Rejuvenating an old bird nest fern

Back in the year 2001 I went rock climbing with a friend.  Up high on the cliff was a tiny bird nest fern that was about an inch tall.  

I scraped that little fern off the rock face, I shouldn't have, but I did.  

I have had this fern for over twenty years now.

My 20 year old bird nest fern looking tired

I put the tiny fern in my pocket and finished the day of rock climbing nonsense.  When I got home the fern was bruised and crushed, but still alive so I filled a small pot with soil and planted it.

I was always told that old tea leaves are good for ferns.  So I used to rip open used tea bags (and sometimes also new tea bags) and sprinkled the tea leaves around the pot.

The little fern grew very fast.  To this day I have no idea if the tea leaves helped or not, all I know is that thing got big quick.

As the fern was growing against a rock face it only had fronds on one side.  It took some time and lots of rotating the pot each week before it filled out on all sides, but we got there.

The fern grew large, and sometimes produces spores on the back of some fronds.  I figured this was a sign that I was looking after it well.

Bird nest fern spores

I repotted it a few times as it grew, and moved house with it many times.  I can't give this fern a larger pot as I really struggle to lift the one it is in now.

At my last house the fronds reached about six feet in length.  It was really impressive.

Since then this bird nest fern has declined. The largest fronds are now only around a metre long, and it looks generally pretty shabby as you can see from the photos above.

The other week we had a lot of rain, so I moved my fern out to get some rain.  Rain is good because it washes dust off the fronds and flushes away salt build up in the soil.  Normally I struggle to life the pot, but this time it weighed next to nothing.  It's been in that pot for around a decade, I haven't really been caring for it very well, and there was very little soil left.  Perhaps that's why it looks so tired!

I have since got some soil and leaf litter and filled up the empty space in the pot as best I can.  I also sprinkled some used tea leaves over the new soil.  Hopefully I didn't let this go on for too long and new soil this fixes everything.

Bird nest fern, new fronds

With the combination of warmer weather of spring, new soil/leaf litter, and having the rain flush out any built up salts, this fern should be ready to do some growing again. 

It already has some fronds starting to develop.  I wonder if the new fronds will be larger, or if it will take some time for it to produce long fronds again.

Hopefully it doesn't take too long for the bird nest fern to regain its former glory and look healthy and lush again.