Hello! Not sure if the caudex community can help with this! My ant fern is squishy! All the darker section is squishy and you can see some rot on the lower section. I am not sure if this is from over watering or over fertilizing- I was using a too strong fertilizer which stunted the leaf growth. Do I need to cut off the healthy sections to save it? Any tips for cutting propagation of ant ferns?
This is one of my favorite plants and I am so sad to have hurt it!!
by Time_Security_7532
2 Comments
As I understand it, the older part of the rhizome is meant to die off and turn black as the plant ages, only the new growth will be green. I see lots of new growth, although judging by the way it crisping off before it can expand I’d guess it’s not getting enough light. To prevent the old dead rhizome from rotting away, make sure you give the fern ample time to dry out between watering, that’s what these epiphytic ferns expect!
I agree with the other comments about what’s going on, but would also like to recommend you switch the substrate. These go absolutely crazy for a mix of chopped sphagnum and bark chippings. I haven’t tried Pon (or whatever that is you’re using) but in my experience with ant ferns, they really like being on the damper side.