Azolla the little fern that could

I've been growing this azolla (Azolla pinnata) since at least 2016.  It has been growing with us through drought, flood, snow, frosts, dust storms, and utter neglect.  

Remember that children's story of 'the little engine that could'?  It was a little train that kept going and going and going and when the hill got too steep it just kept going.  Azolla is like the plant version of this.  Very few plants have as many uses as azolla, and very few things are as simple to grow without posing a weed threat.

Azolla is simple to grow, incredibly productive (hence its ability to survive neglect), and I use it for a surprising number of things.  Very few plants have as many uses as azolla, very few plants are as simple to grow as azolla, an added bonus is this species is native to my area. 

While a few containers of azolla tucked under things around the yard can be surprisingly productive, each year I wish I had more azolla.  I consider increasing the amount I grow, but the reality of space and water constraints hits me and I only find space for a few more small containers of azolla. 

Azolla covering the water surface and forming a mat

Even though it doesn't look like a typical fern, azolla is a fern.  This little fern tends to float on the water surface with short thin roots dangling freely in the water, and does not ever need to touch soil.  Unlike many water plants, azolla can thrive in low nutrient water.  It is surprisingly resilient.  This species of azolla is native to Australia (and parts of Africa, and parts of Asia), and is the most common species of Azolla that can be found in my area.  

Azolla has a myriad of uses including animal feed, human food, mosquito control, fertiliser, mulch and compost, clearing water, providing honey bees somewhere to safely collect water, and plenty of other things.  I have eaten azolla, it isn't my favourite but in a pinch I guess I could eat it, that being said I would prefer to feed it to my chickens and then eat their eggs.  

If you ever have time to kill, look up the 'Azolla event'.  This is a time in the Eocene era were it is hypothesized that azolla growing in the arctic grew so much that it took so much carbon from the atmosphere that it changed the climate and caused an ice age.  Given that azolla can easily drawdown over 1.5 kg/m2/yr of carbon (some sources state it draws down 6.2 to 7.8kg per square meter), and the basin it was growing in covered around 4 million square kilometers, this hypothesis is plausible.  Sadly azolla will never be able to do this again, as the conditions that lead to this were rather unique, but it is fascinating nonetheless. 

Azolla and a rice plant

Azolla has a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with a blue green algae (cyanobacteria) called Anabaena azollae.  This is one of the few instances of symbiosis in nature being beneficial to both species.  To simplify what happens, the Azolla grows special little pockets to house the cyanobacterium and feeds it carbon, in return the blue green algae collects nitrogen from the air and turns it into a form that is usable by the fern.  Collecting nitrogen from the atmosphere like this is what makes azolla so useful. 

Not only is it rather rare to see mutually beneficial symbiosis, but this symbiosis is passed on from generation to generation and does not require re-inoculation.  To quote the Azolla foundation "we know of no other symbiotic relationship in which a cyanobacterium and plant pass down together during reproduction from generation to generation".  

Azolla also has a few other species of symbionts.  At this stage we don't really understand the purpose of those other species, or how they each interact, or if each is passed on or needs to be re-inoculated each generation.  It doesn't really matter too much, what matters is the azolla has various symbionts, and together they do a great job.  

Azolla and Chinese water chestnuts

I tend to grow azolla with aquatic vegetables such as Chinese water chestnuts.  I add some azolla when I plant them, and ignore it while it does its own thing.  Within a short amount of time the azolla covers the surface of the water.  From there it doesn't take too long to make a dense mat, which prevents mosquito larvae from being able to emerge and turn into adults.  

The azolla on top of the water surface also helps shade and cool the water, and somehow prevents the water from becoming too acidic.  Small containers can overheat in summer due to their small size, shading the water and shading the submerged soil helps keep the roots cooler which helps things grow better in the heat of summer.  

Azolla with watercress and brahmi

The mat of azolla also effectively blocks light.  This prevents algae from being a problem, and tends to prevent weed seeds from germinating.  

After the azolla turns into a thick mat, it starts to self compost.  New azolla grows on top, while the ferns underneath get smothered, and die.  This releases nitrogen and other nutrients that can be used by the water vegetables.  This works well as a natural organic biofertiliser.  This beneficial relationship between azolla and water plants was noticed hundreds of years ago, and azolla was introduced into rice paddies to increase rice yields and feed countless people long before the invent of chemical fertilisers.

The below container was partly filled with leaf litter, planted with a duck potato, topped up with water, and azolla added.  The soil level is too high, so there was not much space for water, but the azolla didn't mind, it grew well and covered the surface.  You can see the duck potatoes grew into large plants even though they were growing in small containers.  

Azolla and duck potatoes

The roots of azolla hang down in the water, and a myriad of life swims among them.  I don't know how these tiny things find their way into my containers, but I know if I look closely (or use a microscope) the roots are absolutely teeming with life.  

Tremendous amounts of research have been conducted into azolla.  All of this research points to azolla's productivity and ability to reduce the need for both chemical fertilisers and herbicides.  

While azolla is widely used as a biofertiliser in China and various other countries, it has not gained popularity in the Western countries where it is preferred to apply chemical fertilisers.  For backyard growers, azolla creates free organic fertiliser and free chicken feed.

Chinese water chestnuts growing in buckets with azolla

I start small aquatic vegetables in small pots of soil, then I transplant them into larger pots.  The ones in the photo below are in 10cm pots of soil submerged in a 4 liter ice cream container.  The azolla shades the water, which helps with temperature regulation and prevents algae from growing. 

Sometimes I place cuttings between these submerged pots.  The pots help hold the cuttings upright, keeping the base of the cutting under water, while the leaves remain in the air.  The azolla shades the water, prevents algae growth, and keeps the water cooler.  

