Hardy Tropicals UK

Hi everyone, any idea how much of the root ball would needed to try and get decent growth after transplant? Purchased one of eBay that looks quite established as has long croziers and the trunk looks around 3 foot.

Get as much as you possibly can. Remember tree fern roots are fragile and dry out quickly so its possibly best to put the roots in to a plastic bag to stop them drying out. Plant the Tree ferns as soon as possible and water. More root you save the less stress you put on the plant.
At a minimum you need to take a large bucket full.
Hope this helps.

This might help, as I was thinking of moving mine this year

http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/v ... =1&t=19424

Just get as much as you can but don't worry as they will soon lay down more.

Saw something on Telly very recently (it was probably Gardeners World, in which case it will be on iPlayer) about the refurb of the temperate house at Kew that they were having to move all the plants out. They had put an airpot around the tree ferns (quite a long way up, I reckon it was a good couple of feet) and they had filled that with compost so that the trunk would root (i.e. above normal ground level) and presumably they were either going to cut it off at ground level, after rooting, or take advantage of the extra roots when transplanting.

They were going to lose a lot of height though ... but probably precious / irreplaceable species in their case.

Yes it was Lee on GW. It highlights how deep we should really plant them. It will take a while for roots to push out though using the Kee technique.

Thanks all for the advice, just watched the episode of GW and thought was interesting about the ways of rooting various plants particularly the tree ferns, might be worth trying in the future if have the time to wait! Going to pickup in the next few days so will have to prepare my planting area so the fern can go straight in without drying out, fingers crossed for a decent growing season!!

Steady wrote:Thanks all for the advice, just watched the episode of GW and thought was interesting about the ways of rooting various plants particularly the tree ferns, might be worth trying in the future if have the time to wait! Going to pickup in the next few days so will have to prepare my planting area so the fern can go straight in without drying out, fingers crossed for a decent growing season!!

Well you are getting them at the right time. Temperatures are looking very good come next weekend.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/Rtavn15017.png

Tom2006 wrote:

Steady wrote:Thanks all for the advice, just watched the episode of GW and thought was interesting about the ways of rooting various plants particularly the tree ferns, might be worth trying in the future if have the time to wait! Going to pickup in the next few days so will have to prepare my planting area so the fern can go straight in without drying out, fingers crossed for a decent growing season!!

Well you are getting them at the right time. Temperatures are looking very good come next weekend.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/Rtavn15017.png

Certainly been a long time coming but am extremely gratefull for a bit of sunshine, bring it on!!

Looking forward to some good weather.