Antler flowers are a rather exotic evergreen plant from the genus of ferns. It is distinguished by the bizarre shape of its leaves, which is why it got its name. This tropical beauty will become a stylish decoration for your room, especially if you grow it as a hanging tree.
General description
The plant produces leaves (fronds) of two types:
- Sterile. They grow like basal plants, whole in shape. They perform several functions simultaneously: support, collection of nutrients. Pieces of moss and plant debris are retained in them, which rot and become a nutrient substrate. Over time, they become thinner and change color, but remain healthy.
- Fertile or spore-bearing. They are the main decoration of the deer horn flower. Spreading, lush green with pubescence, in some species they grow up to 1.5 m. As they grow, the fronds are divided into ligulate lobes 2-3 times, which gives them a resemblance to the branched antlers of male deer. After the formation of spores, “spots” of a characteristic brown color appear on the green foliage. This is not a disease, but a place where spores accumulate, which can be used for reproduction at home.
Fronds when grown at home may be slightly shorter than those growing in the natural environment. In the process of life, they release phytoncides, that is, they benefit their owners. Another useful property is the ability to absorb hydrocarbons from polluted air. Although some people refuse to keep platicerium in the house because of a “bad omen” (it will push their husband to cheat), in fact there is no evidence of this. Most likely, the superstition arose due to the external resemblance to horns, which became a colloquial symbol for betrayal.
Types for home cultivation
There are a total of 18 known species of antler flower. Not everyone is suitable as a houseplant. The following are recommended for home maintenance:
- Double-forked or moose-horned. Grows well - up to 75 cm in width and length. Young foliage is silvery in color (due to pubescence).
- Hilla. It is a more miniature copy of the previous type. Its fertile leaves actually resemble deer (not elk) antlers.
- Angolan. It is distinguished by the shape of the fronds, which resemble large (up to 40 cm) triangles with wavy edges that hang downwards from the base.
- Big. Outwardly, it resembles a head of cabbage, from which spreading horns grow (up to 1.5 m, growing upward). This species has highly developed sterile leaves, which provide such an exotic appearance.
The main difference between the types of staghorn flower is the shape and size of the foliage. These ferns do not bloom, which may be an important consideration for people prone to allergic reactions to pollen.
Home conditions
As a houseplant, deer antlers look very impressive. But to maintain it, a number of conditions are necessary that recreate the atmosphere of tropical forests and natural habitats:
- Temperature. In summer, the comfort temperature is within + 23 – 25 0 (maximum +30 0), in winter – within +17 – 18 0, rarely able to tolerate a long drop to +12 0.
- Humidity. Platyceriums do not tolerate dry air; humidity should be from 60 to 80%.
- Lighting. Direct sunlight is destructive; it needs partial shade and long daylight hours. In summer it should be at least 12 hours, in winter 9 hours is enough.
- Ventilation. It is allowed, but without drafts; the fern does not tolerate them at all.
- Soil. When growing in pots, you can use a mixture of leaf and peat soil with the addition of sand, sphagnum moss, pieces of pine bark and humus in equal proportions. You can use ready-made soil mixture for ferns. The soil should be slightly acidic, the pot should be shallow, flat, with good drainage from fine gravel.
Tip: as an indoor flower, deer antlers are best grown as an hanging plant. And not in pots, but on a piece of wood of a suitable size. To ensure a sufficient level of humidity, you can hang it above the aquarium. This is an effective and rational design solution.
Features of care
Platycerium is an unpretentious flower; it is enough to follow a few rules:
- Watering is regular, every other day in summer and once every 10 days in winter. For irrigation, boiled or well-settled soft water is used, which is carefully topped up as soon as the top layer of soil dries out. Platicerium does not tolerate excess moisture, so it needs to be watered regularly and sparingly. In summer it is necessary to spray with soft water from a fine spray bottle.
- No pruning is needed; even dying foliage is not separated, but left behind.
- Replanting is very rare (once every 4 years) and only for young plants. It is carefully dug up and transferred to a new pot with drainage and soil.
- Feeding only in the summer, once a month is enough. You can use fertilizers for ferns or orchids. It is better to reduce the recommended dosage by 2 times.
Important details. Watering can be replaced by bathing: the pot is placed in water for a few minutes. When placed overhead, generously spray the inner pockets. As a top dressing, pieces of banana peel are periodically used, which are placed under sterile fronds. You cannot wipe the foliage, this procedure will damage the pubescence, the plant will stop producing phytoncides, and if there is extensive damage, it will die.
