Help. My fern plant is dying. Any green thumbs?

[DRUNK_CANADIAN]

My poor plant was so lush and green, its only handheld size and I tried two watering regimes, once a day and another every couple. But its bright green is turning to a whitish green and its fern leaves are starting to curl....please help

[Apollo702]

You are overwatering it.

There could be other issues.

This one is that simple.

[Delta]

Ferns need sunlight. Is it getting enough sun?

[Sherasonni]

Try using fertilizer.

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

Might need some plant food. make sure you buy the right plant food for the plant.

[SHAZBOT]

im not an expert but if your plant was green and lush before, im sure your doing the sun and water right.


complete transplant? bugs? maybe start cloning before its too late?



random google: You’ll need to repot these plants approximately once every two or three years. There will be signs that the plant needs to be repotted. You might notice that the plant will stop growing as rapidly as usual. Sometimes you might even see roots poking through the drainage holes of the pot. If you notice such things, it’s time to repot the plant.
How to Repot a Boston Fern (And Why You Should)

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Originally posted by Grand Ayatrollah:

im not an expert but if your plant was green and lush before, im sure your doing the sun and water right.


complete transplant? bugs? maybe start cloning before its too late?

That made me think of something. Maybe the plant is getting to big for it's pot. If the roots are touching the pot it could kill it. So maybe transferring it to another pot might save it. Make sure to use fresh potting soil and not dirt from outside.

[SHAZBOT]

Originally posted by SnakeFist:

Originally posted by Grand Ayatrollah:

im not an expert but if your plant was green and lush before, im sure your doing the sun and water right.


complete transplant? bugs? maybe start cloning before its too late?

That made me think of something. Maybe the plant is getting to big for it's pot. If the roots are touching the pot it could kill it. So maybe transferring it to another pot might save it. Make sure to use fresh potting soil and not dirt from outside.

thats probably it, make sure to research repotting on your own, ive see people kill plants in 2 days because they repotted wrong

[Tiberius]

Pale color is usually because of the lack of sunlight

[Apollo702]

Plus it would help to state which kind of fern it is.


They are NOT all the same and can have very different requirements.

[DRUNK_CANADIAN]

Originally posted by Breathe:

Originally posted by Delta:

Ferns need sunlight. Is it getting enough sun?

Bright but indirect sun. Ferns are usually found in shaded areas. Soil should never be completely dried out but pay attention for drier soil, then you need to water it. Liquid fertilizer also.

I will add too, in fairness, my fern was the only plant I just couldn't keep. I let it dry out though and wasn't serious about fertilizer. It was such a lush, beautiful plant but personally I need more experiences with the plants I've been able to keep alive the past 5 years.

Odd. It pretty much gets sunlight half of the day... I am shocked that's its deficit.

Also thanks for all the replies so far.

[talemore]

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Pale color is usually because of the lack of sunlight

without sunlight it will decay. Pale color indicate it has too much water and too little magnesium which it would be given from rocks and that it becomes bleached by the sun. It can become pale by staying too long in the sun that the sun bleach the plant.
Plants uses the sunlight for synthesis. It's not living on sunlight but it needs it for other reasons. Plants are carnevores and eat fertilize which comes from animals. Since it's a green plant you can fertilize it without worry it will consume all energy creating green and no flowers.

[Caldari Ghost]

have you tried watering it

[Dutchgamer1982]

ok..

fern will need moist soil.. so give at least 3 times a week a LITTLE water..
but make sure you don't make the soil soaked
the right moistness is the whole soil has one consistant moist level.. and is just moist enough that if you lay a scred of newspaper on it will take 15-30 seconds to get fully wet..
if it keeps dryspots the soil is to dry.. if it gets soaked imediatlyly upon placing it is to wet..

ferns also do NOT like direct sunlight.. after all they grow in the wild on forest floors in the shade so place it away from any windows...

finally they like a relative high air humidy.. many homes have a very low humidity.. you cain rise humidity in houses by hanging water to evaportate around the house... or place a water evaportor near your fern.. (make ofcourse sure that the vapor is not steam.. just mildly warm)
naturally the bathroom is a good place for a fern as generally there is more humidy there..

ferns also not like to be cut... don't remove leaves... untill they fully brown.. and dead.
no partial leaf removal.

you need to change pot for the fern once every 2 years.. get a slighly larger pot.. buy proper soil (just ask your plantshop whats the right soil for ferns.) carefully shake the fern out it's pot.. than break off about halve the current soil.. without damaging the roots to much... than add it with fresh soil around it in it's new pot..

a fern not need fertiliser... as they not like nutrient ritch soil.. the fresh soil once every 2 years is plenty.. if your soil is really old and degraded.. (essentially only happens if the fern is to large for it's potsize).. you can only fertilise it with MUCH dilited plant fertiliser (really use very little and at least add twice if not trice as much water as for other houseplants.

if you want to give additional care...
spraying it gently with a plant sprayer each day... will help keeping it moist.. and also removes any dust from the leaves.. but don't ever spray the underside of the leaves (thats were the spores are.