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How to Care for Your Ferns

Here at TLB, we love our ferns, from the cute as a button Button Fern to the majestic Staghorn Fern, we love them all. Ferns are well-known for bringing an abundance of texture and interest to your indoor jungle; they also have a little bit of a reputation for being a little trickier to care for than some other indoor houseplants. Learn to care for your ferns with our handy guide.

When thinking about the care needs of ferns, it’s very common to approach this topic in a fairly generic manner and group all ferns together with the same instructions. On the whole, this approach works. That is because, for the most part, ferns do have many care requirements in common.  However, whilst their needs are similar, they also have some individual and unique character traits that require some different care requirements. In this post, we are taking the opportunity to shine a light on the care needs of all of our ferns individually to avoid any confusion and shout about the wonderful uniqueness of each variety.

How to Care for Your Ferns: A Care Guide for All the Ferns

The Little Botanical range features five different types of ferns; the Boston Fern, the Button Fern, the Asparagus Fern, the Blue Star Fern and our newest recruit; the Staghorn Fern. Enjoy our one stop guide to keeping your ferns looking tip-top.

How to Care for Your Boston Fern

The Boston Fern is a feathery beauty, showcasing an abundance of lush green fronds that will bring oodles of textured style to your space. Of all the ferns, he’s known as one of the most low-maintenance. Have a read of all you need to do to look after the Boston Fern in our full guide or just read the quick tips below and you’re sure to have a happy and healthy fern. He’s pet friendly too, so happy days for those pet parents among you.

How often should you water a Boston Fern?s

Your Boston Fern will enjoy moist but not soggy soil. Aim to water him every 7 to 10 days and avoid letting him sit in water as this can cause root rot.

Do Boston Ferns like humidity?

Yes, they most certainly do. Boston Ferns thrive in a moist and humid environment. To keep your Boston Fern happy, consider placing him in a kitchen or bathroom where moisture levels are naturally higher than in other areas of your home. It’s also a good idea to mist him regularly and you could consider using a humidifier.

Where should you position a Boston Fern?

In their natural habitat, the Boston Fern is found growing on the forest floor, shaded by the taller trees growing above him. As such, it is best to try and mimic these conditions as much as possible in our homes. With that in mind, pop your Boston Fern in a spot that provides indirect sunlight and isn’t too warm; ideally between 18 and 23˚C. It is also best to avoid placing him in a draught or near a radiator.

How to Care for Your Asparagus Fern

With soft, fine fronds and slender stems, the Asparagus Fern is an elegant and unique feature for your indoor jungle. An important difference to note between an Asparagus Fern and other fern varieties is that he is not pet-friendly so best avoided if you have any inquisitive four-legged friends.

How often should you water an Asparagus Fern?

To keep your Asparagus Fern happy and healthy, you should aim to keep the soil moist but not soggy. Water him when the top layer of soil has dried out but don’t let him dry out completely or sit in water.

Do Asparagus Ferns like humidity?

Absolutely! Your Asparagus Fern will thrive in high humidity so mist him regularly and consider having a humidifier in the room with him if you’re concerned the natural humidity levels are on the low side.

Where should you position an Asparagus Fern?

An Asparagus Fern will enjoy a bright spot away from direct sunlight, draughts and radiators. This guy isn’t too fond of being moved around or excessively handled so once you’ve found a good spot he’ll appreciate you letting him settle in and stay there.

How to Care for Your Blue Star Fern

As ferns go, the Blue Starh is relatively low maintenance and with his stunning, elongated fronds in a bluey-green hue, he’ll bring all the chic vibes to your interiors. And, like the majority of the fern family, he’s pet friendly too.

How often should you water a Blue Star Fern?

Your Blue Star Fern enjoys slightly moist but not soggy soil. Water him when the top layer of soil has dried out and don’t let him sit in water.

Do Blue Star Ferns like humidity?

Your Blue Star Fern loves humidity. Mist him regularly and choose a humid environment like a bathroom or kitchen.

Where should you position a Blue Star Fern?

Your Blue Star Fern is quite an easy-going guy when it comes to the best place to position him. He won’t like direct sunlight but other than that he’ll tolerate most conditions, even shade.

How to Care for Your Button Fern

A super-cute fern with rounded, button-like leaves, the Button Fern makes a fabulously stylish addition to a plant gang. He’s pet friendly too, so will keep all members of the family happy.

How often should you water a Button Fern?

