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Species library › Adiantum › Adiantum caudatum
Ferns Well documented

Adiantum caudatum

The walking or trailing maidenhair: a small, hairy, once-pinnate Adiantum whose frond tips extend into whip-like runners that root and form new plantlets. It grows on rocks and in rock crevices in tropical and subtropical Asian forests. It is a warm-growing, shade-loving fern that suits a hanging pot or a rocky terrarium.

Adiantum caudatum
Photo: User:Rijans007, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

Flora of China describes it on rocks or in rock crevices in forests and mountain valleys. Plants are terrestrial or epilithic, 10–40 cm tall, with a short erect rhizome and hairy fronds whose tips root to make new plants, letting colonies walk across rock faces and banks.

100–1200 m according to Flora of China; GBIF records with altitudes run from about 190 to 1600 m.

Southern ChinaTaiwanIndiaSri LankaNepalBhutanBangladeshMyanmarThailandLaosCambodiaVietnamMalaysiaIndonesiaPhilippinesTropical Africa

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.