# lecanopteris (ant ferns)



## mack (May 17, 2005)

hello

i have an order of these plants (6 varieties) coming in from wistuba in germany next month. i've been able to infer a bit from looking at various photos, but have not been able to find any detailed culture info. does anyone have experience with them? 

thanks,
mack


----------



## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

i know the guy at cloud jungle has some experience with them. you should email him.


----------



## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

depending on who you talk to you get slightly different answers. Harry(Cloud Jungle) keeps his on the dry side in LFS, other grower i have talked to swear you keep the LFS constantly damp. im growing mine somewhere in the middle. definatly email Harry. he will fill you in on how he grows his. he has said he has had poor luck with Wistubas Lecanopteris but others i have talked to have said they have had no problems. i guess it depends on what kind of trip they have through the mail. here are some answers ive gotten to the same question:



> yes, very easy. I grow L.sinuosa as a houseplant on various windowsills, 1:1:1 multipurpose peatfree composterlite:vermiculite. tolerant of low temps, 40F or so, but only grows when warmer. keep well watered, likes sun but not fussy...





> I grow L. sinuosa and N. lemaroides, both originating from Wistuba (got them from other growers as cuttings). Both are growing on top of two of my Nepenthes pots in my highland setup. They are fed with Osmocote and they are doing well there without special treatment.


note highland setups are bright light, warm(75-90 days usually) and cool(50-65) nights, high humidity

i am growing Lecanopteris pumila in high humidity(~75%), bright light normal house hold temps, damp LFS most of the time but allowed to dry out occationally


----------



## Guest (May 19, 2005)

So the highland types would work better in a viv?


----------



## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

not sure, those are just some answers i got when i asked ppl how they grow theres. other than Wistubas website i havent been able to find much of anything on the Genus.


----------



## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

where do u get this stuff from?? ive been very interrested in it for a while, just dont know where to get it. thanx


----------



## Guest (May 19, 2005)

http://www.cloudjungle.com if you cant find it there email harry he will help you out.


----------



## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

Lecanopteris? good luck. yah find them now and then. do a search on ebay about once a week. someone puts one up for sale every 5 weeks or so. i dont think Harry has any extras at the moment but its worth emailing him. if yah find someone who has some let me know Josh. im interested in getting a couple more species


----------



## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

ya, i figured i wouldnt even ask harry cause he has them as unavail. on his site. ill try tho. thanx guys


----------



## mack (May 17, 2005)

hey ya'll

thanks very much for all of the leads. i actually did email cloud jungle about availability, and he said no time soon. so unless you have a connect there i'm pretty sure the answer is no. i looked for a long time, but the only other source i found was fernsiam.com, which is a thai nursery and with only one species actually available there right now, i couldn't justify the shipping. if you know someone(s) with whom to split an order and reach a minimum order of 250 euros, then wistuba will ship from germany to an importer then overnight the plants to you for just 10 euro. i don't know about their lecanopteris, but they have a great reputation in carnivorous plant circles. 

short of the options above, just wish me lots of luck with them and i'll be happy to spread the love with cuttings once mine are established. 

thanks again for the helpful info,
mack


----------



## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

as far as Wistubas plants, Harry is the only person who told me he has had difficulties with their Lecanopteris. ive had 3 or 4 other ppl both in the states and Europe tell me Wistubas Lecanos. are top notch plants. like i said i think it has to do with how bad of a trip they have through the mail. i have never ordered from them but you are right in CP circles they are highly respected, a reputation that takes effort to keep so i wouldnt hesitate buying plants from them. if some one is placing an order with them let me know, i may be willing to tack on a plant or two.


----------



## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

ill go in on that deal too! im very interrested in trying these plants. if we get enough people wantin to go in on this, it wont be that bad.


----------



## dvknight (Feb 20, 2004)

I have had my L. curtisii from Harry for about a year and it is doing good. I have it in a large plexi display that I use for orchids and Dischidias. It is mounted on LFS in a small pot. It is placed approximately 6 inches below 4 40 watt 6500 K fluorescent bulbs. Nighttime temps are approximately 72 degrees and daytime temps, given it is very close to the lights, would be about 85. I mist the plant daily in the morning and thoroughly saturate the sphagnum once or twice a week. The rhizome is now growing outside the surface area of the pot; I need to transplant it, but am scared that to disrupt it! I recently gave it a small dose of Epiphyte's Delight...there has been no evidence that this has assisted the growth of the plant as of yet.

I will say that my first attempts with this plant were in poison frog terrariums and subsequently, both plants rotted. If you have an success with Dischidia pectinoides or rafflesiana, grow this plant in similar conditions; they inhabit the same regions. In fact, there is a NG issue from the 90's that has an ariticle on ant-plant relationships that features both plants. It shows a picture of the swollen leaves of D. rafflesiana growing amongst Lecanopteris rhizomes.


----------



## Guest (Jun 7, 2005)

I got an L. curtisii from Cloud Jungle about nine months ago, and it has grown like a weed for me in live sphagnum, kept just moist enough to keep the moss alive. It is growing about three feet under four 55 watt t5's, and gets misted once daily. That's just about the only water it gets, although in my setup that's enough to keep damp all the time. I grow discidias too, but I usually keep them a little dryer, since I've had problems with them rotting when kept perpetually damp.


----------



## andersonii85 (Feb 8, 2004)

I can vouch for that too Eukaryote! I kept a few on just damp sphagnum for about a year now and it has really taken off. I use a small cf bulb (maybe 13w- 2,000 lumen bulb?) that I got from Loews. The only problem that I have is keeping the vents from turding up the leaves. 

-J


----------

