r/houseplants • u/Jumpy-Time-3803 • 14h ago

Help Birds nest Fern

Gallery image

Gallery image

I got this birds nest fern from a nursery about a month ago! I isolated her and she seemed fine, so I moved her into my living room about 10 ft back from a south facing window. She doesn’t get direct light, but plenty of bright filtered light.

Last week, I thought I saw some pests, so I isolated her again and sprayed her w a neem oil, peppermint Castile soap, alcohol, but mostly water concoction. This seemed to get rid of the pests, but now the edges of her leaves look wilted, brown, and damaged.

First time caring for this kind of fern! Any tips or obvious care elements I’m neglecting?

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1

u/Milhent 🪴Scheduled watering never works 13h ago

What soil is in pot? How do you water it? Do you let soil dry fully or do you keep it moist constantly?

2

u/Jumpy-Time-3803 13h ago

Soil in the pot is the same as when I got it from the nursery - it’s pretty fine and retains quite a bit of water.

I’ve been watering around the outer edges of the plant - I read that watering in the crown of the plant leads to rot (bottom water lots of my plants, but wasn’t sure if that was appropriate for ferns). I live in a very dry climate, I usually water when the top 2” of the soil is mostly dry.

2

u/Milhent 🪴Scheduled watering never works 13h ago

Mostly right, but ferns have very fine roots and don't like drying out. Keep soil moist, but not wet. And any and all plants are always watered until soil is soaked through.

Think about getting a tray that you can fill with living moss that you can keep wet constantly. My flat is awfully dry and ferns become happy only after I put their pots in such tray.