Keeping a Boston Fern pretty

I got the most gorgeous boston ferns and have them in hanging pots on our deck.... Now, I do water them nearly daily this time of year and sometimes twice daily in really hot weather. What should I be fertilizing them with.. I have used MG with some success, but they never look as good as when I bought them... they just seem to decline over the summer...
Any suggestions would certainly be appreciated.

Blessings.
Carolyn

Sorry, I have no advice, but I'll be watching this thread for help with my own fern problems. Thanks Carolyn.
Christine.

Well, I am thinking maybe some MG with a touch of epsom salts.... if nobody comes up with anything else...

Carolyn

What kind of pots do you have them in? They seem to prefer breatheable pots rather than plastic. Gives the roots air.

I have mine in terra cotta pots, so they do breathe, but please tell me what MG is Gardennuttz. Do you mix it with the epsom salts? What proportions? Thanks.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say Miracle Grow. I use Osmocote on my potted plants and they are very happy. I am a lazy gardener and like the 4 month thing. I have used it for years and am very happy with the results.

Yes, MG is Miracle Grow.... and a pinch of epsom salts now and then in the proportioner with the MG keeps many other things happy and green.. such as Hostas.... and Brugs... I use Osmocote too, but mostly on houseplants...don't really know why I don't use it on outdoor plants... never gave it a thought... (getting old I reckon).. My ferns are in the pots they came in and they are plastic...

Carolyn

I already use Miracle Grow on my houseplants, and always have epsom salts on hand, so I'll try using a pinch for my troublesome ferns - a maidenhair and one noid, that's just as delicate as the maidenhair. My other, hardier leaved ferns are fine. Thanks.

All of my "houseplants" live in the great outdoors. DH has asthma so no plants in the house. Good thing I live in zone 10 lol!

I have my fern in a pressed paper pot and it is a monster. Another is in redwood slat. They are both very happy. The only ferns I have ever had live in pots.

Gardennutzz.... You say you have your ferns on the deck. Exactly what type of lighting you do get there. Your ferns could take a small amount of morning or late evening sun but any afternoon sun on them is not good.

Ferns not only like shade, but they like to be misted too. Besides your regular watering get ya one of them small misting bootles and early in the morning spritz it. Spritz the top and the bottom of the leaves as much as you can get at if it a big big pot.

Mg is a good fertilizer, but one of the problems with it is the "P" content in it. Plants need 18 to 1 wsswntial elements in some form or another. Some they get from the soil in the trace amounts they need, some they get when you fertilize.

The problem with the P is that the plant doesn't take it up as fast as the " N" and " K" and so the "P" sits there and causes some of the other nutrients to be blocked from being absorbed by the plant.

Use some of you Mg but then switch to something with a a zero for a percent in the middle. Example. 10-0-10.

Also if you use fertilizer constanly for plants in a pots you need every so often just to water them til they leach good with just plain water. This helps to remove those old chemicals not absorebed that blocking the good ones from feeding the plant.

It a pain to do but if you have the time sometimes. Put your fern in the bathroom , NOT IN THE TUB OR SHOWER, LOL just in the room, and turn on the hot water and let the shower run for awhile and get all steamy in there. You ferns love high humidity. You'll make thousands of stomata very happy. : )

Ferns are heavy feeders and it don't take em long to use all the nutrients in soil up so make sure ya have a nice rich organic mix. Check them every so often to see if they are getting root bound. You have lots of things going on under the dirt in that hanging pot. roots devloping and searching for food your runners for your new fronds trying to find a spot to develop. If they root bound take a knife dipped in alcohol and cut away some of the sections and pot them up in other pots to give your plant room to breathe and strech its toes.

Also, you say you water them everyday and sometimes twice a day. You may be watering them to death. There is not alot of pore space left for air in a pot when you water constantly. If they in the shade, you won't need to water contantly and as the roots absorb the water it will allow the air the roots need to be absorbed. You never want them to dry out completely but over watering will kill them off just as quickly and cause them to lose their leaves and die. Give them a good good soaking to where you have about half the amount of water of the pot size unning out and then give them a break for a day and just mist the leaves. They abosorb water through the leaves and ya wont rot your roots.