Mounting A Staghorn Fern...

I do love rare and unusual plants. The first time I actually saw a staghorn fern in person was in Florida. Staghorns are epiphytic meaning they do not require soil to grow. Staghorns and orchids attach themselves to larger plants and make themselves at home. When I got home from that vacation I knew I had to have a staghorn fern and I actually found one at a small plant shop close to home. The fern did well for about a year until it developed scale (bugs) which eventually killed the plant and I was sad!

I decided to try my hand again at keeping a staghorn fern, but this time I decided to mount it. Have a look:

Mounting a staghorn requires a few simple tools which I found around the house. A wooden plaque, staple gun, fishing wire and moss.


The fronds of the fern are a little fuzzy this is for absorption of moisture in the air. My mom was trying to wipe them off because she thought it was dust.


I took a wooden plaque and nailed a picture frame hanger on it.


I soaked moss in warm water and then squeezed out the excess water.


Fishing line was stapled on the back of the plaque prior to putting the moss and fern on the front of the plaque.


I placed the moss on the wooden plaque.


After I removed the fern from the pot it was purchased in and removed and rinsed all of the soil off of the roots. I made a space in the middle of the moss and then wrapped the roots in the moss.


I used the fishing line and wrapped around and around and around and around the plaque securely wrapping around the base of the fern.


After safely securing the fern to the base I use A LOT of staples to secure the fishing line to the back of the wooden plaque. Here is the fern looking at home in our bathroom.



I love this fern and I am glad that I decided to try growing another fern. I hope that this one lasts longer than my prior one.