I have one potted porch fern that has I bought last year and two that
I found cast to the tree lawn half dead for the garbage trucks to pick
up. I nursed the two throw away ferns and they do have good new
growth. What I'm wondering is what I should do now as far as feeding
them and repotting them. Are there special procedures like cutting
back roots and specific plant food and soil. for them? The two aren't
looking great but they sure do look better and I believe they will
grow to be lovely again.
Pam
Pam,
If you can, lift one of the ferns out of it's pot and check the
rootball. It's more than likely that it is pot bound (so dense with
roots that you can barely see any soil). You could split each root ball
in half and repot the halves in separate containers or just prune the
root ball a bit and replant. If you're going to prune it a bit, I would
slice up the sides of the ball and slice off about an inch or so off
the bottom. This 'injury' is actually very good for the plant and will
encourage new growth immediately once the roots have some room to grow
again and have fresh soil to grow in. I use Osmocote fertilizer because
it's good for up to four months. I have too much gardening to do to
spend it all fertilizing my plants, so Osmocote works great for me.
Cut out any dying fronds and usually new ones grow back in their place.
Keep them out of a direct sun window as ferns are shade plants. They
also love to be misted if you have the time and inclination.
Becki
--- In TheRookieGardener@yahoogroups.com, "Pam Fedrowisch"
