# Tree fern fiber: suitable substitutes & alternatives



## tjt263 (Jan 13, 2017)

Does anyone have any advice regarding suitable substitutes & alternatives to tree fern fiber as a soil/substrate component? I'm in Western Australia and no garden-centres or nurseries around here seem to have any idea what it is, let alone stock it.

I'm thinking of trying the same thing with she-oak (Casuarina/Allocasuarina spp.) branchlets/cladodes.

Basically, they're like droopy, segmented pine needles that dry up, go brown and fall apart into semi-woody (yet kind of pulpy) little pieces.

In nature, they often litter the ground and end up becoming like a thick mat that can prevent other plants from growing underneath. But I think it could be a useful component in a composite mix of other ingredients; like charcoal, peat, moss, coir, bark, sand, perlite, vermiculite, etc.












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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

Tree Fern is increasingly hard to source and will soon be unavailable. It is not sustainably harvested like we thought it was a decade ago. Therefore it is not ecologically prudent to continue making ABG with Tree Fern AND it is not feasible from a supply standpoint.

Instead, we have done testing and settled on a tweaked formula that utilised false bottom in the mix in place of some of the tree fern. The false bottom works the same way (creating chunkiness in the substrate) and it is going to last longer in that role than tree fern fiber.

We made ABG better from a vivarium perspective, but also from a conservation perspective.

You can check out our False Bottom HERE.

I know shipping to Australia would be quite high, so if you could find small lava rock or something similar, that might work as well. Our False Bottom is a recycled glass material and very porous and lightweight.


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

JoshsFrogsPlants said:


> The false bottom works the same way (creating chunkiness in the substrate) and it is going to last longer in that role than tree fern fiber.
> 
> We made ABG better from a vivarium perspective


I don't entirely agree with that part of your post. But I do use your version of vivarium substrate for some things, particularly crested gecko vivs.


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