Awesome photo
Yea I love those both too, another of my favourite are shield ferns, for their beautiful brown and dark green colours, unfortunately I wasn't able to keep mine alive which was sad.
Anyways here's an update with more of my ferns I'm growing:
My family heritage staghorn (originally my grandads):
Some NZ native maidenhair (Adiantum aethiopicum) and another native fern I forgot the name of (bottom left) 
Some wild native Rasp fern (Doodius australis) looking lovely and pink. Who's growth I've been encouraging:
There's lots of wild ferns around to, including giant tree ferns. These photos here are just the ones I'm currently somewhat cultivating.
Maidenhair (Adiuntum something):
Staghorn (Platycerium bifurcatum) and some little hen and chicken ferns in a tarrerium (Asplenium bulbiferum)
Nephrolepis (back), and 2 mystery ferns (bought them in an unsorted clearance lot):
I've got some of other ferns outside and in other places, but its dark rn so I can't take photos. Will post them tomorrow when its light outside.
Its so hard to pick a favourite I love them all so much. I'd like to try to grow some from spore soon, would love to know what ferns your growing/your favourites too
someone has been trying and it looks like it has potential if it keeps on being developed: https://github.com/Fancy-Mumble/FancyMumble
This is amazing I didn't know they could be coulored like that either. Thought it was coulor swapped first. Beautiful photo
I love micromoths too. we've got a micromoth called Zealandopterix zonodoxa its so cute and even has little mandibles that it can eat with. I love them so much.
What would be the best "substrate" for these Kratky bottle plugs to hold seeds or cuttings in place?
Spagnum or some other moss (preferably home grown). if you buy it make sure to get the stuff that is still slightly alive (dried not toasted else it will rot and not work very well.
Most "sustainable" sources aren't all that sustainable, but its my favourite substrate nonetheless, I'm currently trying to grow it myself (not very sucsesfully tho)
My favourite sandwich ingredient would have to be avacado. Though I realise its unobtainable for most people, Im lucky to grow 2 fruiting tree's so get em for free.
fresh baked bread with a drizzle of olive oil. Toped with avacado, homegrown olives tomato and lettuce (and some very old Edam if you feel like it). But don't forget to add some homemade Rocoto chilli sauce somewhere along the way, adding some sweet tropical spice.
Unfortunately avacados are seasonal. We get them for about half the year. For the other half I must sit and wait, patiently biding my time. Waiting for the sun to rise on a day when the avacados will ripen once more.
In my experience the best defence against ants is ants, they are very territorial.
I have had a colony of ants in a little box just inside my window for about 10 years now. They come in and out through a little crack in the window frame. The ants always stay near the window. I can even leave my food out and they won't touch it (though any food placed on the windowsill would quickly be demolished). They seem to be only there for shelter. I respect their home and they respect mine.
However in another room that doesn't have a resident colony I have problems with these pesky little ants that steal any food left out. They are so small they can even go under some lids. Their nest is outside yet they are so much more of a pain.
For you i would say there is no "nipping the colony off at the bud", the ants are already there and properly settled, they probabably would have allready found the food if they were intrested in it, but if they start being a problem and taking food then you can get rid of them.
Otherwise just keep your house boundaries (such as with diatomaceous earth or carnivorous plants or in my case nothing at all), and they will be loyal guards of your porch, defending off annoying ants and many plant pests while improving soil. (Some ants also have symbiotic relationships with certain plants such as Pseudomyrmex ferruginea with Vachellia cornigera. the plants provide food and shelter and the ants defend the plant with their life).
Idk, I love ants. They are an important part of the ecosystem, and we couldn't live without them. A loyal colony is good defence against other pests. And it's nice entertainment watching them form highways carrying food and eggs too and fro. But if they become a nuisance in the house then you do probably need to get rid of them sadly.
Yea we can grow lùcuma here to (my uncle grows some), but Im not a big fan of it. Though I haven't tried one since a kid so I should try it again (lots of my other food preferences have changed). How do you like to eat them? I've heard they are best in smoothies?
Yea they fruit great, we haven't harvested any yet but they should be ready soon. (Or now I better check). They are so delicious
Found this weird ant on our table, it has a very big head. Does anyone know what type of ant this is? (Found in New Zealand). Im guesing because of its large mandibles its probably not a worker ant instead perhaps its a soldier.
Also I just learnt the different forms of an ant (queen, worker, soldier) are called castes.
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[oc] Vine that's just one gigantic leaf stretching from forest floor to canopy | weird ferns #1
(mander.xyz)
Yesterday as I was walking through the bush collecting seeds, I was suddenly caught by a strange vine that ensnared my leg.
While it may look like your traditional vine, a climbing stem with many leaves attached, its a fern, and the entire "vine" is just one gigantic leaf stretching from the forest floor to the tree canopy.
Mangemange is a fern native to new Zealand. Its from the genus Lygodium.
Its stem (rhizome) grows along underground, almost like a long root. Every few meters a new leaf (frond) spouts from the rhizome.
The leaves emerge from the ground twisting and turning, desperately trying to find something to latch onto. At the same time pinnae form on the leaf stalk (rachis). Pinnae look a bit like normal plant leaves but they are actually just leaf segments. The pinnae provide the energy for the frond to grow even longer.
Once a target tree is found, the frond starts wrapping around it, slowly climbing upwards, making new sets of pinnae every few meters.
Continuing climbing, the frond often reaches the forest canopy. Once in the canopy, fertile pinnae start growing and spores are produced. The spores are then carried away in the wind, to new lands unseen.
And once again a new mangmange can climb to the sky.
This is the first post in a series of posts, that I'm going to make about weird and wonderful ferns and fern allies. If you have any weird ferns (or weird fern allies) that you would like me to write about, feel free to suggest them. Or post your own or wonderful/weird ferns in this community!
Here's my current record for most ferns growing on top of each other!
A tree fern called a ponga (Alsophila tricolor) forms the base, growing on this tree ferns trunk is a hen and chicken fern (Asplenium bulbiferum).
Hen and chicken ferns grows little bulbils (baby ferns) on its fronds, when the bulbils are old enouph, they drop off to become a new hen and chicken fern.
These bulbils make up the final layer of ferns of my fern stack, making it a magnificent 3 layers of fern.
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Your ferns are beautiful! What maidenhair is that first photo cos its huge and I love it