Boston Ferns, Basic Care

Boston ferns make an attractive decorative addition to any bright room or patio. In Southern California, they grow year round in our normal range of temperatures.....~ 50 to 85 degrees. The large ferns shown in the picture need a good regular watering to keep their roots uniformly moist to support the surface area of all those fronds. A drip system is ideal and utilized in the greenhouse to provide adequate nutrition and moisture. The automated system turns the water with fertilizer on once an hour from 6 am to noon every day during the warm months and every other day during winter/early spring. It is important to keep the fronds dry (No Misting). Our water will quickly turn the edges of the fern fronds brown.

When the ferns are ready to sell, they are gently removed from the hanger line and turned upside down, given a slight shake and all the fronds gathered upright, held in a bear hug and placed in a cone shaped paper sleeve. This protects the plant during transport and handling.

Since they havn't been watered for a day while sleeved, I recommend soaking the pot/roots in a bucket of water for about 10-15 minutes before unsleeving to rehydrate the plant. Gently take off the sleeve with the plant horizontal or upside down, then slowly turn over to hang or place in a plant stand. If you ever want to shake out any loose, broken fronds, shake gently upside down. Comb through the fronds on the underside with your fingers (best done outside), shake, then turn right side up carefully. Doing all this from the underside of the fern, keeps breakage to a minimum. Once the root ball has been rehydrated, use a water bottle (quart size with a sports top) filled with water to add water every day or two. Just crack the top open and invert into the center of the fern and let it drip in slowly.

If you forget to water the fern for a few days, it will look paler greenish grey and limp. Carefully gather up the fronds (dry fronds can break) and resoak the pot in a bucket of water again. The color will come back as the fern soaks up the water. A "dead" looking fern can usually be revived 3 or 4 times before it is truly dead.

There are many ways to keep a fern looking lush and green but the bucket soak and water bottle are an easy way to keep your fern happy.