To get rid of Japanese beetles on ferns, first identify the type of beetle and take action to remove and prevent them from returning. Handpicking is a great way to remove beetles, as well as using soap and water to deter them. Insecticides such as marlate, dymet, orthene, and sevin can also help deter Japanese beetles. Cythion-based insecticides are known to damage plants.
To prevent or get rid of Japanese beetles, monitor your plants carefully and pick fruits and veggies promptly. Knowing the right techniques and methods can help you effectively get rid of ferns. One of the easiest ways to remove Japanese beetles from small plants is to shake them off early in the morning when the insects are sluggish. Spraying them with herbicides, either natural or chemical, can be an efficient way to get rid of ferns.
Removing unnecessary ferns is fairly simple, as all you need to do is dig down and carefully remove the root system and crown of the plant. For spores, have a good understanding of how to use them.
To get rid of ferns with roots in your yard, try using sprays like glyphosate. A simple concoction of water and vinegar, dish soap, and a garlic spray can be used to put a leash on the beetle surge. Neem oil, a botanical insecticide, reduces feeding of the insects and is best applied at the first sign of damage. Wipe down leaves with a damp cloth and apply insecticidal soap or neem oil with gusto. Shake and drop the plants to dislodge the beetles, letting them sink and drown quickly. Repeat daily until the ferns breathe again.
In summary, identifying the type of beetle on ferns is the first step in removing them from your yard. Handpicking, washing plant leaves with soap and water, and using insecticides like marlate, dymet, orthene can help you get rid of these pests without using harsh chemicals.
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Worried about my fern, not sure what kind of bug is on it … | Wipe all the surfaces with insecticidal soap or neem oil. Pay close attention the the nooks and crannies. Then spray the nooks and crannies with you pesticide … | reddit.com |
How to keep beetles from eating the leaves of my garden … | A better spray is a garlic spray. Simply smash 2–3 cloves of garlic and place them in a jar, cover with mineral oil and let sit overnight. I use … | quora.com |
📹 I Stopped Killing Ferns Once I Learned This
The ultimate guide to keeping your Fern happy and healthy. ——————– Download my FREE Plant Parent’s Troubleshooting …
How Do I Prevent Pests From Infesting My Ferns?
To prevent pests from infesting your ferns, it’s crucial to maintain their health by ensuring they receive sufficient light and water. Regular inspections for pest signs are vital, and newly introduced plants should be quarantined before adding them to existing collections. Cleaning gardening tools and pots will help prevent pest spread. Despite their minimal maintenance and aesthetic appeal, ferns can attract common pests, which can threaten their health.
To effectively control these pests, prevention is essential. Recognizing pest species and fostering an optimal environment through adequate care—like proper watering, humidity, and air circulation—will significantly reduce infestation risks. Fern species resistant to pests can be selected for additional protection.
To manage pests that do appear, methods such as using insecticidal soap or organic solutions like neem oil can be effective. Homemade insect sprays using vegetable oil, white vinegar, or lemon can also aid in pest control. For specific pests like spider mites, identifying their presence through webs and silvery spots can enable swift action. Removing affected fronds may be necessary. Regular monitoring and clean care will protect ferns, ensuring they remain vibrant and healthy.
Addressing any pest issues early is critical, as it can thwart serious damage to the plants. Overall, a combination of vigilance, cleanliness, and the right treatments will keep your ferns free from pests and thriving.
Does Dawn Dish Soap Get Rid Of Japanese Beetles?
To combat Japanese beetles, mix a few tablespoons of dish soap with water in a small container, such as an empty beer or soda can, which minimizes their escape. This soapy solution kills beetles by causing them to drown before they can emit pheromones. Early intervention is crucial; as beetle populations grow, eradication becomes increasingly challenging. Since these pests are attracted to ripening or diseased fruit, careful monitoring and prompt harvesting of fruits and vegetables are effective prevention methods.
To use dish soap as a repellent, combine 1 tablespoon of soap with 1 gallon of water in a spray bottle. However, it’s essential to avoid applying products like Milky Spores where beetles are currently present. Instead, spores should be placed in areas where beetles lay eggs.
While dish soap can kill adult Japanese beetles, mixing 1 teaspoon of soap with 1 quart of water for application has proven effective for other pests like Box Elder bugs. Soapy water can also aid in bringing up grubs, benefiting birds that prey on them. Avoid using any dish soap other than Palmolive on plants, as it can harm them.
