Staghorn Fern - NC Climate? (Asheville: apartment, living, store)

[mom]

Hello
We are relocating to Asheville next month from Florida.
We have numerous Staghorn Ferns - should we give them away or
will they survive or maybe even thrive in the NC climate?
Does any member have any experience with these plants?
I would appreciate any info I can get.
THANKS SO MUCH

[Grass Is Greener]

They won't survive outside. You'd need to bring them inside from mid-fall to early spring.

[mm34b]

http://www.sercc.com/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?nc0301

[EcofriendlyFL]

Hello,

I am relocating to Asheville from Palm Beach Gardens and would LOVE to know if your staghorn made it! Mine along with other plants are awesome and I am probably selling them ):

Thank you,
D

[Cofga]

I live in N. Va and have had staghorn ferns for years. I move them outside in the late spring through late summer, early fall. Inside they are pretty resistant to dry air once they have built up a thick layer of shield fronds which store water. I just dunk them in the sink when they start to dry out and then mist occasionally. The ones I have now are in pots but a few years ago I had a bunch more mounted on wooden boards over a big wad of sphagnum moss and wired in place. These were hung on a brick wall in the family room where they received a lot of light through adjacent windows. When we lived in an apartment I had a mini greenhouse with plant lights over them. This was done with a simple aluminum frame with a sheet of fake wood paneling to hang them on. This can be set up in the basement or even a spare closet but mine looked nice enough that we kept it in the living room. If they need more moisture just hang some plastic sheets on the metal frame. If that all sounds like more work than its worth then yes sell or give them away in Florida.

[Cofga]

PS: As mentioned above staghorns are tropical plants and will not survive the winter if left outdoors in NC.