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Growing Staghorn Ferns (Platycerium) from Spores

Platycerium, commonly called staghorn fern, reproduces in two ways: some species form pups, and every species can be grown from spores. For single-crown species that never make pups, spores are the only way to raise new plants. Here is the method in five steps, with photos of each.

Trays of young Platycerium sporelings under grow lights — Sporelings under grow lights.

Why grow Platycerium from spores?

Pup-forming species can simply be divided, which skips the long wait from spore to plant shown in the timeline below. Single-crown species such as P. coronarium, P. grande, P. superbum, P. wandae, P. holttumii, P. ridleyi and P. wallichii cannot form pups, so their new plants come from spores. See which species make pups.

A spore is closer to a seed than an egg. It grows first into a tiny, heart-shaped prothallus, and the prothallus then produces the young fern.

1. Check the spores are ripe

Spores form in brown patches (sori) on the underside of the fertile fronds. Harvest only when the patches have turned dark brown. Pale or greenish patches are not ripe yet.

Dark brown patches of ripe spores under the tips of a Platycerium fertile frond — Ripe spores: the brown patches under the tips of a fertile frond.

2. Scrape them onto paper

Gently scrape the ripe patches onto a sheet of clean, dry paper.

Scraping ripe Platycerium spores from a frond onto white paper — Scraping ripe spores onto paper.

3. Look at them under magnification

Check the scrapings under a microscope or loupe. Plump, well-filled spores germinate best. Pale, shrivelled or bleached spores rarely do: in our partner's tests, fewer than 1 in 10 germinated. Magnification also shows how much debris is mixed in.

Platycerium spore scrapings being checked under a microscope — Checking under a microscope (left); sporangia and star-shaped hairs, magnified (right).

Magnified Platycerium sporangia and star-shaped hairs — Checking under a microscope (left); sporangia and star-shaped hairs, magnified (right).

4. Sieve twice

Sieve the scrapings twice: first through a 100-mesh screen, then through a 200-mesh one. Press gently so the sporangia break open and the spores pass through. The sporangia, star-shaped hairs and bits of frond stay behind. Leave them in and they bring mould.

Pressing Platycerium spore scrapings through a fine mesh sieve — Pressing through the sieve (left); clean spores after sieving (right).

Clean Platycerium spores collected after sieving — Pressing through the sieve (left); clean spores after sieving (right).

5. Sow

Dust the spores thinly over moist peat in a closed container. You do not need to sterilise the peat. Keep it humid, at around 28 °C, under an ordinary plant grow light.

Dusting Platycerium spores thinly over moist peat in a container — Dusting spores onto moist peat.

How long it takes

Be patient. The Textbook's timeline is for P. bifurcatum:

1–4 weeks: the spores germinate.
Next 1–2 months: tiny heart-shaped prothalli form.
About 6–10 months: the first true fronds appear.
Once they are large enough to handle: pot them on.
Another 1–2 years: before a sporeling becomes a sellable plant.

Young Platycerium sporelings growing in cell trays — Young sporelings in cell trays (left), and plants ready to pot on (right).

Platycerium sporelings large enough to pot on — Young sporelings in cell trays (left), and plants ready to pot on (right).

Once potted on, sporelings are grown like any young Platycerium: bright, diffused light, 50–80% humidity with moving air, and water when the medium dries. See the care quick reference.

Spore-sowing method and step photos courtesy of our partner, plant specialist WOW forest · 植播電台 (Instagram)

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