The mechanism behind the soapy solution is that it prevents beetles from escaping, leading to their demise. While soapy water specifically kills beetles, it might not affect all insects, as beetles tend to drop when disturbed. Ultimately, proper application of standard dish soaps like Dawn or Palmolive is key to protecting your garden from Japanese beetles.
How Do I Get Rid Of Beetles Permanently?
To eliminate beetles from your home, consider using home remedies such as peppermint oil, neem oil, insect traps, pyrethrin, lavender, and diatomaceous earth. Traditional methods involve batting, exclusion strategies, and the help of pest management professionals. First, identify the source of an infestation, particularly with carpet beetles, as their larvae often hide in quiet, dark areas. Effective techniques include thorough cleaning, applying essential oils like clove and peppermint, and using boiling water or vinegar solutions as sprays.
Start by cleaning the affected areas and regularly vacuuming to remove larvae. It's crucial to combine preventive measures with targeted treatments to ensure permanent removal; otherwise, beetles are likely to return. For immediate effects, Bifen LP Granules and Reclaim IT can be used outside and around the yard. Other methods include mixing dish soap with water to create a spray or using steam cleaning to reach deep into carpets.
You can also reduce outdoor lighting and inspect new plants to prevent infestations. For those dealing with aggressive species like Japanese Beetles, follow these steps: identify the beetles, assess the level of infestation, remove infested items, vacuum thoroughly, use pheromone traps, and apply insecticides. Overall, combining several strategies—thorough cleaning, essential oils, safe insecticides, dust treatments, and lifestyle changes—will yield the best results in controlling and eradicating beetle populations in your home.
How Do You Get Rid Of Japanese Beetles On Boston Ferns?
To deter Japanese beetles, washing plant leaves with soap and water is recommended, alongside insecticides like marlate, dymet, orthene, and sevin. However, cythion-based insecticides can harm ferns such as Boston and maidenhair. One effective method to remove beetles from small plants is to gently shake them off in the morning when the beetles are less active. Collecting them into a bucket of soapy water can kill the insects. It is essential to identify the specific type of beetle to take appropriate action against it.
Handpicking beetles, monitoring ripe or diseased fruits, and removing them promptly can help in prevention. These beetles, prevalent in states east of the Mississippi River and partially in some western states, are destructive to flowers and vegetation. Effective removal strategies include trapping, using commercial insecticides, creating barriers, planting decoy crops, using garlic, and handpicking them. Preventative measures should start at the grub stage, utilizing products containing Bacillus thuringiensis galleriae, which targets specific pests.
Physical removal remains the easiest approach, as beetles can be shaken off plants and drowned in soapy water. Keeping an eye on daily infestations allows for better control. A simple mixture of four tablespoons of dish soap with a quart of water can be an effective all-natural solution for deterring these pests. Consistency and early intervention are vital in managing Japanese beetle populations effectively.
How Do I Get Rid Of Beetles Eating My Leaves?
For a natural approach to combat beetles in your garden, mix four tablespoons of dish soap with water in a spray bottle. Spray directly on the beetles, focusing on the undersides of leaves. Hand-picking, home remedy sprays, and beetle traps are effective methods as well. Row covers, beetle-repelling plants, and proper gardening techniques can help prevent infestations. Neem oil, a traditional remedy, is effective against various beetle types, including damaging Japanese and June beetles.
Regular inspection of leaves is crucial, as many beetles hide underneath. Creating sprays with common household ingredients provides a quick solution to ward off pests. Beetles tend to skeletonize leaves by feeding between veins, while earwigs can damage herbs and leafy vegetables, causing ragged edges. Employ beneficial insects that prey on harmful species. For June beetles, known for targeting plants like dahlias and peonies, gently shake your plants over soapy water to drown the beetles that fall.
Neem oil and diatomaceous earth can also help. Visit your garden at dusk with soapy water to hand-remove beetles effectively. Planting strong-scented herbs like garlic, mint, and rosemary can deter pests. Handpicking is most effective in the early morning or late evening when they are less active. Dusting with powdered sulfur provides additional protection.
What To Spray On Ferns For Japanese Beetles?
