks after that they can be
pricked out.
So my question is, is this a good way, and secondly when covered with
glass
where is the best spot to put them?

The other way I heard was similar, but to let the spores dropped directly
in
the soil and don't cover. I'm leaning more towards the first way.

Any other ways? ALso can the same way be used for birds nest ferns and
tree
ferns?
This is basically for interest purposes, something I want to try, esp the
staghorns and birds nest ferns.
Thanks heaps for any help in advance.