How to Keep Your Maidenhair Fern Alive - Maidenhair Fern Care Guide - Adiantum raddianum Fragrans

[@stevemcgrane5650]

A weak-strength black tea (a very weak dilution) is a good revivor of maiden hair ferns as it provides excellent amounts of nutrients in ionic form. Secondly, tea is an effective fungal and mould killer. I also suggest placing one cm of stone in the bottom of a decorative pot in which your plastic pot actually houses the fern. This reduces moisture loss through leaves and provides a constant osmotic wicking of moisture, simulating the natural environment of most maiden hair ferns, noting that some maiden hairs may not be terrestrial.

[@HouseplantHacks]

Very interesting and helpful post Steve thank you for your input. Andy.

[@arcelyparedess]

😅❤

[@artfan3118]

If you do accidentally miss a watering and it dies back, take scissors and cut off just about two inches from the base. Keep watering and slowly it will grow back. Beautiful new leaves, very forgiving plants. I have about 20 and miss watering one now and then and in about 3 months they recover. I fertilize with a little epsom salts in the water once a month. I don't get any fancy fertilizers here in Africa so epsom salts is what I use for all my ferns mostly.

[@HouseplantHacks]

Great advice, thanks for sharing. 🙂

[@lilij1915]

Do you water a little daily?

[@vickykent353]

@artfan3118 I did the exact same thing to my Asparagus Fern, and it's coming back like gangbusters (or maybe ghostbusters. 👻)

[@metina1000]

How much Epsom salt do you add in water?

[@artfan3118]

@@vickykent353 no only when necessary, too much can rot it. It depends on your climate. I am in Africa. I need dappled shade.

[@bluelavender7773]

Great video! Thank you! I have my Maidenhair on the balcony, and it spreaded almost in all the pots of my plants :). I have one that i forgot to water and dried out all. So i cut all the stems and kept watering as usual. In few weeks new fronds started to grow. The soil should never go dry. Once the plant gets dry it will never revive its leaves as other plants do. In winter i water it almost once at 2 days. In summer i must water it daily or maybe twice a day. Anyway...its a beautiful plant, that spreads so good through its spores (without our intervention), and even if it loses its fronds, will come back. Just dont give up on watering it.

[@HouseplantHacks]

Great tips thank you for sharig your advice! ;-)

[@penangiteInAU]

Thanks for the helpful tips, in particularly the balancing act of watering 💧

[@HouseplantHacks]

Glad it was helpful! :-)

[@vickykent353]

Great information provided. I love my Maidenhair fern, but I've not been as attentive as I need to be. Now I know!! Thank you so very much! ❤

[@HouseplantHacks]

Glad to be of help!

[@adrianabriff2102]

Thank you so mucho. I just got one and I love it. Hope it will not dry!

[@HouseplantHacks]

Keep the water coming and it will be fine! :-)

[@macopa12]

Hi, I'd like to try again on those maidenhair ferns. I grew up with those in our garden and along the paths in the hills and mountains in the Philippines, but somehow I cannot get it to live longer here in California. With this video, I now want to try again. Thank you

[@HouseplantHacks]

I'm pleased to hear that! Let us know how you get on. Andy

[@shab3360]

Thank you so much for your great advice and video 👍

[@HouseplantHacks]

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching. :-)

[@patriciaa5894]

Thanks for the info ❤

[@HouseplantHacks]

You're welcome. :-)

[@NastuFfka]

Wonderful video! Thank you so much 🍀

[@estherlorda]

I was struggling to get the water right with this plant and any new shoots turned brown. I then decided to wick it to a water container under the vase and now it thrives. All I have to do is just top up the water container every three weeks. The trick is mostly getting the right amount of wick in the pot, too much will keep the soil soggy and too little will make it dry out

[@vickykent353]

@estherlorda I am pleased to read that you're using a water wicking method. That what I have done with mine after I almost killed it. Do you have yours set up so it is continuously wicking water? That's how I have mine set up, but I'm worried it might be wicking up too much water. I understand that a plant will not wick up more water than it needs. Is that true with the Maidenhair fern?

[@vickykent353]

@estherlorda I'm not understanding what you mean by getting the right amount of wick in the pot. Could you elaborate on that please?

[@estherlorda]

@@vickykent353 The wick itself pulls up water to the soil, the length and width of wick you have in the pot will affect the moisture of the soil. My plant is in a 16cm wide/13cm deep pot with about 5cm of wick inserted from bottom pot hole and pointed towards roots. It's slotted above a water container continuously wicking. After about a week from initially top watering plant to get wick working, the soil remains slightly dry on the top layer, but moist when I put my finger in. The first time I set it up I encircled the roots with wick, but that was causing the soil to be too wet. I guess the amount of wick also depends on pot size and room temperature

[@anamariaclemencia]

Good explanation, thanks....

[@HouseplantHacks]

You're welcome.

[@ruthietreselan]

As an indoor plant for Texas it is easier to water I do not recommend it as an outdoor plant

[@kimberlylarkins8858]

Should it be spritzed with water on the frawns?

[@HouseplantHacks]

You can mist them but it will have limited impact on humidity after maybe 30 minutes.

[@darrellcampbell5022]

Mine is a north facing window. It's got some browning on some of the leaves- not sure why- I check it with a moisture monitor every day and water if it is 4. However it also has spores on some leaves and I've never had so much new fronds come through on any of the these plants. Can't be getting too much sun is an 18 degrees north window in southern England can it?

[@HouseplantHacks]

If you're keeping it alive you're doing well! Some of the older fronds will die off naurally that might be all it is. If you are regularly getting new fronds I would say all is well.