Sevin brand garden insecticides effectively combat Japanese beetles while being gentle on gardens. You can select the ideal product for your needs, like Sevin Insect Killer Ready To Use 2, which eliminates Japanese beetles and over 130 other pests upon contact without damaging plants. Preventive measures can significantly reduce the risk of infestations, and washing plant leaves with soap and water serves as a deterrent alongside other insecticides like marlate and orthene. Cythion-based insecticides, however, can cause damage. To promote a healthier environment, consider using cinnamon-infused solutions to repel Japanese beetles.
Experts recommend starting treatment immediately with Japanese beetle killers containing pyrethrin or neem oil upon the first signs of beetle activity. Hand-picking beetles or using natural pesticides should be performed while the beetles are feeding actively, usually occurring from late May to July. Critical to pest control, targeting larvae with imidacloprid in mid-August can be beneficial. Although Sevin is a widely recommended treatment, concerns exist about its impact on beneficial insects.
A soapy spray solution can deter beetles but may primarily cause drowning rather than direct harm. For comprehensive management, a multi-faceted approach that includes initiating treatment with neem oil may effectively deter feeding by adult beetles.
What Is The Best Spray For Leaf Beetles?
Resolva Bug Killer Ready To Use effectively targets a variety of pests affecting gardens, including aphids, beetles, different types of bugs, caterpillars, and more. A significant threat to lilies comes from the scarlet lily leaf beetle, which severely damages their foliage, leading some gardeners to abandon these plants. Leaf beetles are notorious for harming food crops and home gardens. Effective management strategies include vacuuming beetles off plants, using neem oil for its longstanding efficacy, and applying systemic insecticides like Bonide and Bioadvanced for comprehensive pest control.
Combining thorough inspections, handpicking, and organic sprays maintains healthy lilies. Regular action helps keep gardens free of lily beetles, with neem oil as a preferred choice due to its broad-spectrum effectiveness and minimal residue. For elm leaf beetle control, systemic insecticides like Imidacloprid are recommended, and for immediate impact, ready-to-spray options such as Spectracide are available. Organic insecticides, like horticultural oils or insecticidal soap, offer additional solutions.
To effectively combat the bean leaf beetle, using broad-spectrum insecticides like Supreme IT is advisable for extended protection against various pests. It is crucial to ensure thorough spraying of all leaf surfaces for best results in pest management.
How To Get Rid Of Japanese Beetles?
Japanese beetles can be effectively managed using ethical and natural methods. If handling them directly is uncomfortable, a small hand-held vacuum on a low setting can be used to suck them up from plants. Prevention and control of these pests, which attack over 300 plant varieties, involves identifying, hand-picking, trapping, and using insecticides. Garden expert Melody Estes emphasizes the importance of tackling grubs, adult beetles, and preventing future infestations for long-term results.
Key methods include hand-picking beetles, using crop covers, and applying suitable insecticides during the grub stage. For immediate infestations, strategies such as physically removing beetles, attracting natural predators, utilizing traps, or cultivating beetle-resistant plants can be effective. A simple yet humane approach entails knocking beetles into a bucket of soapy water, where they will drown.
For organic methods, products like Beetlegone, a strain of Bacillus thuringiensis, effectively target Japanese beetles. Though insecticides can be an option, care is required, particularly for organic growers. Trying sprays like Bonide Fruit Tree Spray can help with various affected plants. Overall, adopting a mix of these techniques, including traditional and organic methods, will provide a comprehensive approach to managing Japanese beetles in gardens and yards.
What Is The Best Homemade Japanese Beetle Spray?
Organic insecticides, such as neem oil and potassium bicarbonate sprays, effectively combat beetles on rose plants. To create a homemade pest control solution, mix one tablespoon of regular dish soap with one cup of vegetable oil, then dilute this with one quart of water. Early intervention is essential to manage Japanese beetles effectively; as their population grows, eradication becomes more challenging. Monitoring plants closely and promptly harvesting ripe or diseased fruits can significantly deter beetles, attracted by the scent of decay.
For a natural spray, combine one teaspoon of liquid dish soap (not dishwasher) with one cup of vegetable oil, then apply as needed. Another method involves pureeing five garlic cloves with a cup of water, adding a teaspoon of liquid soap, straining, and then spraying the solution on affected plants. You can also use essential oils mixed with water for a potent repellent. For drowning beetles, mix dish soap with water in a small container; empty beer or soda cans allow fewer escape routes for the beetles.