Azolla with aquatic vegetables and cuttings

Recently I started to grow black forbidden rice (Oryza sativa).  I have some of the rice plants growing in pots of soil and being watered like any other vegetable plant, and some plants are in pots of soil submerged in shallow water.  I am curious to see which will perform better for me. 

In many countries azolla is intentionally added to flooded rice paddies.  Adding azolla is said to increase rice yields anywhere from 6.2% to 112% depending on which paper you read and what they are comparing.  All the research indicates that azolla helps rice plants grow larger, tiller more, and produce more grain (both in terms of weight as well as number of grains) per plant.  

I added azolla to most of the submerged rice I am growing.  It doesn't take long before the entire surface is covered.  Once the surface is covered it doesn't take long until the azolla forms a dense mat and starts to break down.  This should fertilise my plants, and provide food for numerous tiny water critters.  If nothing else, azolla will prevent mosquitoes from successfully breeding in these containers of still water.  

Newly planted Black forbidden rice with azolla

Azolla and rice - a few days later

The growth rate of azolla is pretty extraordinary.  

I took the photo below not long after adding azolla to the surface of the water.  You can see, the azolla is dividing and growing well. 

Black forbidden rice growing with azolla

I took the next photo of the same plants just six days later.  At this point the azolla had almost covered the surface of the water.  

This was towards the end of spring, over summer when the temperature is a little warmer the growth rate of azolla can be even faster.  

The rice plants seem to be doing well with azolla on the surface.  I am also growing a few rice plants in shallow water with no azolla to see if there is any noticeable difference.  I am taking photos and plan to write another blog post on this towards the end of the season.  While it is too early to make a call, at this stage the rice with azolla appears to be larger and more lush.

Six days of azolla growth

Azolla grows best floating on the surface of water, where it can double its biomass every few days.  Strangely enough, azolla can also grow long term on soil.  

Once I watered a pot using water that had a small piece of azolla in it.  The azolla sat on the surface of the soil and didn't die, and I decided to leave it and see what happened.  It stayed green and looked healthy enough.  

Over time the azolla grew, and slowly covered much of the soil surface.  This has not grown anywhere near as fast as when it is in water, but it has survived spring, summer, autumn, winter, another spring and is heading into its second summer.  This is long term survival.  

The azolla on top is growing, while the lower levels are mulching down.  The photos below are of the same pot of azolla, taken several months apart.  The first photo was taken after the azolla had been growing on soil for several months, the second photo was taken a few months after that. 

Azolla growing on soil long term

The same azolla still growing on just soil

From what I have seen, if growing on soil long term the azolla is a little tricky to get started, but once it gets established it is relatively hardy.  

The azolla needs damp soil and some shade to get started.  If I start by using free floating azolla and place it on soil it struggles.  If I get azolla that has started to form a dense mat, this seems hardier and tends to adapt to soil faster.  Once the azolla has been on soil for a while it changes slightly, it gets thicker and the roots change, and it seems to survive drier conditions and more sun.  

Interestingly, if I float some soil grown azolla on water, it seems to take some time to revert back to aquatic life.  For some time it just floats, it gets thinner, and does not divide.  Once it gets used to living on water, it then grows and divides like normal. 

Azolla growing on soil underneath dryland rice

As well as being excellent fertiliser, and great animal feed, azolla has a few other uses.  Honey bees and other small things need water in summer, but they can't always access water without drowning.  The bees can safely walk on azolla, and reach the water between the plants.  

Every summer I see a lot of bees on the azolla collecting water.  I also see butterflies standing on the azolla collecting water in the heat of summer.  

Dragonflies and other beneficial insects are also commonly seen around my azolla.  I am not sure if they are breeding in the water under the azolla, or if they are attracted due to the other insects, or if they are there for some other reason.  

Dragonflies are pretty, plus they are useful to have in my yard as they eat a lot of mosquitoes.  Whatever the correlation is between dragonflies and azolla, I am glad they are here.

Honey bee collecting water from azolla

Honey bee collecting water from azolla

For me, azolla performs best in part shade.  It certainly survives in full sun, but I find it grows faster when it has some shade.  Not surprisingly, being a plant means having too much shade will stop azolla from growing well. 

Azolla turns red when it is stressed.  This stress can be from too much sun, or from extreme temperatures.  When azolla is red, it grows slower, and is meant to be less nutritious.  While a pond covered in bright red azolla is a pretty amazing thing to see, I prefer to keep mine green and growing fast so I can use more of it for various things.  This normally means giving it a little shade.

Azolla starting to turn red from stress

Azolla and duckweed

Azolla spreads and divides fast.  It can double every day or so under good conditions.  

While azolla also reproduces sexually and produces spores like other ferns, the main way it reproduces is asexually.  Any part of azolla that breaks off has the potential to produce more azolla.  

While azolla prefers not to be frozen over winter, my azolla survives heavy frost, and has survived being frozen for days on end.  If it ever died from the cold, I have little doubt that either a tiny part was still alive, or sporocarps could be present in the water, and it could recolonise pretty quickly once the weather warmed.  

Azolla makes great chicken feed

I use azolla to supplement chicken feed, this helps the chickens stay healthy, and it lowers the feed bill.  

Azolla is surprisingly nutritious, and it is readily eaten by my hens.  As mentioned earlier the roots of azolla are teeming with tiny life, when my chickens eat azolla they also eat these tiny invertebrates.  

Studies indicate that azolla can replace up to 20% of bought food for layer hens without seeing a decline in eggs, but I can't grow that much azolla here.  I give them as much as I can as it replaces some bought food, and lowers the cost of eggs a little bit.  

