Check out all our blog posts on Indoor gardening.
Ferns want three things above all: soft light, steady moisture, and humid air. Give a fern bright indirect light indoors or open shade outdoors. Keep its soil evenly damp but never soggy, and protect tropical types from cold and dry heat. With those basics in place, most ferns grow lush with very little fuss. To … Read more >>
Hardy garden ferns can ride out winters far below zero. Tropical ferns start to suffer in the 40s. Native hardy ferns like wood ferns, Christmas ferns, and ostrich ferns survive temperatures of -20°F to -40°F once they go dormant, while tropical ferns like the Boston fern get damaged below about 40 to 45°F and lose … Read more >>
Most ferns turn brown because they’re losing water faster than they can take it in. Dry indoor air, soil that dries out between waterings, and too much direct sun cause most cases. Overwatering, fertilizer salts, cold snaps, pests and plain old age account for the rest. If your fern is turning brown, check the humidity … Read more >>
To repot a money tree without shocking it, move it in spring into a pot just 1 to 2 inches wider with drainage holes, use a fast-draining peat- or coir-based mix, keep it at the same soil depth, water once, and then leave its light and routine alone while it settles. Most of the stress … Read more >>
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 >>
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 >>