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Species library › Adiantum › Adiantum diaphanum
Ferns Partly documented

Adiantum diaphanum

Filmy maidenhair

A small, tufted maidenhair fern with fronds usually under 20–36 cm. It is easily recognised by its sparingly divided, dark green fronds and by the tiny tubers on its roots. It grows on shaded clay banks, under overhangs and beside rocky streams in lowland forest from southern China and Japan through Malesia to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. It is easy to grow in shade with a light, well-drained but moist soil.

Adiantum diaphanum
Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Grows from the coast to the lowlands in closed or open forest, often on clay banks, under overhangs, on rubble slopes and along rocky streams, creek banks and waterfall bases. It is terrestrial, with a short erect rhizome.

Coastal to lowland; herbarium specimens with elevations are from about 50 to 280 m.

China SoutheastHainanTaiwanJapanVietnamMalayaBorneoJawaSumateraQueenslandNew South WalesNew Zealand NorthNew Zealand SouthChatham Is.Kermadec Is.Norfolk Is.

🔒 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 CC0 licence, unmodified.