Azolla is appreciated by hens over summer when there isn't much grass or other greenery available.  I can either float azolla on water, or I can scoop it into a dish, either way my hens eat it pretty quickly.  

Azolla and rice plants

While I am a little disappointed that azolla will never again be responsible for creating an ice age, I still like azolla.  I tend to find a lot of uses for azolla, and could use it a whole lot more if I had more of it.  I have to be content only growing a little bit as I don't have a lot of extra space.  

If you grow any animal feed, or have a garden, or grow water plants, or want to provide somewhere safe for honey bees to collect water, then azolla is for you.  Once you get azolla, you never need to buy it again as you can keep it going forever.  You may be able to find some azolla locally, or you may need to buy it.  You only need a little to get started as it divides fast.  Very few places other than dedicated water garden nurseries seem to sell azolla.  If you can't find any locally, I sell azolla through my for sale page.  

Azolla and Chinese water chestnuts growing in a bucket

Black raspberries in Australia

I have been growing black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis) for a few years.  I think I am one of the few people in Australia who is growing black raspberry plants.  These are not blackberries, they are a species of raspberry that produces black fruit.  They are a different species to the red raspberry.  This species of black raspberry is native to North America where are also called 'black caps'.

I grew my first black raspberry plants from seed in 2019-2020.  It took a long time, and was a little tricky, but the resultant plants are great.  

I have seen black raspberry seed for sale a few places in Australia, but I would not buy from them as the reviews are either people saying the seed arrived quickly, or that the seed never germinated.  Perhaps they didn't germinate as people don't know how to stratify them, or perhaps the seeds are dead, either way I would avoid these companies.

My back cap raspberries ripening

My black raspberry plants have strong curved thorns, similar to a rose.  They grow long arching canes, and flower on last year's growth.  They flower and fruit well, and produce a surprisingly large crop even when not cared for properly.

The berries are smaller than my red or yellow raspberries.  My black raspberries also have a lot of seeds.  Black raspberries have a distinct taste that everyone seems to enjoy, and many people comment that they are sweeter than yellow raspberries.  

I won't go into detail about the differences between black raspberry and red or yellow raspberries here as I wrote an earlier blog post as a comparison of different raspberries. 

Raspberry comparison 

Black raspberry are a different species to a red raspberry.  If they cross pollinate it does not change the fruit of your plant.  By this I mean a yellow raspberry will produce a yellow fruit no matter what it is pollinated with (and no matter how much Diggers tells you otherwise and tried to blame you for receiving a red fruiting raspberry when you bought 'Diggers Gold' from them).  It's only if you plant a seed that is cross pollinated that you will see a difference, and it is the seed grown plant that will show some differences.

I am told when these black raspberries are crossed with red raspberry they produce a purple raspberry.  I haven't tasted one of these crosses to know if it is worth making and growing this cross.  

I would be curious to cross this with a yellow raspberry, or a thornless raspberry, and see what could be produced.  A thornless black raspberry would be great.  At this stage I lack the space or the time to try these crosses.

Black raspberries are productive

Black raspberry plants don't love to dry out too much, and they do well with some afternoon shade.  If they dry out too much I tend to lose some of the berries.  

While they probably are susceptible to some diseases, I have never seen any disease touch them.  I also don't have problems with pests, and birds don't tend to steal the berries (but this may change).

These plants are surprisingly productive.  Even small plants grow large bunches of berries.  The berries ripen November/December/January here, some years earlier or later than others, and are always ripe around at Christmas time.

As the canes are very thorny, I grow black raspberry plants in pots.  That way I can keep them contained and only growing where they can't grab my clothes or pose any risk to my kids.  I am sure keeping in pots is limiting their potential.  

Under these conditions they grow a meter or two long, I think if they were in soil they could grow larger and be more productive.  I don't like thorny plants, and am considering getting rid of them, but they will probably stay as they taste so good.  

Black raspberry fruiting

Propagating black raspberries is easy enough but takes time.  Seed grown can be fiddly but takes a long time, and tip rooting canes is simple but means that cane won't fruit the following year.

Raspberry seeds needs cold wet stratification to germinate.  I soak the seeds for a day or so, the water will take on a lot of their colour.  I then put the soaked seeds on damp paper in a zip lock bag in the fridge for a minimum of 3 months.  This step is not optional, without cold wet stratification black raspberry seeds will not germinate.   

The best germination rates I had were cold wet stratified for close to 12 months (because I forgot about them).  If cold wet stratifying seeds there is a risk they will germinate in the fridge, so you need to keep an eye on them and plant them if they start to germinate. 

After the wet seeds have been in the fridge for a minimum of three months, I plant them in a pot of seed raising mix.  This is fiddly as the wet seeds are hard to handle, and they tend to clump together.  I water this pot until the seeds germinate, this can be a few days but some will take a few months.

Once germinated, the seedlings are tiny and fragile.  If they are crowded they stop growing and will sit at this tiny weak stage with one or two true leaves indefinitely until divided.  Dividing tiny seedlings is tricky, I lose a lot whenever I try to do this.  Once the seedlings get past this tiny stage they are pretty hardy and grow reasonably fast.  Larger pots with more root space translates to much faster growth.

Black raspberry seed

I sell black raspberry plants and seeds through my for sale page.  I don't have plants available often.  Be aware that growing any raspberry from seed is a slow process.  They must be cold wet stratified in order to germinate.  I stress that stratification is not optional.  Putting dry seed in the fridge does nothing, this is not stratification, this would just be long term storage.  

The seeds need to be cold and wet for a few months minimum, and seem to do better with longer stratification.  Even when you do everything right, sometimes the seeds take a long time to germinate, and some seeds will need to go through a second winter before they germinate.  

