# microgramma squamulosa fern care



## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

Does anyone have any advice on how to plant and care for this plant? I got some as an added bonus in a plant package. I searched but didn't find much on the web. I assume it is an epithetic plant from what little I have found....I want to plant it in a new vivI just build but have not dealt with plant and want to care for it properly.

Thanks

James


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

No advice out there? Any plant gurus?


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

Most microgrammas like lower light, theydon't like to dry. I usually mount mine on alittle bed of sphagnum moss in a shaded section.on cork or something. They like to be moist but not wet so the sphagnum works great. They are an epiphyte, and if you don't think you can care for it, feel free to send it my way


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

I'm growing a different microgramma pretty well. Not that I would have known it, because it was basically buried under the foliage of another plant, I forgot I even had it until I found it in the greenhouse Monday. So, low light, moist... yeah, that seems to be the ticket.

Rob


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

Mantellaprince20 said:


> Most microgrammas like lower light, theydon't like to dry. I usually mount mine on alittle bed of sphagnum moss in a shaded section.on cork or something. They like to be moist but not wet so the sphagnum works great. They are an epiphyte, and if you don't think you can care for it, feel free to send it my way


LOL....I think I'll be alright, but if I have it grow well and need to trim I will think of you if you want.



littlefrog said:


> I'm growing a different microgramma pretty well. Not that I would have known it, because it was basically buried under the foliage of another plant, I forgot I even had it until I found it in the greenhouse Monday. So, low light, moist... yeah, that seems to be the ticket.
> 
> Rob


Thanks Rob......Much appreciated.


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## Chamanit (Jul 29, 2012)

At last, someone who also loves this plant. Brazilian botanists have stated that the principal problem to growing this plant in a laboratory is the plant drying out. Misting it every three days can keep it going. I have been watching this plant in order to understand how it functions. I live in Brazil where this plant grows profusely on trees in my neighbourhood. Many of these trees have also become taken over with cupim, or wood-eaters. When the city took down my favorite tree, I saved the micrograma squalumosa plant that had been growing on it. All the "bulbs" had begun sprouting at once, unlike the plants on the trees next to it. The whole complex was about to triple in size, when the city cut down the supporting tree. I hung what part of the plant I could salvage on a metalic grid at my front door. The very next day, the plant "branches" had become darker, but the buds were still light-colored, which gives me hope that the plant will survive. Although this plant is said to cure gastritis if taken as a tea in one month's time, this is not the only reason that it is interesting. It has both trophophylls and sporophylls on the same "branch". New branches sprout up, down, and sideways. I have seen its little roots take hold even on a metalic sign board that someone had attached to its tree. As I am not a biologist, I have a simple question, the answer to which I cannot find in the books or on the internet. If this plant is a sporophyte, where is the gametophyte? Is it microscopic? Is it in the bulbs themseves? If the branches sprout themselves, then what function do the bulbs play, as both the branches and the bulbs sprout?


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Where did you get it? I've been looking for squamulosa for about a year and haven't found it yet.


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## Chamanit (Jul 29, 2012)

I am not certain about the need for low light, as I have seen the plants enduring a few hours every day in direct sunlight when they grow on trees, and they seem to grow on all sides of a tree. As far as I can understand, Brazilian botanists have also said that their reproductive cycle is somehow related to the light source available to them.


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## theroc1217 (Jun 5, 2012)

I find that sealing this in some sort of tank works best. I've never had one rot, and they need hardly any air movement. I'll open it up every once in a while to let some air circulate and dry it out a bit. And then I'll seal it back up after a few hours after a quick misting.


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## winstonamc (Mar 19, 2007)

I've got some under high light, but it gets 10 sec of misting every 3 hours or something like that


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