Lots of moisture, organic growing mix that's water retentive but not water-logged, bright shade, and occasional feeding in the summer months. Other than that, stand back and watch it grow! PF

under rather than overpot.

Good point Lee, these remember are epiphytes in the wild and don't appreciate soggy conditions (that can happen in oversized pots). PF

When I bought it,it was FULL of water!! Got it at Lowe's outside Garden Shop and we'd just had a lot of rain. I brought it home and immediately dumped the water off and repotted it into a pot not much bigger than the one it was in. I have no idea how long it had been sitting there full of water, but it looks healthy. Think it'll be okay?

The best trunk-forming houseplant fern there is - and a lot easier to care for than Blechnum gibbum, which is the other candidate for this accolade. With those glossy strappy fronds they're not so dependant on high humdity, but they do still want plenty of light and warm tempertaures. I have mine deliberately pot-bound (the fern is absurdly big relative to the size of the pot!) and soak the crown every single morning, with all the water running straight through into evaporative matting. It's now about 5ft across and a similar height - the 'trunk' is almost a foot tall. Yet it started off as a rescued baby fern from a stripped-down tree frog terrarium - it was probably only three inches wide! Ultra-weak seaweed extract dripped into the watering can, most days, is the only fertiliser.

The only downside - and it's a big one - is the continual attack by scale inesect. Asplenium nidus must be their all-time favourite houseplant host. Swabbing them off is a never-ending battle.

Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

PS These ferns actively PREFER a non-acid compost - so go for standard multipurpose compost when potting up, not the ericaceous stuff that you'd choose for Blechnums and their mates.

Here's a pic of mine. It was absolutely soaking when I bought it and I thought I should go ahead and repot it to get it out of the standing water. Should I do anything different? It's in regular potting soil.

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Hey Stepehen, i never realise that A. nidus was a trunk forming fern!(Tree fern?) I used to have one too!

Ah ha! When is a 'tree fern' a tree fern? We all know about Dicksonia and Cyathea, but in my book ANY fern that forms a significant trunk is a tree fern - eg, Asplenium nidus and many of the Blechnums. I think you can add at least another half-dozen genera to the conventionally understood community of tree fern families. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of different tree fern species out there - a few of them much closer to hand than you think, hiding behind florists' popular names.

Under really optimum houseplant conditions - room temperature, high light levels, daily watering plus ultra-weak seaweed extract - Asplenium nidus could more than equal the trunk growth rate of Dicksonia antarctica. At least a foot per decade is possible, up to a maximum height of a metre...even more in a rainforest setting. Few owners will achieve anything like this, but only because they don't have the facilities or provide anything more than basic minimum conditions in the first place - Asplenium nidus has the potential if you give it the opportunity.

Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK