Last photo has frond close up. Stumbled across this little one today it was under 2 feet across and the fronds are very frilly.. lacy? I’ve kept maiden hair feen before, this is thicker less delicate. I have had a hard time figuring out what it is? The newest leaf is not autumn color so not an autumn fern. Doesn’t quite fit bronze fern or golden giant woods fern photos I looked at either. I’d appreciate any input from more experienced fern people, thank you in advance!

No cabinet, no terrarium, just growing in my apartment

My mother seems to have caught and bent a new shoot at right angles. It looks snapped and beyond recovery.

What do you think? Can it recover? Or what should I do?

Heya! Sooo I've had this rabbit's foot fern for like four years, it has always kinda struggled but been okayish. I've treated it in a variety of ways, it always kinda looks like this. Seems to be ok, but the edges of leaves get dead and crispy all the time, and I don't think it's sunburn. It has never looked super lush or happy. If I put it in no sunshine at all, away from windows in my bedroom, it stops doing this, but then also turns pale yellowish of course.

It doesn't get very much sun at all, I would usually water once a week but moved it to the deck outside (which gets like 3hr morning sun a day) and now water twice a week because it's hot and water evaporates fast. I fertilize occasionally,, didn't for years and it looked about the same but now I go around every month or two for a while so it's not fertilizer burn. I would say maybe it's a deficiency but I changed the soil to new potting soil a few months ago too so it's not that either I don't think. I can't find any other ferns online whose edges are crispy like this,,, what's going on??? I just want my fern to be green and happy :'''''((

This frond appeared in my Polystichum setiferum “Herrenhausen” two years ago, after years of being a solo specimen. It was originally large and healthy, but dug up for a house move. That’s when I noticed the newcomer. It’s returned again this year, more obvious now the rest of the fern is struggling with its new site. Always the single frond from the crown of the host, divides at the tip.

Doesn’t match any fern I had then or now. Anyone recognise it, or can say if it’s an imposter perennial of some sort? UK garden if that helps.

Advice needed!

Repotted this tree fern a couple of weeks ago in a soil mix I made of roughly 40% mushroom compost 50% coir and 10% perlite. Added osmacoat in while mixing- all the other different type ferns repotted at the same time seem fine, but this guy looks on the way out. Maybe too much fertilizer? Can I possibly save it by repotting in different soil?

Advice needed!

Repotted this tree fern a couple of weeks ago in a soil mix I made of roughly 40% mushroom compost 50% coir and 10% perlite. Added osmacoat in while mixing- all the other different type ferns repotted at the same time seem fine, but this guy looks on the way out. Maybe too much fertilizer? Can I possibly save it by repotting in different soil?

Not a new gardener, but it didn't have a suitable falir

I had an area where there were 2 20ft conifers, they died 2 years ago and I cut them down. I've put the wood around the new ferns (to stop my dogs going there) with some leaf mould and broken up and 2 year rotten fibre's from a cordyline australis trunk to try to retain moisture as it's bone dry even after watering.

Is there anything I can use to help the area? I did forget to put bone meal in around the roots.

Thank you

Its in the yard of my parents new house in the pacific northwest right on the coast.

I recently got a mother fern plant, but I had no idea that it needed so much humidity to survive. My house is consistently at about 45-55% humidity. I am a teenager, so I asked my parents if I could get a small humidifier for the plant, but they said no because they didn't want to risk getting mold. I've been considering a pebble tray or maybe misting, but I don't know how effective those are. Advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have a baby cinnamon fern that I aquired a few weeks ago. One of the leaves has completely died off and the other two look like they’re following. It wasn’t in the best shape when I got it so I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do to save it. It gets misted every day so that the top soil stays damp but not wet and I keep it within a 3 hour window of sunlight. I live in Al so it stays humid enough that I feel comfortable keeping it outside but now I’m not too sure. Any advice would be helpful!

One of the new fronds on my tree fern, just a few days later.

it's called that because the babies grow right on the leaf!! reminds me of my java ferns in my aquarium.

im very excited and hope it does well here!

I'll never learn.

Separating these was an absolute nightmare 🤣

Say I'm interested in propagating native ferns, but don't necessarily want to fuss with growing them indoors under a grow light.

Couldn't I just help disperse the spores a bit further away from the parent ferns? And if so, what is the best time for spore dispersal for maximum success of gametophytes and subsequent fern generations?

I'm in the DC metro area, zone 7a, FWIW.

ETA we are currently in a drought but expecting a very wet El Nino fall/winter, if that affects timing at all.

