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Answers to your gardening questions |
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Five-part article series on flower-drying starts here Eight-part article series on vegetable gardening starts here Asian
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Boston
Ferns |
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Welcome through Fred's Garden Gate! Oh, blessed rest! Finally, a well-deserved (in most cases) pause in the hurry and hustle of short-season gardening in the northeast. It seems like just last month that we took our indoor plants out for their summer vacation. Now they're back in, gasping for humidity and leaning toward the light of fast-shortening days. One plant which particularly benefited from being outside was the Boston fern (Nephrolepsis exaltata 'Bostoniensis') in its eight-inch hanging basket. One thing you can say about this summer, there was plenty of humidity. Now the fern has babies growing from every conceivable place...even the basket's drainage openings. The Boston is one of many sword ferns, native to the American tropics and subtropics. It arrived here in 1894 when a Philadelphia grower shipped 50,000 to a Boston distributor. It proved to be an immediate and stunning success and has become one of the most popular houseplants on the market today. It is also among the toughest and easiest to care for and propagate. Long, gracefully-arching, fronds emerge from a crown of tightly woven fibrous roots. In a most attractive cascade of lacy leaflets, fronds seem to flow from the pots edge, reaching sometimes three feet in length. Their bright green, almost translucent foliage makes them an ideal candidate for a lightly-protected window. Always use a peat-based potting mix, similar to ProMix®, never one that is made from garden soil or heavy compost like African violet mix. It should be light and able to drain quickly and, for best results, allowed to dry out slightly between waterings. An ideal mix would be three parts ProMix® and one part clean, sharp sand. Worst of all is a heavy, mucky "dirt" that doesn't drain and stays constantly wet (yes, some of this nearly-useless, heavy dirt—for that's all it really is—can be found in discount and giant box stores, labeled "potting soil" — LTBB! [let the buyer beware!]). Ferns in those conditions will surely and quickly succumb to rot. Temperature is also important, as is soil pH. Very recent research has shown that ferns grown at constant day and night temperatures of about 72° (F) do markedly better than those forced to endure wide fluctuations. Above 80°, growth rate is reduced and the number of new fronds diminishes. Temps below about 50° brings the plant almost to a growth halt. Ideal pH is at or below 6.0—moderately- to strongly-acid. Use that information in selecting a liquid fertilizer (choose one with a lower middle number—phosphorus—since ferns don't bloom or produce fruit). Fertilizer requirements of ferns are modest. I'd recommend feeding at about half-strength once a week, year-round. A sign of hunger is thinning, yellowing leaflets (and leaflet-drop) and slowed growth. The presence of pale, somewhat dry leaves is a sure indication of too much light usually accompanied by a little less water than they'd like. If those conditions are not corrected, older fronds will become brittle, leaflets will turn brown and the plant will have all the appearances of impending death. Humidity is equally important. Bostons love daily mistings or some other effective method of keeping the moisture level high in the surrounding air. That's why they're nearly always located in the bathrooms of professionally-interioscaped homes. Never use a leaf-shining product on ferns. I'd recommend you purchase a very small specimen or beg a baby or division from a friend's plant. Large "finished" baskets can be quite expensive and, in all likelihood, will require immediate re-potting. They will need to be re-potted once a year under ideal growing conditions...you'll know when by the presence of "babies" in the drainage holes and the absence of recognizable soil at the edges of the container. Pot-up to about a one-inch larger container, trimming away all the browned and stripped fronds, and giving the plant a good 'shake' to dislodge any loose leaflets. And, by the way...when your plant gets too large for the room as a result from good care, feeding, misting, and "mothering", it can be trimmed back without suffering any lasting damage. I like to remove as many of the outer fronds as seems necessary down to the soil level, leaving fresh, newer, central growth. Dividing is quite simple: tip the plant out, clean it up and slice right down the middle of the root-ball with a clean, sharp knife. Another cut—to reduce the original plant to quarters—may be advisable if it's exceptionally large...or your neighbors have been begging for a "slip". Re-pot in fresh mix and lightly feed. That's all there is to it. Boston Ferns can also be propagated from the spores that form on undersides of leaflets. Look for little, brown "bumps" under leaves. A bit later in the season, those bumps (packets of fern spores) will seem to become powdery—and bits of brown dust-like material will dislodge when scratched with a fingernail. Remove a few leaflets and allow them to dry for a day or two on the kitchen counter, then scrape them gently with a pocketknife or toothpick. Collect and sprinkle them thinly on an equal mix of peatmoss and clean sand ("birdcage sand", while a bit pricey in larger quantities, is the perfect size and grit), cover with a plastic bag and place in a warm, shaded spot. In a few months (be patient!) they'll look like moss. After they get about two or three inches tall, individual ferns can be moved into their own two-inch pots. That's it. |
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