Plants
Lemon button fern
Nephrolepis cordifolia 'Duffii'
BeginnerFine in a closed jar
Rows of tiny round leaflets, lemon scented. Tougher than most ferns.
What the simulation uses
- Light
- 2,500 to 10,000 lux
- The brightness it grows well in.
- Humidity
- 50 to 85 % RH
- Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
- Temperature
- 16 to 26 °C
- Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
- Dies at
- below -5 or above 33 °C
- Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
- Soil pH
- 5 to 7 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
- good
- How well it holds on in dim light.
- Copes with drying
- good
- How well it survives the jar drying out.
- Water use
- 0.1 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
- 4.5 %/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
- 25 cm tall, 30 cm wide
- Its size when grown, before the lid stops it.
Care
- Day length
- 12 to 14 h
- Substrate
- Moist
What kills it
- waterlogging
- prolonged drought
Description
This dwarf fern handles dry spells and poor conditions better than most of its kind. It spreads by creeping stems and small tubers. Its neat shape makes it a popular centrepiece in jars.
Also called Nephrolepis 'Duffii'.
Estimated, where sources were thin: cultivar size (species values given); growth rates; humidity_rh_pct.