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#1
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Fern question
Silly question here, sorry.
Is there any real difference between a japanese holly fern and a dwarf holly fern or is it just the size they grow to? The leaves on both look pretty much the same. Thanks in advance -- Rhiannon_s Once you accept "because" as a valid reason the world becomes a much simpler place. |
#2
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Fern question
On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:26:49 +0100, "Rhiannon_s"
wrote: Silly question here, sorry. Is there any real difference between a japanese holly fern and a dwarf holly fern or is it just the size they grow to? The leaves on both look pretty much the same. Thanks in advance Not a silly question! I know more about brain surgery than I do about ferns, but I do have a book..... The Holly fern is Polystichum lonchitis, with narrow pinnate fronds, stiff, almost imbricate, linear-lanceolate, deep green and a somewhat glossy, while the Japanese holly fern is Cyrtomium falcatum, with fronds oblong-lanceolate, pinnate, glossy dark green. Which tells me that they they're definitely different (but not a lot more! I'm no botanist), but whether different enough for your interest, only you can decide. Judging by the diagrams, the fronds of HF are more finely cut that those of the JHF. -- Chris E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net |
#3
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Fern question
"Chris Hogg" wrote in message ... On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:26:49 +0100, "Rhiannon_s" wrote: Silly question here, sorry. Is there any real difference between a japanese holly fern and a dwarf holly fern or is it just the size they grow to? The leaves on both look pretty much the same. Thanks in advance Not a silly question! I know more about brain surgery than I do about ferns, but I do have a book..... The Holly fern is Polystichum lonchitis, with narrow pinnate fronds, stiff, almost imbricate, linear-lanceolate, deep green and a somewhat glossy, while the Japanese holly fern is Cyrtomium falcatum, with fronds oblong-lanceolate, pinnate, glossy dark green. Which tells me that they they're definitely different (but not a lot more! I'm no botanist), but whether different enough for your interest, only you can decide. Judging by the diagrams, the fronds of HF are more finely cut that those of the JHF. Thanks) I'd bought what was labelled as a JHF from a local garden centre last week and a friend gave me what is labelled as a DHF but they are both quite small plants at the moment and look pretty much identical so I was wondering if there was any mixed up labelling going on here. IYSWIM. I seem to have aquired a lot of ferns in the last couple of weeks, I'm just hoping they are by and large hardy. I have a linear male fern, the possible two dwarf holly and japanese holly ferns, japanese painted fern, harts tongue fern and finally a rosy buckler fern. I may have to rename the house Ferngully lol. Do ferns need a lot of soil btw, does anyone know? I'm having to grow everything in pots on a patio here and am always a bit uncertain on big and deep pots should be. -- Rhiannon_s Once you accept "because" as a valid reason the world becomes a much simpler place. |
#4
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Fern question
On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:01:45 +0100, "Rhiannon_s"
wrote: snip Do ferns need a lot of soil btw, does anyone know? I'm having to grow everything in pots on a patio here and am always a bit uncertain on big and deep pots should be. My book doesn't say anything about pot size, other than that the pot should be big enough to accommodate the roots of the fern to be potted, and that they need potting on as they grow. I guess you just use your judgement and size the pot to the plant. A good compost is one part loam, two parts leafmould and one part gritty sand. Add a smidgen each of hydrated lime, JI base fertiliser and charcoal. Omit the lime for lime-hating ferns (although how you know which is which, I don't know. Perhaps my book says somewhere, but not obviously). The compost should be damp but not wet. The ferns should not be potted too hard, as they root better in light spongy compost. Put plenty of crocks in the bottom to aid drainage. -- Chris E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net |
#5
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Fern question
On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:37:59 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:01:45 +0100, "Rhiannon_s" wrote: snip Do ferns need a lot of soil btw, does anyone know? I'm having to grow everything in pots on a patio here and am always a bit uncertain on big and deep pots should be. My book doesn't say anything about pot size, other than that the pot should be big enough to accommodate the roots of the fern to be potted, and that they need potting on as they grow. I guess you just use your judgement and size the pot to the plant. A good compost is one part loam, two parts leafmould and one part gritty sand. Add a smidgen each of hydrated lime, JI base fertiliser and charcoal. Omit the lime for lime-hating ferns (although how you know which is which, I don't know. Perhaps my book says somewhere, but not obviously). The compost should be damp but not wet. The ferns should not be potted too hard, as they root better in light spongy compost. Put plenty of crocks in the bottom to aid drainage. I grow hardy ferns here in the NE. It matters not what compost you grow them in. Mine are in cheap old potting compost and I cannot remember when I last fed them. The size, again does not really matter as they have very little root system. A 10-12" pot will be ample, but make sure that it has a WIDE base otherwise it will blow over when the tops grow large and you forget to water them. If you can keep them in shade 'all the time' they will perform best. I have them in small pots (hart's tongue and Japanese holly fern), up to old dustbins (with concrete blocks in the bottom to help stability and save compost). -- Jim S Tyneside UK www.jimscott.co.uk |
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