I live in zone 4-5 and have a question . I have 5 big, beautiful Boston Ferns that I would like to keep over the winter. Can they be put into a dormant state? Cut back to the pot edge? If can be made dormant -how? If not can they be cut back to pot edge, put under lights and just lightly watered occasionally?? If you have tried any of these ideas please let me know, or advise me what I can do to keep these beauties because I don't have enough room indoors to keep them as they are, and would hate to just throw them in the compost pile. Sandra
Boston Ferns?
Not sure if its too late now, but I have kept boston ferns over the winter. The first year I put them under lights in my basement. They lost a lot of leaves and I had quite a mess by spring (dead leaves under the pots). They survived, but didn't look as good as the previous summer. So the next year I did cut them right down to the top of the pot, I think I also divided the root ball. This was much less messy, they did grow nice new fronds, but this time they really weren't as full the next summer. It took the whole summer to get them looking good.
So I gave up that project, and I just buy new ones each spring. I only have 2, in urns on either side of my front door, I can usually find them for $10 each.