Question: How do I start new ferns? Are spores the prime way, or can I use those runners they produce?

Answer: The best way is to divide the mother plant. Use a large butcher’s knife to cut through the plant’s potting soil a few hours after it has been watered. Cut the mother plant into four or more parts, then pot them all individually. You’ll need to trim their fronds back to make them look more normal once you have divided them. Within a few months, you’ll have four or more plants that will look like they’re been growing for a much longer time. Spores are best left to the serious greenhouse grower. The long stolons the plants produce will eventually make new plants, but you would need to put a pot alongside and peg the stolons to the soil until they rooted and developed a new plant.