Tropical Zone Gardening: Australian Tree Ferns, 1 by rjuddharrison

rjuddharrison wrote:
I'm posting these from my journal...so...remember I'm writing to myself...LOL

What I've learned, and developing theories

Obviously, the tip I learned from Kell in passing conversation that the Fern stalk, particularly the fuzzy part must be watered every day, as the fuzzy parts (I'm sure I'll eventually learn the technical name for that) are actually part of it's roots (besides that particular designation -fuzz and root). Since I've adopted that method the Fern is absolutely in the top of the vigorous growing plants in the garden.
Now ..having said that, I have been observing closely the number of fronds produced at a time, when the fronds suddenly change from 2 to 3 in quick succesion (for a fern) to one at a time and a noticeable slow down in the vigor. It appears to be directly related to that watering technique, and when a couple of days go by, or it is particularly hot and the water dispensed was probably insufficient will have rather immeadiant effects on the growth behavior. Here is my theory that is directly tied to that water intake. I noticed that one week was forecasted to have rain every day here, and in fact none of them did, the fern slowed the growth for a couple of week after, producing only 1 frond, and then that took twice as long as the previous watering pattern of "fuzz everyday". One of the things I observed was that the trunk tightened up in the area the fronds came from, retarding the fronds exit. In fact one frond actually became stuck n the passage, and when it finally emerged, it was malformed and stunted. By keeping the fuzz well watered it acts a bit like a sponge, and expands and swells relazing the exit area where the new fronds emerge. I suspect this reaction is probably a coded emergency factor in the plant, perhaps bracing itself for a dry period??! conjecture, but seems plausible. Since that incident I've been ever vigilant about watering the center trunk area, often when exceeding 90F two to three times a day with about 1 gallon of water each time. This has resulted in that continued swelling of the exit area, followed by a counter clockwise rapid production of fronds most noticeably 2 to 3 in rapid succesion. Each frond faces each other and grows in the opposite direction of the last frond, maintaining a counter clockwise rotation..
Here is a photo of the trunk although it doesn't seem to capture the top trunk expansion quite like I see it.
Sunlight also plays an important role, and I've noticed a difference in frond production when the sun shifts from the spring to summer position. The older the Fern gets, the better it seems to be at tolerating more direct sunlight.