Soils and layers
Tree fern fibre
Wiry dark fibre that roots and epiphytes love.
What the simulation uses
- Holds water
- 35 % by volume
- Water it keeps after draining; the rest runs down to the drainage.
- Pore space
- 85 % by volume
- Room for air and water between grains; low means roots suffocate when wet.
- Weight
- 120 g/L
- How heavy a litre is.
- pH
- 4.5 to 6 pH
- How acid it keeps the soil.
- Mould risk
- low
- How much fresh food it gives white mould; high-risk soils fuzz over in the first weeks.
- Breaks down in
- 3 to 8 years
- How long it lasts before rotting down to fine soil.
- Nutrients
- low
- Plant food it brings.
- Presses down to
- 40 % of its loose depth
- How far pressing can pack it, keeping its weight.
Description
The wiry trunk and root mat of tree ferns, airy, slow to rot and a key part of ABG mix. Many tree ferns grow slowly and are threatened, so use it sparingly.
Also called hapu'u, xaxim, tree fern panel.
Estimated, where sources were thin: all physical numbers estimated; decay rate estimated (Pulu hairs crumble in a few years but trunk fibre lasts longer).