As a new zealander I'm stoked that overseas ppl are getting into fern fibre, it's the best! I love it in moss poles too, on it's own, and I completely agree with you that the pressed poles are garbage, they're just too compacted to allow the roots to grow in and really just work as a stake like you said. But as a prop medium, and even as a long term substrate, it's wonderful stuff. Hoya INSANELY love it, and I use it regularly to prop and then transfer to semi hydro, they always seem to do well going from there compared to moss. So glad you like!
No, you buy it as a substrate on it's own. Not to say what you're suggesting couldn't work, but I don't know whether they use anything to make the pressed fibre keep it's shape? I guess you could try but it's much easier to just buy bagged fibre on it's own@@ObjectiveMedia
I found with the stratum you need to keep a water reservoir in the container so that it never has the chance to dry out, personally had great success with stratum and with tree fern fibre for propagating. The tree fern mixed with chunky medium of your choice works amazingly well, Anthurium love it as do Hoya. 🌱💚
Woke up from one of my nightly horrible dreams, and can't get back to sleep. Had some tea and read a bit of LOTR. Now it's time to settle down again with someone who always makes me smile with her bubbliness and enthusiasm.
Just bear in mind that tree fern fibre comes from shredded, nature grown tree ferns that are being cleared from the forests of Australia and New Zealand. They take absolute ages to grow and are so beautiful. Please don't use tree tern fibre. There's a lot better alternatives. 😢
I have actually heard the opposite. That because of New Zealand regulations it HAS to be farmed sustainably. Outside of there, not so sure, but with everything we should just be researching and supporting brands we believe in.
@rar435 I only use NZ sphagnum moss with my orchids and single surviving peperomia because of the strict regulations. I also refuse to buy anything with peat moss/sphagnum peat moss because of the sustainability issues. I use coconut husk chunks and coir because of it. Gardening has a huge environmental impact.
I have fluval as the base layer under soil of a terrarium for added nutrients. I made it in a class and this was my first encounter with stratum and the terrarium is thriving! I've also been told that in a closed prop box, little prop cups with it work great. I have a bas, but haven't experimented myself yet!
Like that all the cuttings grew roots. I use all, except moss…it sticks to roots too much; it’s great for moss poles. You can reuse both tree fern & fluval. Thanks for sharing Emma!
I have never had any success with the tree fern poles. I chopped them up to use in my pots. I mix perlite with my stratum and have been fairly successful with my props. I keep the prop containers filled to the top. And Stratum can be reused.
I have started propagating in Pon and it works great! Especially nice for cacti and succulents, I have re-rooted several succs in Pon and they are very happy. Yes on the Stratum, its reusable until it dissolves into black dust. When I prop in Stratum I flood the cup, water to the top and it helps some with the drying. Thanks for the content Emma! Appreciate you!
Thank you for this, Emma, very informative. I only recently heard about fluval stratum as being great for hoyas (I'm a bit of a hoyahead, lol). It's more readily available and cost effective here in Canada so I'll get some and give it a try, as I mostly use leca, pon and perlite for my baby plants, and pon is hard to get (dunno why).
Cool experiment and review. Very helpful video. Seeing the results, I´ll continue my water propagations (it´s cheap, very clean, transparent, easier to get rid of pests, transfer to any media I might chose later).
Regarding the fluval: I wouldn't be too eager to use a medium that I had to add another medium to keep it moist. Like, why aren't I just using perlite to begin with? Interesting video, thanks!
Just pay attention to the water layer in the cup. I keep mine 1/3-1/2 full at all times after about a week of keeping it completely saturated to get the process going. It wicks very well and I've had a monstera adansonii in it for about 4 months and she's doing great.
I want to try Tree Fern. Heard good things about it from you and Claire (your friend). I use stratum with Pon when baby plants have established roots. And they are growing ok. I am also using Leca as a bottom layer and Pon on top. This way I can see the reservoir better. But Stratum alone? Messy and not as good. Plus Stratum is expensive also.
In going to London and Kent in March for a wedding and i really want to visit a London plant shop! I see lists but can't really tell the quality. Probably not going to buy a plant plant but a planty item. Any shop name advice??
Thank you so much for the idea on filled moss poles with different substrates. I am thinking about trying coco coir and perlite. Just to avoid using moss and dealing with it becoming hydrophobic.
Can you do the "double cup" method with stratum cuttings, like when you regularly are rooting something just in water. It will stay moist due to the amount of humidity. Or even adding a reservoir. Or both, so a triple-cup-method. Loved this update, thanks so much! I wanted to buy these substrates badly and I'm very much under the poverty line, so I have to be choosy when I save my money for my new plant stuff!!! 💚🪴🌵
Ooh yeah that could work. I defo think keeping the fluval one in a more moist setting would help. Always glad to help! From my first few weeks of impressions I'd defo rate the tree fern fibre, but wouldn't say fluval is worth paying to experiment with
I’ve been waiting for plant content today, I clicked so fast 😂😭 I just got my first ever order of Leca in the mail yesterday, it’s been soaking for 24 hours and I’m debating doing another full 24 hour soak.. I’ve seen the Leca Queen recommend 3 24-hour soaks but I’m not patient enough for that 🤣 I still haven’t tried tree Fern or stratum either.. I’d like to someday though
I’m a fan of Leca. It’s fairly inexpensive and reusable. Just make sure to disinfect it before reusing it. It’s sooo much easier to clean up any run-away Leca balls than Fluval or soil. I’m in a dry climate. My plants seem to do better in Leca.
Great video, thanks for the review and sharing it with us. Recently I bought tree fern fibber to grow some of my orchids in it, so I'm glad that you got a good result from it. Do you have any other advise regarding using this substrate such as watering or mixing it with any other substrate?
Hello. Thanks for your video on the different substrate. In the past I have never done poles because of the work that comes with them. I ended up buying a very large pole with a monkey mask and I'm using TFF mixed with moss. I live in Australia and started the plant in April and it has doubled in size. I seriously only water it every 1 to 1.5 weeks. I went on holidays for 3 weeks and the kids didn't water this plant and its doing beautifully. With one of my now very small Hoya that I have had many issues with I am now experimenting with having moss mixed with TFF with no drainage on a permanent basis. 🤦♀the things we do for our plants
I love doing experiments, I also had these issues when I first tried using these. I have found mixing perlite, tree fern and flugal together makes my cuttings root 2/3 times as fast, I had to play with ratios a bit to find the right amount for my over watering habits, lol Hoyas especially love this combination
Thank you for that video. I was thinking about tree fern fiber for when I will get some nice anthuriums. It may work from what I see in your video. For propagation I am very conservative: clean water and sphagnum :-)
I bring my d moss poles into the shower and drown them once they get crunchy and I find it good. Especially for Amydrium medium silver as the moisture seems to activate new shoots on the side of the vine. Must try tree fern fibre as it seems more practical once plants and poles get huge. Great review - thanks for the helpful info and testing these methods out!
I like tree fern fiber to propagate. My Syngoniums Collection is in a Lechuza Pot with half soil and half Aroid mix and a layer of PON in the bottom. When I add new rooted plants I add the tree fern fiber too. It works for me. So glad you made this video. Thanks. 🪴Keep Growing🌿
the thing with fluval is it is realy a substrate for bioactive terrariums and in my one i use it as the drainage layer as it don't hold water that well
