According to the article below, they don't need light to germinate.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/birds-nest-fern/collecting-birds-nest-fern-spores.htm
Hello,i need to pot the seedlings of my bird nest fern but i don't know if normal soil is good for them because i cant get my hands on potting mix in my area. I propagated the spores in very fine soil (i sieved dry soil to get the finest particles). Will the sieved soil work again? And a few people have recommended soil with wood shavings,or just saw dust, or just wood shavings. Thank you
My research shows to use a porous, organic material for the growing medium. The article below says plant in a loose, moist soil. These ferns are epiphytes and can be found growing on the trunks of trees or in soil. Saw dust might compact but wood shavings would likely work. It needs to be able to retain moisture though. Another article said to use commercial fern soil, which is composed of lots of organic material such as peat moss, peat humus, leaf mold, and ground sphagnum moss. Here is more:
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/birds-nest-fern.html
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/epiphytes.html
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/asplenium-nidus/
https://pss.uvm.edu/pss123/fernaspl.html
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/birds-nest-fern/birds-nest-fern-care.htm
I have been away for 3 weeks, and did automatic watering to my plants while I was away. when i came back, I see my ferns Turing yellow. I continued taking care of it by watering it daily, and it turned worse. It was green and luscious befoee i left for my trip. One thing I could think of that may affect the fern would be the home-made bug spray i made >> olive oil (half cup) + dishwashing liquid (1 tspn) + water (saw this from youtube against white flies). Any advise on what happened to my bird best fern and what I should do? - David
It is always best to always try your mixtures on very small parts of your plants before trying your mixture over the whole thing. It is very possible that the mixture was too strong and burned your plants. In this case, the new growth should come out fine.
If this is not the case, and new leaves are yellowing and rotting before opening up, then it could be overwatering. This will lead to symptoms that we are seeing, here. They should be watered to where the soil is moist, but not wet. Overwatering will suffocate the roots. Letting them dry out slightly is a little better than too much moisture.
Reducing watering will help if this is the case.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/birds-nest-fern/birds-nest-fern-care.htm
The nest sounds normal. The stagnant growth could be due to lack of water or too much light. These articles will help with its care:
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/asplenium-nidus/
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/birds-nest-fern/birds-nest-fern-care.htm