Deer antlers plant in wildlife Growing on wood
When growing on wood, a substrate of sphagnum moss, pieces of bark and rotted leaves 1.5 - 2 cm thick is made for the roots. This mixture is placed in a small depression made in a piece of wood. The roots are slightly buried into it and secured with fishing line. You can use synthetic narrow tapes or wire, but be sure to have insulation (ordinary copper will not work). It is tied below the sterile leaves so as to support and at the same time provide the lower fronds with the opportunity to form a pocket. After this, the piece of wood is nailed to the wall or hung in some other way. With abundant growth, additional support for the fronds may be required.
Reproduction
Deer antlers can be propagated by spores or vegetatively.
Reproduction by spores
To propagate using this method, it is enough to collect spores from fertile leaves, dry them, and then place them on the surface of a container with nutrient soil. A standard soil mixture for this fern, previously disinfected with boiling water and cooled, is suitable. The container is covered with film or glass, and the soil is periodically moistened. During the 2 months before the first leaves appear, the spores need a high level of air humidity and sufficient lighting. Then the sprouts peak. If you plan to grow on wood, then the plant is tied to it according to the scheme described above. For better rooting, wrap the roots with a layer of moistened sphagnum.
Vegetative propagation
For vegetative propagation, 2 methods are used:
- Offspring. The emerging young shoots with a developed root system are carefully separated from the mother plant and transplanted into the ground. And immediately to a permanent place. 3 weeks are enough for rooting; the appearance of new foliage is a sign that the flower has taken root.
- Dividing the bush. A bush that has grown abundantly can be divided. It is better to do this during transplantation, so as not to disturb the fern again. When dividing, you must act carefully: the root system is quite weak. The bush is divided in such a way that both divisions retain sterile and fertile fronds; both types of leaves are necessary for normal life. The cuttings are immediately transplanted into a pot or attached to wood.
Care errors, diseases, pests
The following problems may occur:
- foliage turns yellow: a sign of fever or sunburn;
- the fronds have become sluggish and pale: excessive lighting or lack of fertilizer;
- dried out and brown: lack of moisture;
- withered: its excess;
- lack of growth: a sign of low humidity.
Platycerium practically does not get sick; the only danger is the death of the roots due to stagnation of water and excessive watering. When pests appear (thrips, aphids, scale insects, spider mites), insecticides are used for spraying.
The leaves of platicerium, or flathorn, an epiphytic fern, are spread in flexible belts over the surface of the substrate, repeating in smooth lines the outlines of the pot and the support on which the flower container is installed.
It is often used for hanging gardening like hanging plants, although it is not one.
The Australian Tropican has taken root comfortably in our apartments, although it requires increased attention. Under natural conditions, it lives on tree trunks, penetrating with its roots into natural cracks in the bark.
Platycerium has two types of leaves: spore-bearing fronds, large and showy, shaped like the antlers of an elk or deer, and sterile - whole, acting as a support for the plant on branches and trunks. Infertile leaves have another important function - collecting nutrients. As if in a trap, dry and rotten plant debris, dead insects, and pieces of moss linger in them. Over time, this all rots, turning into a substrate that feeds an unusual plant.
Types of Platycerium
Big– spore-bearing fronds resemble open fans, in the upper extremities of which there are many horn-like blades. The total width of such a leaf sometimes reaches 1.2 m. Sterile leaves are short and entire.
Double-forked(elk-horned) - smaller than the previous species, the total length of the spore-bearing leaves does not exceed 80 cm. Wedge-shaped at the base, they branch exactly in two towards the apex and end in tongue-shaped blunt segments, shaped like elk antlers. Sterile leaves of a roundish shape, lobed or whole at the edges, are pressed against the soil, forming a kind of pocket or funnel in which moisture collects and adventitious roots are formed.
Angolan- decorative exotic with luxurious spore-bearing fronds, triangular at the base and widening by 40 cm towards the ends, solid, bluntly chopped off. The entire area of the plates is covered with soft orange pubescence.
Care and cultivation of platycerium
Considering the natural living conditions of the flathorn, for planting the plant it is necessary to use a substrate similar to that to which the platycerium is accustomed in nature.
The soil mixture is made up of equal parts of coarse-fiber peat, pieces of coniferous bark, leaf soil or humus and chopped sphagnum moss. From ready-made store-bought soil mixtures, it is preferable to choose specialized ones “For ferns” or “For orchids”.