These black raspberries are a floricane variety, meaning once they have germinated you still have to wait quite a while before you get a crop.  After they germinate, they must grow through a warm season, then go through a winter, then the second warm season they will flower on last year's growth.  If you have them in poor soil, or with too much competition, you may need to wait an extra year.  

Plants are expensive, seeds are cheaper.  If you can be bothered to grow them from seed you end up with more plants than you will need. 

Perennial vegetables for sale January 2026

For sale in Australia perennial vegetables, heirloom vegetable seeds, edible herb plants, organic berry plants, and a few non-edible plants and things.  Everything has been grown organically by me. 

Maintaining my old for sale page wasn't working for me, so each month I will write a new blog post with an updated list of what I have for sale that month and include a link on my old for sale page.  

December got away from me with Christmas and public holidays, things are growing well and I have a few new things for sale below. 

Immali corn - the first coloured sweet corn bred in Australia

For Sale: January 2026 

Small Bare Rooted Plants $5 each (unless otherwise stated): 

Everlasting onions (currently dormant bulbs)
Tree onions (small bulbils)
Babington leek (1 yr old dormant bulbs)
Pineberry strawberry 
Virginian strawberry
Atilla alpine strawberry 
Jekkas thyme 
Peppermint 
100 yr old mint
Lavender mint 
Banana mint
Berries and Cream mint
Native water mint
Pineapple sage
Willow herb
Lime balm 
Fish mint
Vietnamese coriander
Variegated water parsley
Green water parsley (more vigorous stronger tasting version of the variegated form)
Asparagus (Variety: Purple) 
Sweet Violet 
Lemongrass 
Water cress 
Brahmi/water hyssop  
Azolla $3 per scoop 
Duckweed $3 per scoop 

Dormant bulbs or corms:

Saffron corms (small - this size may or may not flower this year) $3 each 
Daffodil - Hoop Petticoat   $3 each
Muscari grape hyacinth bulb  $2 each
Muscari grape hyacinth - Packet of seeds  $4

Ancient Cultures: 

Milk kefir grains  $5 
Kombucha SCOBY  $5 

Heirloom Vegetable Seeds:  $4 packet (unless otherwise stated) 

Immali corn
Superior coriander
Giant parsley
Purple hot mustard
Wasabi salad herb (not true wasabi) 
Purple asparagus
Tomato Zolotoe Serdtse
Tomato Tommy Toe
Tomato Reisetoimate 
Tomato Woolly Kate 
Senposai
Huacatay
Black raspberry SEED (note: needs minimum of 3 months cold wet stratification to germinate)

Non edible things:

Aloe vera (small plant) $5 
String of pearls succulent - plant $5, cuttings $2
String of beans succulent (from Coober Pedy) - plant $5, cuttings  $2
Red jelly bean succulent  $5 
African violet leaf cutting (Variety: New Hampshire) $3 each
African violet leaf cutting (Variety: unnamed double light blue) $3 each

Candle mold 'skep' $10 each 
Candle mold 'owl' $10 each 

Postage Prices: 

$12 for plants etc 
Or $3.50 if only buying seeds.  

I post the Monday after the payment has cleared. 

Asparagus seedlings

To order anything from the above list: 

Please send me an email saying what plants/seeds you would like and I will reply with prices/payment methods.  My email address will need to remove the the spaces, put @ instead of the word 'at' and . in place of the word 'dot': 

damien_beaumont at yahoo dot com dot au 

Photographs, binomial names, descriptions of plants, and notes on how I grow them, can be found on my old for sale page.  Please note my old page has a lot of things not currently in season/not currently for sale.  The only things I have for sale this month are listed in this blog post above.   

Blue tongue lizard drinking water

We have a hole in our yard that a blue tongue lizard (Tiliqua scincoides) likes to live in.  It provides a safe place for the lizard to hide. 

My yard is relatively safe for them as we don't have dogs or cats and my kids don't harass the lizards.  There is also ample food for blue tongues in my yard.  There is not a lot of water they can reach, and I worry if they stray into the neighbours' yards they may be killed by dogs. 

I have a shallow dish that I fill up with water over summer.  I have been doing this for years, and have seen many wrens and other tiny birds drink from the dish.  I hoped the blue tongues could drink from it, but had never seen them actually do so until Christmas day.  

I took a video of the blue tongue drinking.  Even though it is not a great video, hopefully it works.

I also tried to take a photo.  

This is a female lizard that is pregnant and due to give birth any day.  She was flattened out a bit to try and gain warmth from the sun.  

We had a very large blue tongue living in that hole for years, she eventually died of old age.  This new one has only been here a year or two, she is not overly large yet.  This one is a bit shy, but is growing calmer the longer she is here.  She didn't scurry away when I filled up the water, and I fed her a little bit of apricot the following day, so she is getting used to me. 

I like blue tongue lizards, they eat pests in my garden.  They also eat my strawberries, but I won't hold that against them.  

Some are grey and black, others have incredible golden colouration, others are huge and must be very old, while the babies are always super cute.  They are native to this area, and used to be very common but seem to struggle a bit now more people are moving in with their dogs and cats.  

These blue tongue lizards are wild animals, they live here and are not hurting anyone, so I try to mostly leave them alone.  If topping up the water dish from time to time helps these lizards, then I am more than happy to do that for them.  If they eat a few strawberries from time to time, that is a price I am willing to pay.  

Elkhorn ferns Platycerium bifurcatum

Recently I wrote a blog post about my attempt at growing staghorn ferns (Platycerium superbum) from spores, and being a little perplexed about what to do with them as they got larger but were still too tiny to mount.  In that post I also mentioned elkhorn ferns (Platycerium bifurcatum), and that I would also like to grow one of them again some day. 

