“Attached is a photo of a plant that grew in an empty pot. We would love to know what it is before we take appropriate action to reclaim the pot.
Regards, Peter Cowell”
Hi Peter, thanks for sharing your photo.
That’s a wild looking plant you’ve got there.
It’s a form of Terrestrial Elkhorn Fern or Fishtail Fern (Microsorum polycarpon ‘grandiceps’) and often pops up in pots and moist crevices in rock walls.
The species is a Queensland native and is local to this region. They are also a commonly grown pot plant due to them being resilient, fast growing and hard to kill. They also do OK as indoor plants in spots with lots of natural light.
My suggestion is to find a nice, sheltered moist spot in the garden… maybe under a tree, in amongst rocks or in a hollow log – and transplant it.
In nature, it’s a lithophyte (growing in organic matter on rocks), so make sure you plant it into a soil and compost mix that’s heavy on compost and organic matter.
That way it’ll have a nice rich growing medium to establish into which will drain well.
If you want, it can easily be divided up into clumps by cutting through the rhizome at the base (a rhizome is just the word for the underground stem it grows from).
Or you could just leave it in the pot as it is.
If you leave it in the pot, it looks like it could really do with a feed. Just use one of the pelletised chicken manure products sprinkled around the base of the leaves. Maybe give it a soaking with a seaweed or fish solution too.
One of the other Microsorum ferns which is unusual and is a great potted feature plant is called the Crocodyllus or Crocodile Fern (Microsorum musifolium).
It gets this name from the unusually patterned strappy leaves which somewhat resembles the scaly look of crocodile skin.
This fern is very suited to our climate and performs very well as an indoor potted plant.
But they also will grow in the garden in the right location – sheltered, moist, lots of organic matter.
In a pot, they need to be given some regular attention with watering and feeding, and the outer leaves will age and turn brown and need trimming off to keep the plant looking snappy.
The only pests that might be a problem are scale insects and the plant is pet-friendly too (ie it’s not a problem if your moggy chews on a leaf).
If you have a question you’d like answered, just drop me a line to reception@gcnews.com.au