Platycerium does not need frequent transplants, only when necessary, to move to a more spacious container.
When exhibited, the flathorn prefers northern windows and develops normally in western and eastern rooms. It does not like direct sunlight, it is tolerant of staying in a shady place, it can grow only in one artificial light or in the bathroom. A heat-loving fern, platycerium is kept at high summer temperatures from 18 to 25 degrees Celsius, optimal winter indicators are 15-17 degrees Celsius , but not lower than +13 degrees. Does not tolerate drafts and sudden changes between night and day temperatures.
The main problem in caring for the plant is constantly maintaining high humidity in the room and maintaining regular watering. The roots with a lump of earth should not dry out. There are also certain requirements for irrigation water - it must be settled, soft and warm - above room temperature. It is better to organize watering by placing the flower pot in a flat container with water.
It is allowed to spray the leaves, but under no circumstances wipe them with a damp sponge - the leaf plates of platycerium are covered with tiny velvet fibers that absorb moisture from the air. If they are damaged, the water supply to the platycerium is disrupted; for the same reason, the use of products that add shine to leaves is contraindicated.
During spraying, moisture should not be allowed to accumulate on the leaves in the form of large drops; it is advisable to use a very fine sprayer.
Many gardeners practice a common way of providing the platycerium with the necessary moisture - placing it in a hanging basket above an open aquarium.
From April to August, the flathorn is fed alternately with solutions of organic and mineral fertilizers, or complex fertilizers are used for decorative foliage indoor flowers, halving the dose indicated in the instructions.
Reproduction of Platycerium
The simplest way to propagate flathorn is to divide the rhizome into smaller fragments.
Other methods are more labor-intensive and can only be done by experienced and skilled flower growers: propagation by embryonic buds that appear near the roots and by spores.
To sow spores, take shallow bowl-shaped pots and fill them with a substrate of a mixture of peat and leaf soil mixed with sand in a ratio of 2:1:1, which is steamed with boiling water before use. Spores are sown into the cooled soil mixture and the soil is lightly watered with a solution of potassium permanganate or quinosol and the bowls are covered with glass or polyethylene. The emerging sprouts dive individually into larger pots filled with substrate for adult plants.
Diseases and pests
The most common problems when growing platycerium are associated with increased dryness of the surrounding air - the leaves of the plant dry out at the ends and look withered. It is susceptible to pests - scale insects, spider mites, thrips.
Ferns are a very special division of higher plants. In most of them, spores are formed on the underside of the leaves in special bags - sporangia. Once in the soil, the spores germinate into tiny green plates. They look like pieces of green paper with a diameter of 5-6 mm, moistened with water. These are growths, or gametophytes, on which male and female reproductive organs are formed. After fertilization, a large and beautiful fern (sporophyte) grows. This confusion is called alternation of generations - asexual (sporophyte) and sexual (gametophyte).
Platycerium. © ProBuild Garden Center
Anyone who happened to see this fern will never forget it. Platycerium looks like the head of a deer or elk with huge antlers! Its carved leaves are covered with silvery fluff, which should never be peeled off; it helps nourish the plant and absorb moisture from the soil.
Content:Description of the platycerium
Platicerium (Deer horn, Flat-horned) - lat. Platycerium. The name of the genus comes from the Greek words platus - flat and keras - horn and is due to the fact that the leaves are shaped like deer antlers.
The genus includes 15 species of herbaceous perennial plants, distributed in the tropics of Asia, Australia, the islands of the Indian Ocean, the Malay Archipelago, the Philippines, Africa and the island of Madagascar.
Platycerium is an epiphytic fern; in tropical countries, antler grows on trees. In Australia, Platyceriums sometimes reach such a size that giant trunks fall under their weight! In the room it is usually grown on pieces of bark or in hanging baskets; this fern grows slowly and does not threaten to collapse the decorative support from which they are hung.
Its appearance is quite different from other ferns. It has two types of leaves (vai) - sterile and spore-bearing. The sterile fronds are round, widely spread, tightly pressed by the lower and lateral edges to the substrate, the upper part of the leaf extends from the support, forming a funnel. The biological purpose of these leaves, in addition to photosynthesis, is to trap leaf litter and other organic matter. Newly formed sterile fronds hide under them old ones, which decompose over time, thus increasing the trap for organic substances and the growth of the plant itself.