[@sofiawils3829]

Is that all to grow beautiful fern? For some reason she forgot to talk about fertilizer, which is much more important than too much sunlight or too much of water.

[@HouseplantHacks]

sorry to miss this out, some plant food occasionally in the growing season, maybe monthly is all it needs.

[@raymunddionisio2611]

How to keep them small? Mine are bigger..

[@HouseplantHacks]

You can't stop them growing but you can divide them next time you repot and so you can create a few smaller plants out of one.

[@icemancometh8679]

Mr Mouse, how'd you like the maidenhair fern? They're pretty easy to take care of just keep them damp huh? Yeah, with all that talk about maiden hair and ferns made me think of medieval times with the castles, knights in shining armor and fair maidens. Yeah, people walk around with giant turkey drumsticks in their hand and beggars beg from you. Yeah, wow look over there josting! Oh, my favorite wait for me!🐀(((((((((🏃((((((((

[@Victoria-ef4ih]

Hi! With that size, do you water it every day?

[@HouseplantHacks]

It lasts about three days until I water it again at this time of year, in the summer it's nearly every day yes.

[@norah1933]

But what do you feed the maidenhair?

[@HouseplantHacks]

Sorry I missed this, a general purpose liquid houseplant feed will be fine once a month.

[@marymorris9421]

What do you recommend I do when I go on vacation?

[@HouseplantHacks]

Ask a neighbour? Or put the pots in a big tray filled with water that will keep them moist for longer.

[@MeteoricMarlin]

Your profile hammer has a dark burgundy plant with green edges. Can you tell me what it’s called?

[@HouseplantHacks]

They are called coleus and are readily available in Europe and in the US. You can grow them from seed or buy them as adult plants to go straight into borders and pots.

[@MeteoricMarlin]

@@HouseplantHacks Thank you so much! I’ll be buying one asap 😊

[@deborahmosley9665]

Can I use miracle grow? If not what makes it happy

[@HouseplantHacks]

Should be fine.

[@CVenza]

What if the fronds dry out or wilt when transplanted?

[@HouseplantHacks]

try to keep the roots noist at all times while transplanting, if some fronds dry out the plant will make more but if the roots dry out the plant may die.

[@lindapatshannon7248]

I’ve just ordered 2 maidenhair rhizomes and was told to attach them to tufa stone. Can I actually plant them in earth?

[@HouseplantHacks]

Ys, in the earth is probably better as you can create more humidity and moisturem they don't like to dry out at all.

[@julianemeixner6104]

Oh my god! Just in the right time :D recently bought one and it's already like 80% dead 🙈 Thanks for amother great video!

[@HouseplantHacks]

Happy to be of help Juliane! Good luck with the rescue! :-)

[@artfan3118]

Trim off the dead fronds and don't forget to water this time and it will send up tiny new fronds.

[@vickykent353]

@@artfan3118 I did that a few weeks ago and am beginning to get the teeniest little green sprouts. Almost need a magnifying 🔎 (or my eye glasses re-upped). But they're there! 😀

[@artfan3118]

@@vickykent353 don't over water or drought it now, last chance.

[@vickykent353]

@artfan3118 I'm going to move her to a new dwelling, one where I can see the water level. I'm also going to add some Recharge to beef up root growth and growth in general via "colonies of beneficial bacteria."

[@lizzielewin1256]

Hi I live with south facing windows,can I still grow maidenhair fern?

[@HouseplantHacks]

Yes, just ensure that the direct sun doesn't hit the plants if it's close to the glass, if you can find a spot that gets the sunlight that is farther back from the window by at least a few feet then it should be ok, plenty of water is key.

[@Doris-y5v]

mine curls up and brown tips and crispy, I watered with rain water, and filtered light and I don't know what is wrong eventually dies I have had 3 and all in the same way. I even spray it with water everyday. I have hdd different types and they all died in the same way,

[@HouseplantHacks]

Not enough water I would say, the roots are very dense so you need to make sure the roots are wet all the way through, standing the pot in a sink and running the rainwater water through for a while is a good way and don't let it dry out.

[@Doris-y5v]

@@HouseplantHacks Is always has water never dried out.

[@thomasashe2681]

Is it adiantum raddianum fragrans or Adiantum capillus-veneris? Or are those two different plants?

[@HouseplantHacks]

No idea, often the nursary pots are labeled incorrectly anyway.

[@lilij1915]

How often do you do the deep soak?

[@HouseplantHacks]

weekly or just keep some water in the bottom of a tray to soak it up all the time.

[@lilij1915]

Mine is spindly

[@HouseplantHacks]

possibly needs more light? or food?

[@susancurry1346]

Does the maidenhair fern benefit from misting?

[@HouseplantHacks]

Slightly yes, although the additional humidity you get from misting doesn't last long unfortunately. A humidity tray would be better.

[@loriclarke1759]

I feed mine diluted worm wee.

[@HouseplantHacks]

Sounds perfect to me! The worms don't need it anymore so why not make good use of it! I use tropical fish wee and poop for my houseplants too! :-)

[@lorene.zackery7395]

I never seen a plant like this with in year I brought 3 and I lost 3 plants it pretty plant I can, t save them I try roots root will not grow

[@HouseplantHacks]

You are not alone!

[@lorene.zackery7395]

This hard plant I. Can, keep alive I waste my money on this plant

[@HouseplantHacks]

Sorry you are struggling, some plants are just very hard to keep inside.

[@ruthietreselan]

Get a self watering pot

[@kimoamadal4626]

Cette fougère peut supporter un manque d'eau mais elle n'aime pas du tout les substrats lourds. Si ses racines sont asphyxiées ce sera le dépérissement assuré.

[@ProfitisElias]

Such a long video...

[@HouseplantHacks]

You're welcome!