Give your Button Fern water about once a week when the surface of the soil has dried out and don’t let him sit in water.

Do Button Ferns like humidity?

This is becoming a common theme isn’t it, but yes, you’ve guessed it – Button Ferns love humidity, so regularly mist him to keep moisture levels high. And as with the other ferns, consider placing him in your kitchen or bathroom where conditions are more humid than other areas of your home.

Where should you position a Button Fern?

Much like his brother the Blue Star Fern, a Button Fern will tolerate some shade and prefers to be positioned out of direct sunlight and away from radiators and draughts.

How to Care for Your Staghorn Fern

The newest member of our TLB fern family, the Staghorn Fern (aka Elkhorn Fern) is a majestic specimen with distinctive, antler-like fronds. He is an impressive green beauty who can grow up to 3 feet wide and is pet friendly too.

How often should you water a Staghorn Fern?

The Staghorn Fern enjoys having slightly moist soil, so ensure the fern is watered thoroughly once the surface of the soil is dry. Make sure the plant can drain and never allow this fragile feathery plant to sit in water as this will cause the roots to rot. For best results, water him through the roots by removing the growing pot from the decorative pot and place him in a sink of water for about 20 minutes. Allow him to drip dry before placing him back in his decorative pot.

A unique feature of a Staghorn Fern is the hard, shield-like plate at the very base of the plant – it is important that this is not removed, as this is to protect the root system and absorb nutrients and water. Young shield fronds are green but change to brown and dry out as they mature.

Do Staghorn Ferns like humidity?

With ferns being fans of humidity – the Staghorn Fern is no exception – he too loves humidity. Keep the moisture levels around him high by misting him regularly, placing him in a high humidity environment like a kitchen or bathroom or by using a humidifier.

Where should you position a Staghorn Fern?

Staghorn Ferns enjoy dappled, indirect light which mirrors the light conditions that they enjoy in their natural growing environment. Avoid direct sunlight as this can cause the fronds to scorch.

Shop Ferns at The Little Botanical

We hope you’ll agree that despite their high maintenance reputations, including a fern or two in your indoor jungle is worth the effort in return for the abundance of green style and beauty that they bring. Here at The Little Botanical, we have a fab choice of ferns to choose from, all beautifully styled in our bespoke ceramics to instantly and effortlessly style up your home.

Our Boston Fern comes in a choice of natural, understated stoneware. Choose between almond, charcoal or grey, all of which perfectly complement the green fronds, allowing the gorgeous bright colour to really pop.

Our Asparagus Fern is available in the same classic neutral stoneware shades as his Boston brother, or you can also opt for the classically rustic seagrass and cotton signature belly basket. With choices these gorgeous, it’s not an easy decision to make!

Choose between the almond, charcoal or grey stoneware for your stunning Blur Star Fern. Whichever one you go for, this blue-green beauty will shine bright in your indoor jungle.

The Button Fern will make a fab addition to your interiors in whichever bespoke ceramic you choose. His cute button-like leaves will happily take centre stage on their own or work well amongst a gang of green beauties.

Last but by no means least, check out our Staghorn Fern. Available in our almond and charcoal stoneware, this majestic beauty makes a fabulous focal point in your home.

And if you just can’t decide between our fabulous ferns, we can totally empathise with that dilemma! Take a look at our fern gang. The Fern Trio Plant Gang combines the Boston, Asparagus and Blue Star Ferns in a fab little gang. The added bonus of having a fern gang in your indoor jungle is that when they’re placed together, they’ll all act as humidifiers for one another. And as we know, ferns love humidity!

Fun Fern Facts

  • The Boston Fern has been recognised by NASA for his air-purifying and de-toxifying abilities. He has been found to lower the amounts of airborne toxins such as toluene and formaldehyde.
  • Originally from Africa, an Asparagus Fern is also known as a Foxtail Fern, a Plumosa Fern and an Emerald Fern.
  • In their natural habitat, the tropical rainforests of South America, Blue Star Ferns attach themselves to the trunks of trees as their chosen growing environment.
  • Button Ferns are native to Australia and New Zealand and can tolerate almost freezing temperatures.
  • The Staghorn Fern hails from Australia and can grow up to 3 feet in width.

We hope you’ve found this whistle-stop guide to ferns useful and interesting. As always, we are on hand to help, if you have any more questions about care for your ferns or any other indoor houseplants in our range, please drop us a line at [email protected]. Until next time plant tribe.

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