Platycerium. © D. Gordon E. Robertson Growing Platycerium
Spore-bearing fronds have a completely different shape. Erect or hanging, they resemble the shape of deer antlers (which is where the name “deer antler” comes from). Numerous sporangia are formed at the ends of the leaves on the underside.
For keeping platicerium, as for keeping other ferns, western or eastern windows are best suited, i.e. when the sun shines through the window in the morning or evening and it is not the hottest. Ferns need protection from direct sunlight. At the same time, ferns love good diffused lighting. Ferns do not tolerate drafts or cold harsh air, but at the same time they need regular ventilation of the room. Ferns do not tolerate smoke and dust well.
For successful growth and well-being of platyceriam in the spring-summer period, the optimal temperature is about 20 ° C; at temperatures above 24 ° C there should be high air humidity, since the plant does not tolerate high temperatures very well.
In autumn-winter, the optimal temperature is within 15-17 °C. Excessively warm air harms the plant, so it is advisable not to place it near central heating radiators.
Since the homeland of most species of ferns is tropical forests, they do not tolerate dry air well. Ferns need to be sprayed regularly at least 2 times a day, and on hot summer days from 3 to 5 times a day. In warm rooms, ferns should be sprayed with warm water.
Platycerium is grown mainly in a special mixture for ferns, consisting of pine bark and sphagnum moss. Can be done on pieces of bark and stumps.
Ferns are replanted in the spring after the first growth appears. When replanting, it is necessary to preserve the earthen lump. The roots are not cut, but only old and dead roots are removed. When transplanting, the roots of ferns are straightened, and planting is done so that the root collar is above the ground.
All ferns need fertilizing with organic and mineral fertilizers in spring and summer. You cannot use fertilizer consisting only of mineral salts. Do not feed in autumn and winter - feeding during this period can lead to serious plant disease.
Platycerium bifurcatum. © alexlomas Possible difficulties when growing platycerium
The leaves turn yellow and brown spots appear on them. The reason is that the room temperature is too high, above 25 °C. As the temperature rises, the humidity must also increase. The cause may also be irregular or insufficient watering.
The leaves turn yellow, the plant grows poorly - the humidity in the room is too low, the proximity of the heating system.
The leaves are faded, translucent, limp - too intense sunlight.
The leaves are pale or dull, the ends turn yellow or brown, the plant does not grow or grows poorly. The reason may be a lack of nutrition, a pot that is too small or too large.
Leaves may turn yellow, brown, curl and fall off, young leaves may wither and die if the room temperature is too low, from exposure to a cold draft, watering with cold water, or when watering with hard or chlorinated water.
Never remove dead sterile leaves.
Damaged: spider mites, scale insects, thrips.
Notes: Brown arched leaves should not be removed as they form humus.
Platycerium. © Tagesfleiss Types of Platycerium
The most widespread species in indoor floriculture are:
Platycerium alcicorne
Sterile leaves are round, 12-20 cm in diameter, convex, lobed at the edges. Fertile leaves are 50-70 cm long, wedge-shaped narrowed at the base, fan-shaped widened at the top and forked into lobes, 3-4 cm wide, thick, bluish-green. Lobes hanging down. Sporangia throughout the lobes are yellow-brown.
Platycerium angolense
The sterile leaves are entire, bent back at the top. The fertile leaves are triangular-wedge-shaped in the lower part, expanding to 40 cm wide in the upper part, not dissected into lobes, notched along the entire upper edge and dull orange-pubescent. Sporangia are located transversely across the entire width of the leaf.
Platycerium grande
The plant's homeland is Tropical Asia, tropical Australia, and the Philippine Islands. Sterile fronds are wide, 45-60 cm wide, deeply forked (do not dry out for a long time); fertile 1.3-2 m long, wedge-shaped, hanging downwards, evenly, approximately from the middle of the leaf, forked, dissected into belt-like lobes. Highly decorative look. Cultivated in a warm greenhouse and warm rooms.
Platycerium bifurcatum. © *Spatz* Platycerium bifurcatum
The most common type in indoor culture. The plant's homeland is Tropical Australia. Sterile fronds are round, 12-20 cm in diameter, convex, lobed at the edges; spore-bearing 50-70 cm long, wedge-shaped narrowed at the base, fan-shaped expanded in the upper part and forked into lobes (3-4 cm wide), thick, bluish-green; lobes hanging down. Sporangia throughout the upper part of the lobes are yellow-brown. Highly decorative look. Cultivated in semi-warm greenhouses, florariums, terrariums and rooms.
