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Algae and ferns look green for the same reason your lawn and your houseplants do. Both carry a pigment called chlorophyll inside their cells, and that pigment soaks up red and blue light while letting most green light bounce back to your eyes. Algae and ferns are both green because they both use chlorophyll a … Read more >>
Yes, you can grow ferns from spores at home with a clear lidded container, a sterile moist mix, and a lot of patience. To grow ferns from spores, sprinkle ripe spores thinly on the surface of a sterilized, damp mix, cover the container, and keep it at 65 to 75°F in bright, indirect light until … Read more >>
Bring tender ferns like Boston ferns inside before nighttime temperatures start dropping below 50°F, which for much of the US means late September through mid-October. Waiting for the first frost is too late. By then, cold nights have already stressed the plant, and you’ll see more browning and leaf drop once it’s indoors. The good … Read more >>
Ferns need steady moisture more than a lot of water. Most ferns want soil that stays evenly damp, like a wrung-out sponge, so you water when the top inch starts to feel dry and let the extra drain away. For a typical indoor fern, that works out to about once or twice a week. Hanging … Read more >>
Both plants have glossy leaves that fan out like an open hand, so they get mixed up all the time at garden centers. The fastest way to tell them apart is the trunk and the leaflet count. A money tree (Pachira aquatica) usually has a braided, smooth trunk with 5 to 7 leaflets per leaf, … Read more >>
You can’t grow a new fern by sticking a frond in a jar of water. A frond is a leaf, and a fern leaf has no way to grow its own roots or a new growing point, so it stays green for a week or two and then slowly turns brown. The way to propagate … Read more >>
Ferns grow well outside in pots when you give them three things: a container with open drainage holes, a light, moisture-holding potting mix, and a spot with filtered shade and shelter from wind. To grow ferns outside in pots, pick a fern suited to your USDA zone, plant it in a pot only an inch … Read more >>
Most of the time, money tree leaves curl because the plant is losing water faster than its roots can replace it. Curling is most often caused by dry soil, dry indoor air, or too much heat and direct sun, so check the soil 2 inches down first, then look at humidity and light. Soggy soil, … Read more >>
To prune a money tree for a fuller shape, cut leggy stems back to just above a healthy leaf node in spring or early summer, and remove no more than about a third of the plant at once. New shoots form right below each cut, so every snip you make in the right spot can … Read more >>
If your fern looks a little pale or slow, the best homemade fertilizer for ferns is finished compost or worm castings, used as a thin top-dressing in spring and summer, because both feed gently and are unlikely to burn shallow fern roots. A weak compost tea or a heavily diluted fish emulsion also works when … Read more >>
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