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Species library › Pteris › Pteris vittata
Ferns Well documented

Pteris vittata

The ladder or Chinese brake fern, a tough, widespread Old World fern that grows in rock crevices, old walls and limestone, often in fairly bright spots. It likes alkaline, well-drained ground and is known for hyperaccumulating arsenic.

Pteris vittata
Photo: Franz Xaver, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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 Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

Limestone outcrops, walls, mortar, stream banks and disturbed ground, from open sunny crevices to light shade.

Recorded from 10 to 3,000 m, median about 240 m.

Southern Europe and MacaronesiaAfricaArabiaSouth and Southeast AsiaChina and JapanAustralia and the Pacific

🔒 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

Grow Pteris vittata? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

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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.