Grow a Maidenhair Fern
Maidenhair ferns have delicate lacy leaves on wiry stems. They thrive in warm moist air and are excellent terrarium plants. Here’s how to grow a maidenhair fern indoors.
Steps
- Place your Maidenhair fern where it gets moderate light.
- Place the fern on a north or east windowsill.
- Place the fern a foot or so away from a south or west window.
- Grow maidenhair ferns under fluorescent grow lights in terrariums or on a plant stand,
- Keep the soil moist in the pot your maidenhair fern is growing in. Don’t let the surface dry out before watering.
- Keep the maidenhair fern in a warm location, with minimum temperatures of 50ºF (10ºC).
- Maintain high humidity around the maidenhair fern.
- Use a humidifier in the room with the fern.
- Keep the fern in a bathroom.
- Grow the fern near an aquarium or fountain.
- Plant the fern in a terrarium or glass case.
- Mist the fern with warm water every morning.
- Fertilize the maidenhair fern with houseplant fertilizer once each spring.
- Keep dead fronds and leaf tips trimmed off with scissors.
Tips
- A fern’s leaves are called fronds.
- Some maidenhair ferns can also be grown in the garden outside.
- The most common maidenhair fern is adiantum raddianum and it is the easiest to grow. A. hispidulum has coppery colored young fronds.
Warnings
- While the maidenhair fern likes moist conditions the pot should not sit in water.
Things You’ll Need
- Houseplant fertilizer
- Misting bottle
- Scissors
Sources and Citations
- Hessayon, Dr.D.G., The Houseplant Expert, London, England, Expert Books, 1994, pg. 138
- Editors, Sunset Magazine, Sunset National Garden Book , Menlo Park, CA, Sunset Books, 1997 pg 168
