The ribbon fern, or Cretan brake fern, features in my On the Ledge Sow-Along experiment related to Jane Perrone’s amazing podcast. In the late winter, she encourages her listeners to grow houseplants from seeds (or spores) as another way to appreciate houseplants and increase our collections.

I found these spores online and ordered them and followed the planting instructions without bothering to really sterilize anything–just starting mix in a plastic, lidded container and some water. And then wait. And wait. A green growth started on the soil after a few weeks, and then the prothallus followed and spread across the entire container. More recently, I believe that the sporophytes have developed. They are starting to look like tiny ferns. Dozens of tiny ferns. After about seven months, the tallest one is still only about an inch tall and doesn’t have any true, recognizable ribbon fern fronds yet.

I brought the container home from the office so I can watch the sporelings better. My plan is to pot up about 20 of them into separate little pots in the spring and move them to the greenhouse. I will give some away and keep a few for home and office.