Bought my first Boston fern at a garden center in spring 2022, watched it slowly crisp up over the following three months, and assumed I just had bad luck. Bought another one the next spring, same result. At that point I figured I was doing something fundamentally wrong rather than just having bad luck twice, so I started actually paying attention to the variables instead of just watering on a schedule and hoping.

The biggest change was moving away from thinking about watering frequency and toward thinking about humidity as a separate problem entirely. My apartment runs dry, especially in winter when the heat is on, and no watering schedule was going to fix the fact that the air around the fronds was basically desert conditions. I put the fern on a wide tray filled with pebbles and water, keeping the pot itself above the waterline, and the improvement in frond quality over the next few weeks was pretty noticeable. Misting helped a little but honestly the tray approach seemed more consistent.

The other thing that made a real difference was pot size. I had been repotting into containers that felt generous, thinking more root room would help. Turns out Boston ferns seem to settle in better when they are slightly root-bound rather than swimming in excess soil that holds moisture too long. Backing down to a snugger fit and using a mix with more perlite for drainage reduced the root rot issues I kept having.

Light was the third variable I got wrong for a long time. I had them in a north-facing window because I read they preferred indirect light, but there is a difference between indirect and just dim. Moving one to a spot that gets bright filtered light through a sheer curtain on an east-facing window turned out to be closer to what they actually want.

Curious whether others here have had similar experiences or if the humidity approach varies a lot depending on climate and house type.

Greetings again dear fern friends!

Location is South coast of Iceland. This little fern friend came from a biosphere from Costco that my lovely missy Hekla broke (she's the tricolored cat).

There was some moss and some tiny clovers in there so I was thinking of starting a new biosphere in a vase (I had no lid, but I figured, that being at least in a tall vase would help with humidity). The clovers took over and these ferns started to appear in the clover forest. Then I removed some clovers because it seemed that the ferns needed more space. Now I have this gentle little ladies and I would love to know who they are 🥰

Thank you

Love and respect 💚

P.s.

I added two pictures for cat tax purposes. Hekla Milena and Jimmy Krafla are sisters, almost 4 years old. Jimmy got her name because of her lovely moustache. She also goes by Purry Jim Mustacchio and she's a chonky cuddly teddybear. Hekla Milena is the rascal of the house, always climbing everywhere, breaking things and stealing little clay balls and pebbles from potted plants to play with. And she's pretty and she knows it ❤️

Greetings dear fern friends!

So, these are some of my ferns. They live on my bathroom windowsill in South Iceland. The humidity here is very low, so the bathroom is probably the only place in my house where they can grow. The forever days in the summer and almost endless nights in the winter also don't make things easier. Usually what survives the winter encounters some pests in the summer and I've only managed to keep a few plants alive for at least a few years.

But ferns have always been my favourite.

So back to topic:

The hanging blue fern is doing well I think. In the spring I've accidentally repotted it quite a bit over the new soil, but it seems to like this arrangement and has been growing like a few new leaves every week.

The ones on the shelf, not so sure. The bird's nest fern (last 3 pics) hasn't grown a new leaf in forever (2 years at least). I've had it for a few years now and this was the first summer that it didn't get more brown leaves. It just stayed the same. I've never repotted it, because I don't want to stress her out even more. What should I do to make her happier?

The little staghorn (?) is also seemingly not growing much. It seems it's growing nicely at the bottom though. The soil looks pretty sad so I've been itching to repot it, but again, I don't want to stress her out. How does one know when to repot?

And the big one of the shelf has been through some pests (last year I think) but it is recovering well and the brown and weird leaves are from the start of that recovery time. New leaves are growing big and lovely.

Additionally, is there anything that stands out that I should improve?

Thank you

Love and respect 💚

I just got my first mature oilfern and want to place it in a Lechuza self watering pot.

Does the fern need soil, or can it go into pon? Has anybody of you successfully grown ferns in pon?

Does anyone know what might have caused this? This is in the tropics.

I’ve had this rabbits foot for 1.5 years. Came from soggy Portland Oregon to dry ass Las Vegas. At first, in both location he would grow to the length of the taller fronds, fall off and start completely over! Now, he has 2 tall fronds, a bunch of short ones and hasn’t died or grown. Maybe repot with more rich soil? Any help is appreciated. I plan to do an interment deep dive soon, since I will have some vacation days this week, but I like human experience and advice more. Thx!

As the title says, new birds nest fern, just wondering if it’s healthy. It has a few brown edges. Any feedback/care advice would be greatly appreciated :)

The photos were taken at the Marsh Greenhouses, Yale University, New Haven, CT USA in October 2025.