In this week's fern friday I am talking about how to grow Boston Ferns! I love this fern so much as there are not a ton of houseplant ferns that grow so large so quickly and are relatively easy to grow. Boston ferns ( Nephrolepis exaltata 'bostoniensis' ) are a great easy to grow fern. These ferns need less water than most other houseplant ferns and like the majority of the others they are fine in low light. Fall through winter they can take more light than in spring in summer but still they do not need much. Boston ferns are a sword fern, or really, the sword fern and they are great in hanging baskets. I love how they look hanging on shady porch, patio or balcony.
Everything about the Boston ferns is easier than other ferns. Planting boston ferns, fertilizing boston ferns, watering boston ferns etc... it's all pretty simple with these guys. When repotting a boston fern an all purpose potting mix is fine, as long as it drains well and holds onto some moisture but not so much that it becomes soggy or takes multiple days to dry. Time of year to repot the Boston ferns varies. I like to repot mine in the early spring or late summer. Late summer is more risky and may result in the leaflet drop if the temperatures are too high. I like the late summer repottting because then they have more soil around the root mass to absorb moisture during the fall and winter when I bring them inside. Sometimes by the end of summer they have outgrown their pots and then keeping them hydrated in the fall and winter when they are indoors as houseplants is more of a challenge. ... I forgot to talk about this in the video, sorry! There are also plenty of sources that suggest repotting ferns in the winter beacause it will be the least stressful on them since they are not normally in active growth. I've found early spring work fine as it just a few weeks before the warm temps and longer days are arriving so they are just starting to wake up.
Fertilizing boston ferns is simple also. I like to fertilize my boston ferns twice a month ( april - september ) with a quarter to half strength all purpose fertilizer, but once a month with the same dilution is just fine. They also green up nicely with seaweed fertilizers.
Propagating boston ferns is very easy also. When repotting a boston fern you can cut out tons of new plants as they recover well from being divided. Dividing Boston ferns is very easy but I will still be sure to a video on fern and overall plant division when I do so with mine.
Wow that was a lengthy description! I could talk about ferns and houseplants all day! #FernFriday !
⬇️⭐⭐⭐⬇️Social Media⬇️⭐⭐⭐⬇️
🍃Stay up to date with daily life and activities through messaging and pictures and don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell!
INSTAGRAM- @tropicalplantparty
TWITTER- @tropicalplantJc
SnapChat- Tropplantparty
28 мар 2019
