Plants
Maidenhair fern
Adiantum raddianum
DemandingClosed jar only
Lacy fronds on black wiry stems. Its roots must never dry out.
What the simulation uses
- Light
- 2,500 to 10,000 lux
- The brightness it grows well in.
- Humidity
- 70 to 95 % RH
- Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
- Temperature
- 16 to 24 °C
- Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
- Dies at
- below 5 or above 30 °C
- Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
- Soil pH
- 6.5 to 7.5 pH
- Soil acidity it prefers.
- Grows up
- 2 cm/month
- How fast it gains height in good conditions.
- Spreads
- 1.25 cm/month
- How fast its edge creeps outwards.
- Copes with wet
- fair
- How well it stands soggy soil; poor means rot comes quickly.
- Copes with still air
- good
- Sealed jars have still air; poor means grey mould finds it.
- Copes with shade
- fair
- How well it holds on in dim light.
- Copes with drying
- poor
- How well it survives the jar drying out.
- Water use
- 0.13 ml/cm²/day
- Water drawn up from its roots per cm² of leaves in room air; a sealed jar cuts this to a fraction and returns it down the glass.
- Leaf drop
- 5 %/month
- Share of its leaves it sheds each month as litter for the cleanup crew.
- Soft leaves
- yes
- Soft new growth that hungry isopods will nibble.
- Full size
- 40 cm tall, 48 cm wide
- Its size when grown, before the lid stops it.
Care
- Day length
- 12 to 14 h
- Substrate
- Moist
What kills it
- drying out even once
- dry air
- direct sun
- sudden temperature swings
Description
This fussy fern needs damp roots and very humid air, which is why a sealed jar suits it so well. In dry air the fronds shrivel fast. Cut back the dead growth and keep the soil moist, because it often sprouts again from the base.
Also called delta maidenhair fern, Adiantum.
Estimated, where sources were thin: growth rates; photoperiod_h; ph (Wikipedia says neutral to slightly alkaline).