Plant Profile: Dicksonia antarctica - how to grow Australian tree ferns!

The plant that Stephen has been most asked about since we started our Youtube channel is Dicksonia antarctica, the Australian soft tree fern, so this week on The Horti-Culturalists we've decided to devote the whole video to this wonderful plant! We'll visit tree ferns growing in the wild and look at their ideal natural growing conditions, the other plants that share the environment and a tree fern species that's almost identical to Dicksonia antarctica that grows near by! We'll answer again some of the most common questions about tree ferns we've received and look at how best to move them, basic care, how to water them, ideal light conditions, best canopy tree options to protect them, their preferred soil and feeding requirements and perhaps most importantly the ethics of buying a mature tree fern harvested in the wild that has taken 30-50 years to grow!
Last summer we visited a spectacular Victorian fernery which had some wonderful Dicksonia antarctica specimens as well as other tree fern types growing in it, and you can see that video here:    • Historic Fernery Visit: the 19th cent...  
the fern we mention in this video are:
Dicksonia antarctica - the Soft Tree Fern
Alsophila australis - the Rough Tree Fern
Zealandia pustulata - kangaroo fern
Platycerium - staghorn fern
Sphaeropteris cooperi
Cyathea medullaris - Mamaku or Black Tree Fern