Platycerium Hillii - Platycerium Hillii
Similar to the previous species, from which it differs in numerous compact, shallowly dissected straight leaves. Some segments are shorter and more pointed. The sporangia are collected in oval and round masses located near the base of the terminal segments.
If you believe in the magical power of plants, then you will not be uninterested to know that placiterium (popularly “deer antlers”) are peace-making flowers. Their indoor species give their owners positive energy,
have a beneficial and positive effect on resolving conflict situations, creating an atmosphere of peace and tranquility in the house. Platycerium is an exotic representative of ferns. Native to distant Brazil, it lives in the wild on tree trunks and branches. Anyone who has ever seen a platicerium in a flower shop remains impressed for the rest of their lives, because this fern simply fascinates with its unusual appearance and size. After all, it has no analogues among indoor plants!
“What’s unusual about this plant?” you ask. The “deer antlers” flower, the photo of which is in front of you, attracts the attention of flora lovers with its branched, lush green leaves - fronds. These leathery fan-like leaves can sometimes reach a length of about a meter. This plant also has another type of leaves - they are smaller, brown in color and form a kind of “pocket” from which the flower draws nutrients and accumulated
moisture.
Platycerium, or “deer antlers” - flowers of the mysterious tropical forests. Therefore, high air humidity and temperature within +14... +20 degrees are the main conditions for growing epiphytes at home. The plant tolerates good light, but the best option for it is partial shade. The best place in the house for it would be a window sill, but not on the south side of the house. Of course, it is recommended to remove the flower from drafts, because its main decoration - the leaves - begins to turn yellow. It is better to place the plant in a basket or pot and keep it in
Indoor staghorn flowers are quite easy to grow. They prefer a light substrate of sphagnum moss and crushed pieces of bark. Part of the roots of the platycerium is directed to the rosette-pocket, from where the minerals and water necessary for growth are absorbed. Decorative dissected leaves, reminiscent of deer antlers (for which the flower received its second name), can colorfully frame, for example, a large panel or picture on the wall, creating a unique composition.
To make the leaves more decorative, proper and timely watering is necessary. You should not allow the earthen ball to dry out, but you should not over-moisten the soil either, since “deer antlers” are delicate flowers. Watering should be moderate. In hot weather, it would be good to immerse the plant in soft water (for a while) or spray it daily with water at room temperature. On cold days, watering should be reduced and spraying should be canceled altogether.
“Deer antlers” are not picky flowers, but can be affected by pests, for example, thrips, spider mites and scale insects, which settle on the inner surface of the leaves. Various epiphyte diseases arise mainly due to errors in care.
Platyceriums reproduce by cuttings - side shoots. Since it is a fern plant, spores form on the leaves, but propagating staghorns using spores is labor intensive. Side shoots are cut with a sharp knife and planted in moist soil for rooting. By adhering to the basic rules for growing these mysterious epiphytes, you can admire their healthy appearance for a long time and not worry about pest damage.
– genus of ferns belonging to the family Centipedes. Very common in tropical forests of the Old World.
Did you know?The Latin name of the plant platyceros comes from the Greek words platos - wide and keros - horn; literally means "doe", which refers to the shape of the fern, which bears a resemblance to the antlers of a deer.
Platycerium: description of indoor fern
The indoor flower antlers is a large epiphytic plant with a branched rhizome; its aerial roots are located in the area of the upper leaves and under the rhizomatous scales. Platycerium leaves are sterile and spore-bearing, and also differ morphologically. The sterile leaves are wide, rounded and sessile, tightly adjacent to the trunk and branches of the host tree with a free upper edge, which forms a niche, which receives sediment and humus from the fern leaves that die.
Humus accumulates over time and can serve as a substrate for the roots of the plant; with age, the weight can reach about 100 kg. The spore-bearing leaves are flat in shape, on short petioles, with dense skin, erect or drooping, giving the impression that the flower looks like antlers. Sporangia are responsible for photosynthesis and reproduction; they are not collected in sori, but are simply scattered on the apical part of the leaves, giving the lower part a red tint.
Types of Platycerium
Platycerium fern grows in the tropical forests of Central Africa, about 20 species of plants are found there, but 4 species are grown indoors.
Platycerium Angolanis. It is characterized by triangular, entire, spore-bearing leaves up to 40 cm wide, widened towards the upper edge, which is pubescent in orange and has serrations. Sterile leaves are slightly bent at the edges and are whole.
Did you know? Platycerium Angolan destroys gaseous carbohydrates and purifies the air in the apartment.
