Emersed Help please

[James D]

I've been dreaming of doing a 'tree trunk' scape for a while now and I've eventually managed to find a bit of wood that exactly matches what I had in mind. It's only in the planning stage at the moment but I really want some emersed greenery on top of the trunk, problem is I can find very little info on actually going about it apart from beautiful photos in members journals where they've already completed it.

The top of the wood isn't flat or 'cup shaped' so I doubt I can use any substrate although at a push I might be able to bodge something up.

So, my knowledge is extremely limited and I'm after a bit of advice....

What plants? (I like some of the ferns I've seen)
Do they need a substrate?
Would they need their roots in the water?
How to attach them?

Thanks

James

 

[Martin in Holland]

Ferns don't even like to be rooted in substrate, I've used wire, cable tie, super glue and even drilled holes in the wood to just lodge the ferns in...all worked well for me.
You could attach the plants to some smaller pieces of wood or stone with fishing line (or any of the above) and glue this on to any thing you want, you can also just glue directly on the spot you want it.

 

[James D]

Cheers Martin. So you would suggest attaching them to the wood, should the roots go in the water? As you can see I'm very ignorant on the subject.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

So you would suggest attaching them to the wood, should the roots go in the water?

You need at least some of the roots to be in contact with the water, either by some physical contact (dangling in), or by wicking the water up the wood with moss or Epiweb etc..

cheers Darrel

 

[BigTom]

Yeah I pretty much just wedge mine in - for most things you want roots in the water or at least somewhere that stays damp, without submerging too much of the base of the plant.

Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk

 

[Martin in Holland]

These plants usually grow in moist/wet conditions in nature, we need to get as close as possible to that to make them happy. Aquatic ferns need to keep their feet wet, either cover them with moss or dangle them in the water....but even if you cover their feet with moss, you still need to let the moss make contact with water or spray it a lot.

 

[James D]

Cheers for the answers, just what I needed. I've been out shopping this morning and I saw a couple of plants I liked, one was Humata tyermanni and the other was a Boston Fern, would these be suitable?

Thanks.

 

[Martin in Holland]

Not sure about the Boston fern (they get huge) but Humata tyermanii will do fine.

 

[James D]

Cheers Martin, I might get that one when I'm ready, in the meantime I'm going to keep my eye out for some Maidenhair Fern.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Humata tyermannii

These "Davallia" ferns need drier growing conditions than most other ferns.

cheers Darrel

 

[James D]

Oh OK, thanks Darrel.