As luck would have it, I was recently given a few elkhorn pups.  These were not mounted, and had a little damage, but it is really nice to get them.  

These elkhorn ferns ranged in size from relatively small to quite large, and were all somewhat damaged by the time I got them.  I wasn't expecting them, did not have anything to mount them to, and had to look around my yard for something suitable.  I found an old plank of wood, and mounted the smallest four elkhorns to it.  

I think this is two elkhorn plants

Another elkhorn, not attached very well

This one is struggling

I think I mounted this sideways (due to its shape)

One looks like two plants crowded together,  I am not planning to divide them.   I will let them grow together like this.  

One looks good, it is small but looks like it is ready to put on some growth.  It was heavier than the others so I also used some string to hold it to the plank. 

One is struggling badly, I think it may have lost a lot of its roots.  I am not certain that this will survive, but there is a chance it might.

One of them was a weird shape, I think I may have mounted it sideways.  I hope I have not doomed it and it can grow from this orientation.  

It is still early days but the plants look like they could all survive.  I initially soaked them in water, then put damp coco peat behind them to keep the roots moist.  I plan to leave these for now, and do nothing other than water them and maybe spray with water.  

Once they have settled in I may try to fertilise them and get some growth out of them before the end of summer.  The winters here are a bit harsh for them, so I want them to be as large and strong  possible before winter.  Given it is only December, they still have months to grow before the weather begins to cool.

I used to grow an elkhorn that I fertilised by sprinkling used tea leaves behind the shield, which seemed to work well.  I am told by knowledgeable growers who know a lot more than I do that this is not the best option as it can attract insect pests.  They say it is better to use weak fertiliser and add what sounds like chicken manure in pelleted form.  It is still early, so I haven't decided what I will do.  I may try a few different things and see what works best for me. 

Elkhorns mounted to plank in my fern corner (that needs cleaning)

I had planned on cutting the wooden plank into sections, one for each fern, and hanging each in a different location.  I think I will leave them as they are for now.  Once they have grown a bit and maybe overwintered here, I will then decide what to do with them longer term, but for now I like the look of them all attached to a wooden plank.  

I may attach a hook or rope or something to this so I can hang it up somewhere, but for now I lean it against the wall in my fern corner next to a bird nest fern that is over 20 years old, and some maidenhair ferns that I have had for around 9 years.  While I need to sweep this corner and clean it out a little, it seems to be a good spot for growing ferns. 

Elkhorn ferns next to my bird nest fern

As well as those smaller elkhorn ferns that I mounted on the plank, I also got a larger elkhorn fern.  I haven't mounted it properly.  I temporarily put it on a piece of timber using string.  String won't work long term for something this size, I need to do something else.  String will do for now, and will keep the plant alive until I find something better to secure it with. 

This larger plant was banged up, and has a lot of damage, but it looks strong.  It is also quite large.  Normally elkhorn ferns stay relatively small as they divide and grow a lot of pups, but this one is larger than most I have seen.  

Elkhorn fern - Platycerium bifurcatum

At some stage I will attach the larger elkhorn to the board a bit better.  I may trim some of the damaged fronds, or I may leave them until it grow replacement fronds.  I am not sure where to grow this one.  For now it is in my greenhouse where it gets some shade and high humidity.  I am keeping it there until I attach it to the board properly, otherwise I worry that it may fall off in the next wind.  

I like elkhorn ferns and I am excited to watch these things grow.  Elkhorns are more hardy than staghorns, and they survive a lot more poor treatment.  If I look after them they should all grow, or at least some should grow, and hopefully they will produce pups in time.  

At this stage I am not selling elkhorn ferns, or staghorn ferns, but this may change in the future if my plants do ok.  If I do ever elkhorns or staghorns for sale they will be listed on my for sale page.

Mulberry tree comparison

I love berry season, and one of the best tasting berries is the mulberry, which also happens to be one of the easiest to grow.  I currently grow three varieties of mulberry tree.  If I had space/water/time I would grow many more varieties, but for now I grow three varieties of mulberry. 

I currently grow two white mulberries (Morus alba), and one white shahtoot (Morus macroura).  I thought it was time to write a brief comparison of them. 

Mulberry variety comparison

The one on the left is a dark fruiting form of white mulberry, Morus alba.  I was told it was a black mulberry, or an 'English black mulberry', but it is not.  Even though it is not a black mulberry, it is a great little tree and has worked hard and earned a place in my garden. 

The one in the middle is another variety of white mulberry, this one is white-lavender fruited and is non-staining.  I've had this tree for a few years, it is now 15 to 20 feet tall.  I'm thinking of hacking it back in winter so the fruit is easier to reach.  

The one on the right is a white shahtoot.  White shahtoot is potentially a different species to the others,  Morus macroura, or it is a distinct long fruited form of white mulberry, or maybe it is a hybrid between M alba and one of the other Morus species.  I am not entirely certain.  This one is not as well suited to my climate as the other two, but it crops and grows each year so I haven't removed it.  

Mulberries - typical fruit from each tree

Comparing the two varieties of white mulberry M alba, is simple.  Both of these trees grow very fast, which is characteristic of white mulberries.  The leaves and growth pattern are much the same between the two types.  When not in fruit I would struggle to tell them apart.  This makes sense as they are both the same species.

The fruit of the darker one is usually a little larger than the lighter one, longer and fatter.  The darker ones taste more sour but in a good way, and they have greater depth of flavour.  Darker berries can stain things, this can be an issue when the fruit is stolen and deposited by birds. 

The lighter mulberry produce smaller berries, some are white and others have a purple blush to them.  They look vaguely similar to immali corn in their colouration.  These mulberries do not stain anything, which is nice as the birds do steal a lot of my berries.