Platycerium large is a large plant native to Australia and tropical Asia. Its sterile leaves are quite wide, up to 60 cm, and dissected at the ends. Spore-bearing plants are wedge-shaped, half of the leaf is cut into belt-shaped stripes. They can reach up to 2 m in length.
Platycerium bifurcated, or Platycerium staghorn, It grows in nature in Australia. The most popular among indoor types of platycerium. Its lower sterile leaves are round, convex and dissected, and the upper spore-bearing leaves are no longer than 70 cm, gray-green in color, wedge-shaped at the base, but widen towards the upper part.
Platycerium Hilla- outwardly resembles the previous look, but more elegant and fragile. Its leaves are shallowly dissected, straight, individual segments are pointed at the ends. Very similar to the previous type, but more miniature. The homeland of Platycerium Hill is the Australian tropics.
Features of growing home fern
It is worth choosing a western window for the fern, optimal temperature and humidity.
Choosing a location: what should be the lighting, temperature and humidity
The homemade antler flower grows best in bright but shaded areas from direct sunlight. The sun is very dangerous for the leaves, it can cause burns and seriously harm the platycerium. If there is not enough light, you need to additionally illuminate with a lamp. The temperature in the apartment should be maintained at +20-25 °C in summer, and +20-22 °C in winter; temperatures below +15 °C are harmful to platycerium and can cause its death.
Platycerium tolerates apartment dryness very poorly. To ensure proper care, it is better to place the platicerium flower on a tray with expanded clay or hang it above the aquarium. The plant needs very high humidity; it should be sprayed with warm boiled or purified water. Spraying with running water is prohibited due to the fact that the smallest leaf scales on the surface can become clogged, which can harm the platycerium.
Important!It is also impossible to wipe dust from the leaves with a sponge or rag, so as not to mechanically damage the velvety hairs that trap moisture; this requires more abundant spraying.
In what soil is platycerium planted?
Platycerium grows well in substrates that include peat, leaf and coniferous soil, and crushed sphagnum in proportions 2:2:2:1. You can try a composition of peat, chopped sphagnum and chopped fern rhizomes mixed in a 1:1:1 ratio, and bromeliad mixtures made from crushed tree bark, sphagnum and fern rhizomes in a 2:2:1 ratio. The platicerium flower includes in its care such requirements as the moisture capacity of the soil mixture and its breathable properties.
Planting and propagation of platicerium (deer antlers) at home
Platycerium is capricious, and caring for it at home takes a lot of effort. Platycerium is often grown in hanging baskets or on pieces of tree bark. When choosing the second option, the plant is secured to the bark with wire, and a little earth is poured under the lower leaves. Platycerium increases in growth, and so does the gap between the bark and leaves, so soil should be added, but there is no need to remove the dried lower leaves, they benefit the fern. In the case when the platicerium is planted in a pot, it is necessary to add an expanded clay layer to 1/3 to maintain soil moisture and protect the roots from rotting if they are flooded with excessive amounts of water.
Like most ferns, the staghorn flower reproduces with the help of spores, which germinate only in a bright place, and the shoot develops normally only in a humid environment, and therefore the spore crops must be kept under a transparent cap. It also reproduces by shoots (they are separated from the adult plant and planted in separate pots filled with pebbles and moss) and by division (the young plant is divided and planted in different containers)
Proper care is the key to good fern development.
Watering
The staghorn flower needs regular watering, and it is worth knowing how to properly care for it. Water for irrigation should be at room temperature and filtered. The watering itself is plentiful, but you should wait until the top layer of soil dries. The basket with the platicerium is immersed in a container of water, after the flower is saturated with moisture, it is taken out of the water and left without watering for several days. If the fern is grown in a regular flowerpot, make sure that moisture does not accumulate in the tray to prevent the roots from rotting from the flood.
Top dressing
Deer antlers, like a capricious flower, require constant feeding and care. Fertilizer is produced once a month when watered with special fertilizers for ferns, using ½ of the concentration specified in the instructions. Some gardeners advise placing scalded tea leaves or pieces of banana peel under the dome, which is formed by sterile leaves.
Platycerium transplant
We replant platycerium only when necessary. During this operation, there is a risk of damage to the sterile leaves, and even if it is possible to separate them carefully, after the transplantation process they will not be able to form an elegant membrane dome, closely adhering to the surface. The substrate can be replaced by reaching the roots, using the slots located in the lower part, which are made on the eve of planting.