This soapy solution ensures a quick death as they sink and drown. Additionally, herbs like garlic, chives, tansy, catnip, and peppermint can deter beetles due to their strong scents. Other effective remedies include neem oil, essential oil sprays, and planting geraniums. Combining such natural strategies can help control and reduce Japanese beetle populations in your garden.
📹 No more black flies ’round your indoor plants – Fungus Gnat Control tips // The Gardenettes
The pesky little black or grey flies darting around your indoor plants are fungus gnats! While the flying adults are just plain …
The interesting thing about ferns is that the foliage is very stubborn and roots are very persistent. A lot of people have problems with ferns like maidenhair, because the moment the environment change, the fern kills off all the foliage that was grown in the old environment, but what people don realize, is that this is how they adapt to new environment. They kill off the old foliage and grow new foliage for new environment. So my advice is once you bring a fern home, expect it to die off, cut the dead stems close to the soil, keep watering it as usual and be patient, they will most likely regrow. However do not cover it up to create more humidity because the new growth will grow used to that humidity and once you remove the cover, they will die off again and the process will start from beginning. With ferns, if roots are there, it will regrow, and roots are not that easy to kill, even if you forget to water and they dry up, there is a chance they will recover once hydrated. I went through this process with my maidenhair fern, and after that it was growing fine in my room with average 40 % humidity.
I finally cracked the secret of growing button ferns, my favourites! I used to struggle with these, until I read where they originate from. They apparently grow on ‘limestone ledges’ in places like New Zealand …temperate climates. Hey. The advice in my plant care book was SO wrong, saying these plants require acid soil. So I now use ordinary potting soil, but also add a few limestone chips to the soil mix. Bingo. It’s one of my healthiest, happiest plants now.
I successfully propagated a Boston fern with just the seeking tendrils (I can’t think of what they’re properly called …like stems that stick out with no leaves)! I cut a few out and wound them around in circles inside a glass jar just partially covered with a little of the soil. I covered it with a clear plastic pot bottom to act as a little terrarium lid until the plant was well established (I live in Denver, so it’s dry here). It’s been in the same glass jar but without the lid anymore for months and is growing well! Mama plant has lived in my apartment for years.
I in fact did prop fern through spore collection and grew them in a small container which was clear with some kinda soil media I created and closed the spores up on the moist Media sealed with a clear lid and waited to see them turn into moss then begin to grow into the tiny fern beginnings of plants. Eventually taking on the look of the actual parent plant. But it was time consuming for sure! Still, it was worth it to see it happen
I propagated my fern by dusting/shaking/rubbing the spores into a cup of distilled water then using a dropper to drop the fern spore mixture onto a spagnum tube cut in half that i had soaked in distilled water. I used a pot and placed the half of the tube in the soil not covering rhe tip. I placed a clear cup on top of the fern and placed rhe fern on a heat pad to initiate root growth. I considtently misted the fern spores with distilled water. I know it sounds like a lot but the most important thing here is starting with spagnum moss, placing and leaving the cup on top, and misting. You can also propagate some ferns by cutting rhisomes and making sure to have a node on the rhizome. Rabbit foot ferns are good for this.
My fern was doing a lot of runners, and I tried to put them in another pot so see if it would propagate. After two months I thought it wasn’t doing anything but when I started to try removing the runner from the pot I figured it developped quite a network in there. Let’s see if it starts making leaves, although I’m not so sure how it will go !
Thanks for another great article. I want to try a fern but didn’t want to kill it. You’ve just given me courage! 🙂 I like it when you “moan” about the weather in Sheffield. It reminds me to make adjustments to your advice to accommodate the weather here in “Hotlanta” (Atlanta, GA). Have a great day!
