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

  1. 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,
  2. Keep the soil moist in the pot your maidenhair fern is growing in. Don’t let the surface dry out before watering.
  3. Keep the maidenhair fern in a warm location, with minimum temperatures of 50ºF (10ºC).
  4. 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.
  5. Fertilize the maidenhair fern with houseplant fertilizer once each spring.
  6. 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

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