Growing Java Fern

[weswest]

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone knew of a good way to attach a java fern to some bogwood.

It would be easiest to just pin the rhizome down with a couple of rocks until it latched on, however I am worrying about crushing it. I was thinking tying it down with fishing line, but that probably wouldn't look very good in my tank.

Anyways, your thoughts and/or advice would be appriciated.

 

[Grey Legion]

I have not tried it but I heard thread is good..because it will simple rot off it time leaving your java fern well rooted..

tie it loose, just enought o hold it on the wood...don't use rubber bands


this is only from what I have read works for both java fern and java moss

 

[BigC]

Most people just use rubber bands or cotton thread which gradually rots and by which time the Java fern has taken hold..

Sorry Grey Leigion, you just nipped in before me there...

 

[weswest]

Thanks, I'll give thread a try

 

[Katchan]

To add on to that will java fern grow on anything (pourus rock fake wood etc) or must it be drift wood?

Katchan

 

[weswest]

will they grow around pebbles, or does it need to be porous rock?

 

[abstract]

i would say anything solid with enough surface area to attach to....pebbles would not be good because they are not held together in any way....driftwood, ornaments, larger rocks, etc should work great though.....the key being surface area

and to add to what others have said - cotton thread is perfect - you can use black or brown or whatever color depending on the color of what you are attaching it to and it falls away on its own...

 

[Katchan]

Thanks

 

[Jen]

I used fishing line. Works perfectly

 

[Mr Miagi]

If your doing it around a small stone, use a hair net. I did! Works great!

Fishing line is ok, but you need a lighter line to do it, heavy line wont work.

 

[jimbooo]

these were done with brown cotton thread and about 6 months old.

(the more plantlets the better in my opinion, the upright one had about 30 plantlets when i originally tied them onto the wood, the bottom one about 15 or so)

 

[weswest]

Thanks for your help everyone

 

[gale]

I used rubberbands on mine and it looks awful. lol. I don't have any cotton string that I know is safe for a fishtank (I have it in my craft room where I use a lot of cleaners and stuff) so I will have to keep the rubber bands on until I can find something else.

 

[silvershark]

here's what i did which i found much more realistic than a plant stuck in the middle of a flat surface:

either slot them into natural grooves or holes (no need to tie down unless you mess about with the wood)

OR

take a stanly knife to your bogwood to make a deepish v shaped groove and do as above

on flat surfaces i'm awaiting (still) some java moss which i intend to attach somehow(god knows how yet tho!)

 

[gale]

here's what i did which i found much more realistic than a plant stuck in the middle of a flat surface:

either slot them into natural grooves or holes (no need to tie down unless you mess about with the wood)

OR

take a stanly knife to your bogwood to make a deepish v shaped groove and do as above

on flat surfaces i'm awaiting (still) some java moss which i intend to attach somehow(god knows how yet tho!)

The java ferns I got have a pretty big mass of brown/white/green roots on the bottom. Will it hurt them if I shove the roots into a groove in the wood?