Ferns are perfect houseplants for your bathroom or kitchen as well as a nice addition to any greenhouse plants collection. However, there are some common problems you should be aware of, such as leaf loss.
Another problem that you can encounter quite often is drying out and wilting, so that’s what we’re going to talk about in this post.
So, why is your fern drying out?
The most common reasons why a fern is drying out are low air humidity, lack or excess of sunlight, adding too much fertilizer and when you don’t water your fern properly.
Although most ferns prefer high air humidity, a few of them grow better in a rather dry atmosphere. For example, all Asplenium ferns need shade and a moist atmosphere whilst Davallia canariensis and Pellaea rotundifolia prefer dry air.
Although you can grow different varieties of ferns in a greenhouse, make sure to check the needs of the individual plant.
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If you think that your fern is dying, check out this post to learn about the reasons why it’s happening (I’m also sharing my top prevention tips there).
Now that you know why your fern is drying out, it’s time to find out how to revive a dried out fern.
Can you revive a dried out fern?
You can revive a dried out fern if you create the favorable conditions for growing. Most ferns are hardy plants so they revive back in a few weeks after you correct the problematic conditions.
The good news is that if the fern is dead, which is usual in cold temperatures during winter, it will grow back in spring once the temperatures go up!
7 Steps to Revive A Dried Out Fern:
Step 1 – Water the plant and leave it for an hour. Knock the pot on the edge of a table and run a knife around the rootball. Remove the plant from the pot.
Step 2 – Trim all dying fronds to 2 inches and remove the dead fronds.
Step 3 – Tease out matted roots and remove dying or dead roots. Leave the healthy ones.
Step 4 – Take a new pot and put a piece of wire mesh in the bottom. Fill up the half of the pot with well-drained organic soil.
Step 5 – Place the plant in the middle and gradually fill the surrounding space with potting mix. Firm the compost with your thumbs.
Step 6 – Water the compost so it is moist but not soggy. Compost should be dry between waterings.
Step 7 – Place the pot on a windowsill facing north when there is direct sunlight.
How to save a fern from dying?
Whether you grow a fern indoors or outside, it’s most likely dying from poor drainage. Potting mix in a pot or soil outdoors has to drain well. It does happen quite often that drainage hole gets clogged. To check if that happened to you, take a pencil and stick it up the drainage hole.
Sometimes fern can be drying or dying because it has outgrown the pot. In this case repotting it straight away can be an unnecessary shock for the plant. So keep it in the same pot until it has revived and once you see a new growth you can repot fern in a bigger container.
How to revive a dried out fern in a pot?
Keep the fern in the pot and cut dried out fronds to 2 inches long keeping the healthy green leaves untouched. You should have healthy upright fronds in the center. Remove top 2 inches of compost and add fresh potting mix.
Soak a plant in a large bucket so it drains completely. Place it on a windowsill or outdoors in full light and not in direct sunlight. As a general guidance you need to repot ferns in spring when the roots fill the pot. If you have young specimens, you should repot them once a year.
Hope that you found the information in this post useful and feel free to share it with your family and friends!
Let me know in the comments section down below what ferns are you growing? What fern problems did you face?
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Happy Growing 🙂
With Love,
Ana
