[net.garden] Boston fern

dina@unisoft.UUCP (Dina Street) (01/09/85)

I have now owned (and destroyed) my fifth Boston Fern.
What is the secret to keeping these things alive?  They appear
to be in excellent shape when I buy them, but within a few weeks
they drop leaves, turn brown, and eventually die.   I've tried
more water, less water, partially filtered sunlight, more
sunlight, higher humidity, but none have survived more than 
about six weeks.  

Anybody have a similar experience or any ideas on what I'm
doing wrong?  (Maybe if I ignore them, they'll thrive.)

Thanks in advance,

Dina Street

{ucbvax, decvax} unisoft\!dina

kolling@magic.ARPA (01/11/85)

After some initial disasters and experimentation, I've had good luck
with Boston ferns.  I keep them in filtered light and dump about a
pint of water in every other day.

Direct sunlight is very bad news and cannot be compensated for by more
water;  the fronds will become very pale and thin and .....

The amount of water clearly depends on the room temp, etc.  You can tell
if they need more water because they will sort of start to
collapse their fronds downwards if they get too dry.  Underwatering
will cause fronds, particularly the underneath ones, to turn brown and
die, so habitually underwatering will soon reduce your plant to a shadow
of its former volume.  I suspect it isn't possible to overwater.