Two mulberry varieties - the dark ones are larger

Two varieties of white mulberry (Morus alba)

I am yet to see a true black mulberry (Morus nigra) for sale in Australia.  I have seen plenty of trees labelled as nigra, yet so far none of them have been the real thing and all have been mislabeled alba.  The dark fruited one I have was listed as Morus nigra, yet it is clearly not M nigra.

M nigra is a slow growing tree and is difficult to propagate by cuttings, the buds are thick, often thicker than the branches they are borne on, and the stems of the berries are tiny and almost non-existent.  The taste of the fruit of a black mulberry is far superior to the best white mulberry.  

Dark fruited white mulberries

My dark fruited white mulberry is a really great tree.  It is very vigorous, and crops really well.  The berries are reasonably large, and are produced in large numbers.  They ripen over an extended period of time, which is common for white mulberries.  

The taste of the fruit is great if picked when fully ripe, few berries taste as good as a ripe mulberry.  If picked under-ripe the taste is good but not as great, and like all mulberries the fruit does not ripen further after being picked.  We discovered that the stem gets a little colour when they are fully ripe.  If the stem is only green, then they are not yet completely ripe.  This is good to know. 

These are not as sweet as the lighter coloured fruits, but they have a depth of flavour that is lacking in the other varietes.  I really like the taste of these darker mulberries.  I am told they make great pies, but at my house the berries are eaten so fast that few ever make it into the house.

The only issue I have with this tree is that it grows too fast, and gets top heavy.  As it rushes to reach the sky, the wood does not seem thick enough to hold the weight, and it can get broken in strong winds.  I wonder if giving it more sun, or less water, may help this.  I don't want this tree to get too tall, so I aggressively prune it after fruiting.  That seems to solve this problem. 

I am considering planting this tree in my chicken's run with some wire protecting the base.  If I do this the chickens can eat any fruit that is dropped, and there is a lot of fruit over the season!  The chickens can also eat mulberry leaves that are lower down.  Mulberry leaves have an impressive nutritional composition, and are readily eaten by my hens.  Studies show mulberry leaf can replace up to 10% of bought feed without reducing the number of eggs laid. 

Non-staining white mulberries

The lavender fruiting white mulberry is another great tree.  This one is not growing in good soil, where it is far too dry, yet it is a real survivor.  

This one is growing behind my fence out near a footpath and the road.  People walk past this, yet very few ever take any berries.  I doubt many people know what these berries are as they are light in colour, and the few who do recognise them may not realise it is ripe as it is light coloured.  This tree is far too large to net, and birds take many berries.  

This year there are more berries than ever before.  This tree is very productive.  I have no idea how many berries were stolen by birds, or how many my kids ate, but I picked many bowls full many times over this season.  

White mulberries - very sweet

These ripen white or lavender, some individual berries are much darker than others.  The taste of this is very sweet, far sweeter than the darker fruited mulberry.  My kids love the taste of these mulberries.  I really like them, but find I can't eat too many because they are too high in sugar for me.  

I eat these until I start to feel blood sugar issues building, then I try to eat less of them.  I find it hard to limit how many I eat because they are only here for a short time each year, and they are so nice, and surely one more can't hurt...  

I am not sure why some berries ripen lighter than others.  I don't think it has to do with sunlight.  Some of the mulberries are half light and half dark.  While this really doesn't matter, I still find it fascinating.

Mulberry, half dark half light

White Mulberry

The white shahtoot mulberries are not well suited to my climate.  This tree does ok here, but needs a lot of extra water, and parts of it die back each spring for unknown reasons.  The berries are very long, normally a little over 10cm long, this year they were far shorter than normal.  

Normally this tree produces a lot of berries, and this year was no exception.  Last year it got burned back badly by a late frost and didn't really fruit at all.  This year it produced more fruit than ever before.  I don't know if it has enough leaves for the amount of fruit it produced.  

While the taste of these berries is incredible, they do not taste much like regular mulberries.  When ripe they taste like honey ripened apricots, they are amazingly sweet.  I am told they dehydrate well, but have not tried this yet.  My kids love the taste of these shahtoot berries, as do I.  I find them a bit high in sugar and have to limit the amount I eat otherwise I get blood sugar problems.  Again I find it hard to limit these, because they taste so great.  

The white mulberry leaves are good vegetables, and can be used to make something that tastes surprisingly like green tea, I have not tried to eat shahtoot leaves.  They should do much the same job, but seem a little thicker so may need to be picked a little younger.  

I am tempted to get a red shahtoot, these are meant to have more mulberry flavour.  They are also meant to be less cold hardy, and I don't have much space to fit in another tree, so I may never grow one of them.  

White shahtoot mulberries

I don't think it is any surprise that I love mulberry trees.  I think they should be more widely grown.  If I had room for only one fruit tree, a mulberry would be high on the list of the few I would consider growing.  

Mulberry trees are like a vegetable garden on a trunk.  They produce ample nutritious leaves which can be cooked as vegetables or used to make tea or fed to animals, and they produce an abundance of berries which taste incredible yet are too soft to ever be found at markets.

Given how low maintenance mulberry trees are, and the amount of delicious berries they produce is nothing short of incredible, I am surprised I don't see more of them in people's gardens.  

Mulberries - I love them

I do have some extra mulberry trees I grew from cuttings.  At this stage I am not selling them (other than a few plants locally) as postage would be an issue.  Given these things can easily grow from pencil size to more than 6 feet tall in a season, perhaps I should sell small rooted cuttings over winter while they are dormant.  

If I ever do sell mulberry trees, they will be listed on my blog along with everything else I am selling that month, the details will be updated on my for sale page.  

