Hi, Need your help. Bought a beautiful lush Boston Fern in a lovely ornate container. Thought the info on it said "sun", instead it was "sun to shade". My beautiful fern, which was out in full sun, is now turning brown. Do I trim back the brown fronds, or just leave them alone. Don't want to do any more damage than I already have. Thanks
Sun burned Boston Fern. Help!!!!
I'm no fern expert, but my personal experience would say if the fronds are totally brown then cut them back. If you keep watering the fern no matter how bad it looks, chances are it will come back out with new fronds. It may take a while to get full looking if a lot of fronds are dead. As long as the roots did not stay dry for a long period, it should revive.
Cut back the burned fronds close to their base.
Place the plant in bright indirect light.
Over watering can do just as much damage, so keep the soil moist, but not soaking.
If you do not have any air circulation where the plant is, consider putting a small electric fan in the same room and keep it turned on, otherwise an open window will work fine too, just something that will help keep the air moving.
Mist your plant in the morning, or evening, daily until it you see new growth emerging. You may want to consider plant food after you've nursed your plant for two weeks, but I wouldn't recommend it right away. The sudden surge of nutrients after a harsh burn could shock it. Cut back the misting to two to three days a week after recovery is noticable. Mist more often during hot periods in the summer. If you have forced air heat in the winter, you'll need to up the circulation as well as the misting. Keeping your fern in a bright bathroom where there is a shower can also serve as a good hospital.
Whatever you decide, it is just as important to keep the plant in one place. Moving it from room to room can simulate an earthquake, or unstable ground and stunt your plant's growth habit.
Thank you so much for your advice, it's greatly appreciated. Will get right on it. Cordially
Dorise
In addition to what was mentioned above, a tablespoon of Epsom salts in a gallon of water is good to get them growing. It's like a booster for ferns. We give our ferns Epsom salts at least once a month.
Calalily would the epsom salt also work with Bacopa? For that matter would it work on all plants & flowers>
Cala...do you think I could epsom salts on my selaginella?
It works on Bacopa, Geranium, Scaveola, Petunia, Ferns and brugs. Don't know what selaginella is. It's magnesium sulfate, and gives them a boost of magnesium and also makes it easier for the plant to use the iron that's bound in the soil.
How much epsom salts on each, Cala??
"eyes"
Yes Cala - how much for brugs too???
Hi Dorise....No fern expert either, but they don't take a lot of sun in my experiance, it'll fry them. They can however take some moring sun, not the scorching afternoon sun. They also like high humidity. If you don't have that everyday, try misting them daily. Also try placing a pan or dish directly under the fern pot, add a layer of pebbles, add water & then set the pot on the pebbles. The bottom of the pot should not be in the water but rather above the water resting on the pebbles. This method provides humidity when you don't have enough natural humidity in the air. I don't know if your fern will recover fully after the sunburn it got, but no harm in trying.
I have ferns planted in-ground, not Boston Fern as I believe that's more of a house plant (a house with high humidity!)or container plant, but rather ferns such as Maiden Hair, Lady In Red & a couple others. In my experiance, they are not a plant that looks great all summer. They are more any early to late spring plant. It's now July 20th & I've had to cut some of my ferns back as they were getting crispy on the edges. The exception is a small Japanese Painted Fern. It's still healthy looking.
Sqaure Root is quite right about too much water as well.
Epsom Salts is great around the base of roses too!
Good luck with your fern. I hope it recovers for you.
Guess I should have looked more closely at the date Dorise. You posted your question about the fern over a year ago!! hehehe
Well......did it recover??
I actually do grow a good many bostons...
yeah, epsom salts are excellent, I buy 100lbs at a time... (but my two main crops are Bostons and Pelargonium xhortorum)
This would appear to be a good time to divide the fern, or repot depending on how bad the damage is... I've cut them back to the pot and they always just shoot right back
It is always easier to repot when there arn't all of those fronds in the way.
Drew
How much epsom salts? Do you dissolve in water? I have never heard of this.
i have a fertilizer injector I set to 1:100
I dump around 10lbs per 500gallons of water and it dissolves pretty fast.
do not mix them with ferts as certain ferts will make a solid with the epsom salts...
I'm sure Calalily could explain the chemical reasons behind this better than I...
drew
Thanks! I will give it a try, on a much smaller scale.
Janice
I use "SOIL MOIST" with my ferns and just about everything else. Seems to work quite well. Certainly cuts down on the babysitting, i.e. watering. "SOIL MOIST" is a little "pricey", but you only use a "dab" per plant.
Also, thanks for the info on the Epsom salt. I didn't know that. I will start using it. :) Steve
Another tip for all potted plants and especially those with peaty soil and those with fibrous roots that once dry are hard to get wet again (such as ferns) is a few drops of "water wetter" in the watering can. Once a plant is dried out you can pour tons of water on it and the inner ball of roots will remain dry as a bone. The product is basically an antisufricant which breaks down the surface tension of water. The result is the water penetrates into the minute crevices of everything it touches and hence everything gets "wetter." The whole root ball gets nice and wet. I have brought old dried out plants back to life with nothing more than a few drops of this stuff in the water. In a pinch i have even used a few drops of liguid dishwashing detergent. An old Austrian gardener taught me this when I worked in a nursery on Long Island in the 60's. It is available in better garden centers and is not terribly expensive.