Glass Jar Garden

Plants

Rabbit's foot fern as drawn in the simulator

Rabbit's foot fern

Davallia fejeensis

EasyFine in a closed jar

Fine fronds over furry creeping feet. Keep the feet above the soil.

What the simulation uses

Light
2,500 to 10,000 lux
The brightness it grows well in.
Humidity
50 to 80 % 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 13 or above 32 °C
Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
Soil pH
5.5 to 6.5 pH
Soil acidity it prefers.
Grows up
1 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
good
How well it survives the jar drying out.
Water use
0.04 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
1.5 %/month
Share of its leaves it sheds each month as litter for the cleanup crew.
Soft leaves
no
Soft new growth that hungry isopods will nibble.
Full size
30 cm tall, 45 cm wide
Its size when grown, before the lid stops it.

Care

Day length
12 to 14 h
Substrate
Moist

What kills it

Description

From Fiji, this fern sends furry creeping stems across the surface, the feet that give it its name. Burying them invites trouble. It copes with drier air than most ferns, though it looks its best when the air is humid.

Also called Davallia 'Dwarf Ripple', hare's foot fern.

Estimated, where sources were thin: humidity_rh_pct; growth rates; ph.

Sources

Grow it in a jar