I have little one in the bathroom and she gets watered every other day, I’ve had this little plant for a just over a year and she’s tripled in size, she’s doing great, I also bottom water. My husband just rescued a huge fern that someone stuck out on the curb in 100 degree weather and while it’s still outside I have begun trimming the dead stuff off and watering it and there is a bunch of new little fronds coming up, it needs to be repotted as it is severely root bound. ❤
Thank you for sharing!! After losing two maidenhair ferns, one lemon button fern, a boston fern and a Rabbit’s foot fern, I FINALLY realized that keeping my Maidenhair fern in my humid enclosed greenhouse makes her happy!! She’s finally sending side shoots after growing solely in the middle for some time!!❤
I have grown Maidenhair Spleenwort – Asplenium trichomanes from spores taken from plants growing on a stone wall on dartmoor. I put the spores in an envelope by tapping the plants – I had noticed that brushing against them left a brown stain on my hand. I put the spores onto wet seedling compost in an unheated propagator in a cool bedroom near a window but not in sunlight 15 – 18C over winter months. A couple of dozen ferns grew by the end of the next summer. I left them in the propagator and transplanted to pots when they were an inch or so high with 5 or so fronds. Some I left for a couple of years in the propagator. I now have about a dozen in pots cut in half standing in a little water most of the time. Mostly not in direct sunlight by by a window. Very attractive plant.
Richard, I’ve been following your advice regarding bottom watering my plants where possible. I remove them out of their decorative pots and place them in a pan filled with water to cover the drainage holes. Is there a general rule of thumb regarding how long to let them soak? Thanks for your articles. They are informative and entertaining.
I shoved my three normal ferns in the back yard last week. The shoots are still coming and are green but due to my house being humid I gave up. Initially they were OK but when I started getting crispy leaves I tried the spraying fine water/bed of rocks with water/using my humidifier. I always read up on how to look after them so I knew it might be a problem. My bathroom isn’t big enough for all the plants hence the reason why they’ve ended up out back
Great advice as always! I’ve found that vermiculite instead of perlite for ferns and other moisture-lovers (helloooooooo Calatheas!) is better as vermiculite tends to trap more water whilst still providing good soil aeration. I also make sure that my ferns always have a little water at the bottom of the saucer or cover pot. I’m a chronic underwaterer so this makes a big difference for me!
Thank you for this!! I’ve just taken the plunge and bought a few ferns again. I tried to grow one or two, years ago, zero success. Put me off ferns. Now after fairly good success with indoor plants (again, thank you so much for your articles and advice, I love your articles.), I’ve decided to try again. I have them in the bathroom, but I’m not sure they’re super happy. Starting to look a bit crispy. I’ll try a good feed. I live in Western Australia, cold with hot steamy showers is their environment.
My Bostoner is huge, dark green with lots of roots gone to the air (had no idea those are actually roots that have no space in the pot :D). Had to break the pot. It was all roots and rhizomes…. It’s positioned on the west-facing balcony on the Adriatic coast, having too much sun, with actual shade (only from 11AM to 3PM every summer day) created by the curtains that I draw each day to avoid the scorching sun…. Watering each morning, thrives next to cactus and succulents.
Great article again!! I love ferns! I plant them all in the soil mixed with orchid bark and they just do so well! And what they really love as a fertilizer is the one according to your recipe- oats and tea!! 😁 i see so much new and healthy growth not just on the ferns but on my other plants as well! Thank you!!
Great article I got mines on a window that has shade and I learned that it needs more water than what we think, it’s definitely a thirsty beauty. I bottom water them since I’ve seen your old article. I live in Florida I have A/C that’s probably why my plant is so happy. Oh then Il have to replant mines in plastic pot 😮
I’ve concluded the worse plant tips are on the tag. They are created to make you over water, under light the plant so you will end up tossing the plant out and buying a new one to try again or so you at least have a “pretty” plant for a few weeks. I had an asparagus fern, it LOVED the sansi regular lamp bulb and grew all the way up, touched the light then burn itself to death… LOL smart plant it was… Then it shed everywhere, which is basically what I remember from it, it was a messy plant LOL. I do want another fern, I love the maidenhair ferns and had one before but I didn’t have a quality light bulb, grow or otherwise, for it. I also didn’t have a humidifier, so I was able to keep it alive until the humidity dropped below 30 percent. The only real reason I haven’t bought another one is because I keep finding alocasias at the same time and those end up coming home with me, LOL… I think that a lot of people feel that a very thin leaved plant, like a fern, would burn easily from fertilizer but in reality, they are fast growers and heavy drinkers which means they need food or they are just going to be drunk with water. Your hate for terracotta makes me laugh 😛 I prefer it for pretty much every plant even though I haven’t switched most over. It does tend to be my pot of choice though when I do need to repot. That said, I am someone whose day is “wake up, put dog out, walk around and check every single plant, get moisture meter for ones I am not sure about, bring dog in, go do my own morning business, make coffee/tea, do plant chores while drinking coffee/tea.