Staghorn fern from spores

I've always liked the look of staghorn ferns Platycerium superbum.  The first one I ever saw was when I was in high school, someone had one on their front verandah, that thing was massive.  I asked about them at the local plant nursery, and was told they could not get one and even if they could it would be too expensive. 

I saw a few massive staghorn ferns in the wild while I was studying at university.  They were perched high up in trees in a rainforest, and were an incredible sight.  

I really wanted to buy one so I could grow it at home, but I was renting and moving house often, so never looked into getting one back then. 

Baby staghorn ferns 

When I was in my early twenties I was rock climbing and found a tiny plant I thought was a staghorn fern.  It had a shield frond about the size of a twenty cent coin.  At the time I didn't know anything about them, so I carefully scraped it off the cliff and brought it home.  This wasn't a good thing to do, I should have left it where it was.  I regret taking that plant, but I was young and stupid at the time.  

It was a long time ago and I don't remember exactly what I did, I think I initially grew it in a pot of soil or moss.  The plant grew well, and I mounted it on a small piece of wooden lattice.  It grew, then produced pups, which I was not expecting.  

Back then I wondered what I was doing wrong to make it divide rather than growing into a single large plant.  At the time I didn't know that there were several species of Platycerium ferns, and this one was an 'elkhorn' rather than the 'staghorn' that I wanted.  

I had that fern for a few years, it grew into a large thriving clump of plants, and I eventually gave it away before moving house.  

I know more about these ferns now, there is some confusion over common names, which is why it is important to look at the binomial name rather than the common name.  

Staghorn fern sporelings

Baby Staghorn ferns in peat pellet

In Australia, the Stag horn fern (Platycerium superbum) produces large plants and does not produce offsets, it can only be propagated by spore (and maybe tissue culture).  

The Elk horn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum) produces far smaller plants that divide and produce numerous pups in large clumps, these are usually propagated by division rather than spore, but they can also be grown by spores.  

There are a few other species, some are very beautiful, but these two species are by far the most common here.  To add to the naming confusion, I am told that overseas the common names can be the opposite to this, or in some places the common names can be used interchangeably, and some other species share these common names with these two species, which is all the more reason to pay attention to binomial names and ignore common names.

I would like to grow both of these species, but I particularly want to grow a staghorn (P superbum). 

Staghorn - image from Australian Native Plant Society

Elkhorn ferns - image from Australian National Botanic Gardens

I've almost bought a staghorn fern a few times.  Sometimes I regret not buying one, other times I am glad that I waited.  They are really expensive ferns, and they look so good.  Staghorn ferns cannot be divided, so it feels like wasted money and I'm being selfish, especially if the thing dies.  Then again, if I buy one and look after it, I would have it for basically the rest of my life.  

Then I considered growing a staghorn from spore, that way I could have my staghorn and sell some extra ones to break even on cost.  While growing from spore takes a very long time, and can be very fiddly, I am up for that.  It doesn't help that I am not in their preferred climate.  

Probably the hardest part of growing a staghorn from spore is the fact that getting live spore is difficult.  Plenty of places online will sell dead spore that can never grow.  If I knew someone with a large plant I don't think I know enough to be able to collect spore at the right time, and I would likely still end up with dead spore.  Getting live spore is probably easy if you know what you are doing, but I don't know what I am doing.  

I know a guy who knows a guy that knows a lot about staghorns and elkhorns, and was able to get some live staghorn fern spores and some tips on how to grow them.  I am not sure if I will get a second chance at this, so I really want this to be successful and to end up with at least a few strong plants.  

A good number are growing strong

One way staghorn spores can be grown is by putting live spore onto a moist peat pellet.  This pellet is put in a sealed container to keep humidity high, and kept warm in bright indirect light.  

It takes months for the spore to germinate, for months literally nothing happens.  During this time it needs to be kept damp, but not too wet or too dry, and not allowed to get too hot or too cold.  If all goes well, and fungi or moss does not take over, you eventually have prothalli.  

Fern prothalli look like little liverworts or slime, they are the first stage in the fern lifecycle.  They look nothing like an adult fern, and you are not entirely sure that things have worked yet.  I spray fern prothalli with water from time to time to enable fertilisation.  

After many more months, if all goes well and things haven't got too dry or too wet or too cold or too hot and no moss or whatever has contaminated things, the prothalli grow tiny sporelings.  This is when I first know that things have probably worked and I have not spent months carefully looking after moss.

Once sporelings grow, I get very excited.  They grow reasonably fast at first, then due to competition they stop growing and do nothing.  You can see the spore were put on quite thick, and the plants are far too crowded to grow well.  For months they sit at this stage, still needing care, still threatening to be overrun by moss or fungi, and rewarding me by doing absolutely nothing other than staying alive.

That is the stage my staghorn ferns reached.  They are tiny cute baby ferns just sitting in a peat pellet crowded close together.  

I don't know what to do from here, so I divided some and planted in a seedling tray.  Some were divided into individual plants, others were left in small numbers clumped together.  I'm not sure what is best.

Staghorn fern sporelings planted out

I am pretty much making up what to do from here.  

The internet does not explain how to grow these things from spore.  It explains how to germinate the spores, and I found a few youtube videos on this.  It explains how to mount larger plants, again there were youtube videos and things explaining this step.  But I found nothing on the middle step explaining how and when to divide tiny sporelings that are unable to grow due to over crowding. 

Perhaps the sporelings need to be divided into individual plants and given their own space to be able to grow properly.  Or perhaps my rough handling will kill them and they would do better in small groups where one plant might survive and the rest will perish.  

I have no idea what is best.  So I did a bit of both, and hope something works.

