How to care for a Boston fern: watering, repotting and where to position it

Regular watering is key with ferns, these plants will rarely forgive you for forgetting about them for too long.
Boston Fern
Alamy
George Hudson4 June 2021

Boston ferns (AKA sword ferns or Nephrolepis exaltata) occupy vast swathes of the world’s tropics and subtropics, thriving in the rich, moist soil, humidity and shade of jungle canopies.

If you are a serial over-waterer, or are looking to fill a shady corner in a bathroom or kitchen, the Boston fern has got you covered.

On the other hand, if you tend to keep your houseplant family alive by the skin of your teeth, a Boston fern, or any fern for that matter, may be something you want to leave in the plant shop until you feel more confident about your parenting skills.

How to care for a Boston fern

Boston ferns need to be kept moist. It’s critical to their survival, and they will rarely forgive you if you forget about them, quickly becoming threadbare, crispy and brown. Regular watering is key. If you know your houseplants typically dry out after a week, set a four or five-day alert on your phone to remind you to check on your fern.

In summer and in winter with the heating on, the compost will dry out faster than in spring or autumn, so make it something you check even more frequently.

Aside from this, Boston ferns are pretty easy going. They will tolerate short time spells sat in shallow water, and you could use this technique to keep them happy if you’re away for a few days.

You will feel a temptation to move your Boston fern outside in summer, and maybe even plant it in the ground “it’s growing so well! It’s just a fern, what could go wrong?” This is totally ok, as long as you bring it back inside before the weather starts to cool again in the autumn. Boston ferns hate the cold.

Direct light can scorch the leaves or turn them an unhealthy yellow-green color. A bathroom shelf or north facing kitchen window make ideal locations for your boston fern.

How to propagate a Boston fern

Boston ferns can be propagated easily from division. But in order to successfully split your plant into smaller plants you have to be cruel to be kind - tearing your fern into several pieces can feel cruel, but in the long run it will be relieved to have new soil and more space to grow.

To divide your Boston fern you will need a few plastic-plant pots with holes in the bottom, these don’t need to be brand new, just clean; enough peat-free compost to fill each pot, plus some to fill gaps in the original pot, and a bread knife. You can divide your fern at any time of year, but they may recover faster if you do it in spring or early summer.

Remove your Boston fern from its pot and decide how many divisions or new plants you want to make from the parent. From a small plant, splitting it in half maybe the most you can do safely. For older plants you may be able to make 4, 6 or even 8 smaller plants from one. With the bread knife, cut through the middle of the root ball, ensuring an even number of leaves are either side of the cut.

Aim to keep half of the leaves intact with half of the roots, repeat this process if you want to make more or smaller Boston fern babies. Take each division and plant it into the centre of the plant pot, firming the new compost around the roots to secure it in place. Water well and keep somewhere warm and humid, out of direct light.

George Hudson is Head of Plants and Education at Walworth Garden, a South London charity delivering workshops, courses, therapeutic horticulture and plants for sale in a garden open to all. Follow on Instagram @walworthgarden

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in