Root division is not the only way to propagate ferns. My favourite way to propagate ferns is by using the runners (long, stringlike feelers growing out of the fern). Just pin them down onto the soil and it will grow roots and leaves. Use small separate pots of soil placed next to the mother plant if you want a new pot of fern. You can separate them by cutting the runner later when the new plant is stable.
I mostly avoid them. I live in a desert in the summer and -35c in winter. I have 1 blue star I’m barely keeping alive, I did switch it to semi hydro which was probably the best thing I’ve done to it. It’s been much better. I love ferns, but until I have bathrooms with windows, they are probably put in my home.
Where I live ferns are one of the most common types of plants, they are even lawn weeds and will grow on my roof. Of course I live in a rainforest and my lawn is also more moss than grass but it means ambient humidity here is pretty high, being a temperate rainforest though the daytime temperature even in the summer is rarely more than about 85 or maybe 30 c i think, also it rarely freezes here so some houseplants can grow outside most the year.
I live in the tropics – hot and humid year-round. Wild ferns sprout naturally all the time, from air-borne spores, in my house plant pots and will grow into large unruly masses if I don’t weed them out. They look very pretty when young but later can crowd out the main plant in the pot. If we want a particular non-native fern, like Maidenhair, which prefers a slightly cooler climate than the tropics, we get it from the nursery. Ferns do need conditions specific to each species to grow well. For several weeks, I noticed a robust young bird’s nest fern growing on the ground right next to a busy, noisy, muddy, traffic junction construction site, with hot direct sunshine, no shade. It was thriving, with broad leaves and new leaves sprouting. One day, I decided to yank it out (took some effort, strong roots), brought it home, potted it and hung it in my kitchen window, which is shady with no direct sun. After recovering from the abuse I gave it, it settled down and started growing new leaves. However, the new leaves are long and very slender, instead of the classic broad wavy leaves. I figured it needs several hours of direct sun and for the soil to dry out in between heavy waterings. We see them everywhere growing naturally high up on open tree trunks and branches. I’ve just transferred it to my living room window which has bright, direct, afternoon sunlight. Hopefully, it will soon grow those beautiful broad wavy leaves.
Hi. Another nice vid for a plant parent. Had the same problem with the Ferns 😀 Btw. yesterday I just found out, that there exists a fungus called Mycorrhiza. Maybe you could look into it and make a new vid about it, because after reading a little bit more into it, it seems like a win-win situation for the plant and the fungus.
The main reason why probing with your fingers can be misleading is in the case the temperature of the moisture is the same of our skin. We don’t have “moisture sensitive” sensors, we have temperature sensors. It’s the same reason why when we’re checking if the clothes are dry we sometimes can’t tell
I tried every way I’ve ever seen recommended to try to grow a fern from spores and have had ABSOLUTELY ZERO success. I got spores from a reputable producer, and followed all the directions to a T. I live in Wisconsin which is the perfect growing zone, and I was extremely patient. I waited over a year for results before I gave up. I was going to give it another go with rhysomes this year but I happened to walk into the greenhouse in my VERY small town (so small greenhouse) and they had a bunch of beautiful healthy baby ferns on clearance sale. I couldn’t help myself I snatched 1 up. Now I am debating on whether or not I want to dig up the 1 that popped up naturally next to my driveway. I’m afraid the kid who mows the lawn is going to mow it down AGAIN this year. It was a brand new baby when he mowed it over last September so I wasn’t sure it would come back.
Hi I have a boston fern that was really struggling, followed your tips worked great. I also started to use one of these water globes and now it is going nuts. So now I have these tendrils or stolons everywhere. i understand you can make new plants from these but Googling it shows no real info. Do you know how? I know you can just put these in soil and a new plant will grow from the soil then cut of the tendril but I have like 20 from a 10cm pot. It’s a lot. I can’t put 20 pots around it – will a pot of water with all the tendrills tucked in there do the same? Or it needs to be soil?