Many baby staghorn ferns

Transplanting the sporelings took me a very long time.  I used my planting tweezers, and gently removed the tiny plants and tried to plant them in little rows.  Some plants were tiny and incredibly difficult to handle.  Others were still very small but seemingly more established and much easier to handle.  Hopefully I didn't damage their tiny roots too much when I divided them. 

I have well over 100 staghorn fern sporelings planted in this first tray.  Some are planted close, others further apart, hopefully I stumble across their preferred conditions and a few survive.  Planting out this took me what felt like forever, and I still don't know if any will even survive.  

Once they were planted, I gently sprayed with water to settle them in and to increase humidity.  Hopefully this helps reduce transplant shock.  

Watering this tray will be difficult, so I left a gap in one corner.  I don't know what is best, and am making this up as I go.  I will be able to spray the plants using a spray bottle, and I can tip water into that corner and it can seep underneath and water them from the bottom.  

Gap in bottom left corner for watering

From here I don't know what to do, and hope I don't kill them all.  I know adult staghorn ferns prefer air movement, but I am guessing they need high humidity when they are so tiny, so I put a clear top over the tray.  

This cover has vents I could open, for now I am leaving them closed.  This should keep humidity very high, which will either be really good or really bad - I don't know yet.  I can open one or both vents to reduce humidity, or I can remove the top.  I have options.

I put this in bright indirect light in my greenhouse.  The light there is bright enough to keep maidenhair ferns alive, but not so bright that it burns them.  I assume this is the right amount of light for baby staghorn ferns.  Again, I have no idea and am guessing.  The greenhouse is a bit warmer than the outside temperatures, so the staghorn sporelings could do ok there.  

It has been a few weeks since I divided these tiny ferns.  Some were a little bruised and the tiny roots were damaged from being transplanted.  So far most seem alive, but they aren't doing a lot of growth.  

Staghorn ferns in covered seedling tray

I also divided some baby staghorn ferns in another seedling tray.  In this one I used a 24 cell seedling thing.  I thought maybe the baby ferns would benefit from fertiliser, so I put vermicompost in the bottom of each of the cells.  Some have more, others have less, the nutrients should be able to wick up into the cell. 

I should be able to water this from below by lifting the seedling thing, and adding some water to the green tray.  This will also allow me to add diluted fertiliser or tea or whatever if needed.  

Again I wasn't sure if the baby staghorns would benefit from being separated into individual plants, or left in little clumps, so I did a bit of both.  I planted 5 individual plants into some cells, and small clumps of plants into the center of others. 

24 cell seedling tray with baby staghorn ferns

Some of the plants were tiny, others were far larger but still vey small.  I don't know which would survive being transplanted better.  Some of the tiniest ones were divided into individual plants, and some of the larger ones were divided into individual plants.  Some of the clumps were only tiny plants, others only had larger plants, while others had a mix.  Hopefully one of the combinations works and at least some survive. 

Again I covered it with the clear top with the vents closed so it would have very high humidity.  The vents can be opened if needed, or the top removed.  I have a lot of options. 

I have a sheltered place on the deck where I grow a few types of maidenhair ferns year round.  This spot gets direct sun in the early morning, and bright shade for most of the day.  The deck may be better suited to growing these staghorns, or they may be better in the greenhouse, or maybe neither will be good.  

I put this second tray on the deck.  I will keep an eye on both sets of baby ferns and move one or both of them if needed.

The ones at this end were divided into individual plants

The ones at this end were left in clumps

I had a few staghorn sporelings that I planted these in a self watering wicking pot that I normally use for African violets.  

These ones will be kept on the kitchen windowsill.  There is not a lot of light here, but it is reasonably bright, and hopefully there is enough light for them.  This will stay cooler over summer, and hopefully be a little warmer over winter.  While I wash up the dishes I will be able to keep a close eye on these ones. 

Staghorn ferns

I put a clear cup over the top to keep the humidity high, and I sprayed it with water just after planting to reduce transplant stress.  I also put a little piece of sticky tape on one end that will prevent the top from sliding off easily, but can work like a hinge if I want to open the top or prop it open to reduce humidity slightly.

I plan to keep an eye on this and move it if they start to look poorly.  At this stage I don't know if the dome will make humidity too high, or if that will be ok for now.  Hopefully if things start to go wrong I can move them or do something before they all die.  So far they look good, but it is still early. 

Clear dome to keep humidity high

Wicking self-watering pot

Baby ferns in humidity dome

I found someone on ebay selling tiny staghorn ferns in little cups for $16 plus $12.70 postage.  This seems excessive considering how tiny they are, then again a lot of work went into growing them to this size from spore, so perhaps the price is justified.  

Perhaps this is a better way to grow them.  If fungi or some contaminate gets into my seedling tray it could kill them all.  Perhaps I should have grown some in individual cups like this so that contaminates do not spread easily.  

Staghorn fern growing in little cups - image from ebay

These things are tiny for the price - image from ebay

I have a feeling that if all goes well I probably have another year until they have tiny shield fronds and start looking like tiny versions of the mature plants, and probably more time after that until are large enough to mount onto boards.  

Perhaps they will grow fast and be ready to mount far earlier, or perhaps this is not the way to grow them and they will all die.  I really don't know what I am doing with these.  Hopefully at least one survives for me long term.  

If someone who has done this before is reading my post, feel free to comment on this blog post or email me (my email address is listed on my for sale page) as I would love to learn more.  I have written this blog post about what I am attempting, and I would love to learn from an expert how this should be done.

As these things are going to take ages to reach a good size I'm still tempted to buy a larger staghorn (and maybe an elkhorn).  They are such incredible looking plants.  Or maybe I should just wait another year or two and see how this goes before spending money on a mounted staghorn.