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Re: Monster Staghorn Fern

At 05:13 PM 6/3/98 -0700, vtolson@juno.com wrote:
>   <snip>
>A professional appraiser valued this plant at over $400 a year ago. My
>aunt suggests that I cut it up and give away or sell the scores of
>staghorn offsets, some of which are quite large. That seems to me like
>cutting up the Hope Diamond.
>
>On the other hand, as it is this staghorn fern is way too large and
>unwieldy, and would be a lot easier to control if it were smaller. But
>I'm not sure how to remount it as is, or how to cut it up effectively and
>then mount all the many smaller staghorns that would create.

Victoria - 

I have seen this problem in the past, here at a local public garden.  A
very large staghorn outgrew its perch and was 'in the way'.  Removing it
was a formitable task.  The whole thing wanted to stay in one piece
though.  The garden workers moved it using one of their motorized garden
carts from the lath area (its former home) to the Palmatum (a grove of
unusual palms).  In one of the (non-palm) trees there was a crotch where
an old fireplace log grate had been installed years prior.  They merely
placed (with great effort) this huge staghorn monster into the grate
receptacle, wiring it into place to hold it in high winds.  It was
thriving in short order.  All it needs is water and apparently a banana
peel now and them tossed into the center!!  Amazing plants when they are
this huge - I vote to keep it intact if you can find a place for it to
live there in mild Benicia.

Good Luck!

 Sean A. O'Hara                     sean.ohara@ucop.edu
 710 Jean Street                    (510) 987-0577
 Oakland, California 94610-1459     h o r t u l u s   a p t u s
 U.S.A.                             'a garden suited to its purpose'
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