I have all my ferns in my south facing room, I just don’t clean my window that often xD But I whish I would have known how much of a diva an adiantum raddianum is compared to an adiantum fritz luthi. They look super similar, but damn the fritz luthi is way tougher. I don’t use a humidifier and just group my plants together. Though I have to say that due to the current rainy weather the humidity in my room is quite high (~65%) compared to normal (~45%).
My mother had an enormous fern, it was beautiful. We would hide underneath it as kids, shake the leaves, make a mess. When we would go away for the wknd it drooped like it was sad. When we came home it would perk up. Every spring mom would put it outside, turned the water hose on it to give it a bath. It’s a wonder that thing survived for eons.
I live in Florida(zone10) and have north facing windows. I used to live in zone 7 with east west windows and had to leave all my plants 😢. The room is light but shade at the same time. What plates would you recommend? Your website is the most realistic and straightforward one I’ve found so thank you.
Hello Mr. Scheffield! Great website you have, I watch your articles frequently – thank you for all the advice! Would you have any tips on how to care for, propagate and repot kangaroo paw fern? I have seen a lot here on YouTube, but it could be fun to see and hear what you have to say about it. Thanks in advance!
I have a question concerning blue star ferns. I have 3 of these ferns currently growing very well in my kitchen, I keep them on damp leca, fertilise on average once a month but I’ve been noticing for quite awhile now thst the new growth isn’t blue and also the tips of the mature leaves are losing their colour from their tips. I wondered if it might be my water so have recently started using the API stress coat. Can anyone advise what may be causing the loss of colour?
I apologize and I know this isn’t the right article to probably ask this but I have a yellow wandering dude zebra at least that what the tag said But should I know why it’s turning white or pale ? I did fertilize it and I had it in shade but moved it to sun and grow light . What can I do to make it stop
Sounds like you and I should do a house swap for awhile in order to better appreciate our extremes. I live in the desert southwest of the US where we have about 350 sunny days each year, and ferns drive me crazy! Some of them seem to do fine, even outside in 40º plus weather! While others go along happily then for no apparent reason, the fronds start to brown and literally half of them die—not a very good look, for sure! Thanks for all these articles—they are very helpful!
Calla lily foilage have been my enemy recently…. I knew how fussy they could be, and picked up two beautiful smaller specimens on sale but sadly.. one has now passed on and there was nothing I didn’t try… and the others down to just two single, but really healthy leaves, but I’m still sat worrying about it 😂😩 I assume they were not doing to well when sat in the garden centre, but they looked near perfect hence why I made the decision in the first place.🤷🏽♂️ I personally looove picking up the things on sale or things getting thrown out at my work, as I like nursing them back etc etc, it’s a rewarding feeling when you succeed. but yeah…Callas…😂
I’ve grown different types of fungi before, so I can tell you growing ferns from spores is almost identical. Honestly it looks easier than growing a lot of types of fungi, as fungi require an even higher sterility environment than ferns do. It’s very easy, you just have to plan it out when you’re actually transferring the spores to the media you’re gonna have them grow in. I would tell you to 100% get yourself a still air box, it’ll cut down on your contamination by a LOT. Ideally the best is a laminar flow hood but that’s expensive, still air boxes are not! Learn how to grow fungi and you’ll learn how to grow ferns!
I actually propagate ferns only by spores, as that brings a much greater yield in terms of numbers instead of division. You can count on division the vast majority of the time for a successful propagation, but the number is greatly limited. With spore propagation, with just one dried frond’s worth of spores, you can acquire hundreds of ferns. I grow ferns from spore for an organization devoted to environmental restoration and only grow native species. To address your point about growing them from spores being time consuming, I strongly disagree. It’s more so entirely patience, as sporophytes tend to grow very slowly. From spore to established fern, I usually see two years time. 90% of that time is waiting for the fern to mature in each stage of growth. You simply let them grow in the background while you tend to other things. And you really only need to transplant each fern once or perhaps twice in that two year time period—depending on which species is being transplanted. I would love to answer any other questions you may have about spore propagation.
I have them in my garden. I keep cutting their leaves off but they keep coming back, hoping they exhaust themselves and die. I tried boiling water but that just sets them back a little. I’ve managed to kill one that i hacked the roots out of but some of them are growing in from the neighbours side which i can access. They are also spreading out so might use weedkiller. I watched this hoping to findout how to kill them.