I posted about 8 years ago on this topic, and I felt it was worth doing so again, as there are some interesting ferns in the current AFS inventory.
The director of the American Fern Society Spore exchange is also seeking donations, particularly of ferns that they don't have. Please be generous, if you can.
For those who are not familiar with it, the AFS is $20 a year to join. Spores are then available to members at 50 cents a pack. So it's very affordable, especially given what people are asking on places like Ebay these days.
Here's a link to the spore exchange:
www.amerfernsoc.org
And the current inventory, which is huge:
For example, as of Feb. 8th, they had 5 species of Lecanopteris (ant ferns) which I believe are extremely cool, popular among many CP growers--and very expensive. Those species are available in very low numbers, and many may well be out by now.
The director of the spore exchange, Brian Aikins, is incredibly helpful, and will guide anyone who has not done this before. Again it would be nice to respond by donating spores of whatever interesting species you might have.
I bought some spores in early December. My progress so far is mixed, although I have seen signs of life in 7/10 of the species I tried. My failures, so far, are all Platyceriums (Staghorn Ferns). I have more species I still need to try.
Here are some with signs of life. Many of them I only got a few gametophytes so far (I need to try again) and a couple have contaminants such as algae or fungus (I'm not sure if either of those is ultimately problematic).
Growing from spores can be slow, but it's really a lot of fun. It doesn't take up much space. These are all grown in small condiment containers.
The director of the American Fern Society Spore exchange is also seeking donations, particularly of ferns that they don't have. Please be generous, if you can.
For those who are not familiar with it, the AFS is $20 a year to join. Spores are then available to members at 50 cents a pack. So it's very affordable, especially given what people are asking on places like Ebay these days.
Here's a link to the spore exchange:
Ordering information — American Fern Society
www.amerfernsoc.org
And the current inventory, which is huge:
For example, as of Feb. 8th, they had 5 species of Lecanopteris (ant ferns) which I believe are extremely cool, popular among many CP growers--and very expensive. Those species are available in very low numbers, and many may well be out by now.
The director of the spore exchange, Brian Aikins, is incredibly helpful, and will guide anyone who has not done this before. Again it would be nice to respond by donating spores of whatever interesting species you might have.
I bought some spores in early December. My progress so far is mixed, although I have seen signs of life in 7/10 of the species I tried. My failures, so far, are all Platyceriums (Staghorn Ferns). I have more species I still need to try.
Here are some with signs of life. Many of them I only got a few gametophytes so far (I need to try again) and a couple have contaminants such as algae or fungus (I'm not sure if either of those is ultimately problematic).
Growing from spores can be slow, but it's really a lot of fun. It doesn't take up much space. These are all grown in small condiment containers.
