trefle.io · Taken Jan 1, 1900 by EOL − Forest & Kim Starr (cc-by)
Aspleniaceae
Vegetable fern
Diplazium esculentum
Also known as Paco fern, Pohole fern, Edible fern, Microstegia esculenta
Tropical Plants · Edibles & Herbs · Indoor Plants · Native Plants · Fern · Edible · Tropical · Shade · Humid · Fiddlehead · Indoor · Foliage · Southeast Asian · Moisture Loving
Vegetable fern is a lush tropical fern that prefers consistently moist soil and high humidity with indirect or dappled light — it is ideal for shaded garden beds or humid indoor spaces. The young fronds (fiddleheads) are edible and commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, making it both ornamental and functional. Avoid direct sun and dry conditions, which will cause the fronds to brown and wilt.
Growing conditions
The details behind the basics
- Daily light
- 3 hours
- Watering
- Keep soil consistently moist but not waterlogged; mist fronds regularly to maintain humidity · Every 3-5 days
- Maintenance
- Moderate
- Soil
- loam
- Temperature
- -20°F to 90°F
- Cycle
- Perennial
- Propagation
- Seed
Hardiness
USDA 5a-10b
Form & growth
Mature size and habit
- Mature height
- 12 in – 3 ft
- Spread
- 18 in
- Spacing
- 24 in apart
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Root depth
- Medium
- Flowers
- No
- Foliage
- Medium
Ecology & origin
Where it belongs and what it brings
- Native to
- Andaman Is., Assam, Azores, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Fiji, Florida, Hainan, Hawaii, India, Japan, Jawa, KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is.
Sources: trefle
Buy this plant
No nurseries currently list it
No nursery lists Vegetable fern right now.