Free Boston Fern Plants

Boston fern is popular among the houseplants. It belongs to the genus Nephrolepis. It is found in almost every part of the world and has air purifying value.

Scientific classification :

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Pteridophyta
Class : Filicinae
Order : polypodiales
Genus : Nephrolepis
Species : N. exaltata
Botanical name : Nephrolepis exaltata

Growing Boston fern : Boston ferns are readily available in the plant market and it is found in quite a cheap price. Boston fern, is native to the tropical and sub-tropical rain forests. This means that this plant thrives best in a warm to humid environment conditions.

Although this plant grows indoors, you will need to provide indirect sunlight to this plant either by keeping it near the window or by keeping it in an open space where it can receive enough amount of sunlight during the day time. In the evening, the plant prefers growing in a cooler location. With this in mind, you can keep your fern on a table or decks so that the plant is portable whenever required.

Boston fern was introduced in 1894. The plant is best chosen by plant lover due to the indoor beauty it adds to our home environment. The plant has a graceful drooping frond along with its fresh green leaves. It appears amazing in a hanging basket. The plant looks beautiful even when simply kept on a table or anywhere convenient provided that it receives enough amount of indirect sun exposure.

Ways to fertilize Boston fern : Fertilizing Boston fern is one of the best ways of keeping the plant healthy and fresh. Although fertilization is important for this plants maximum growth, the plant takes in less amount of fertilizer compared to the other plants. The best time to fertilize this plant is during the summer months, the active growing months. If you are able to fertilize the plant once in a month during the active growing stage, this should work perfectly well. Use water soluble fertilizer having NPK ratio of 20-10-20. Also you are recommended to fertilize the Boston fern plant two to three times during the winter, keeping in mind the amount of fertilizer used during the winter is half times lesser than the fertilizer used during the active growing months. You are suggested to use distilled water once in a month in order to fight back the salts accumulated in the soil during the fertilization time. The fern tend to die down during the winter months. If you are able to take good care of the Boston fern, the plant will grow year after year and will thrive well in a homely environment provided that it receives good amount of light exposure, moisture and kept in a humid environment of the house.

Care : Growing Boston fern is easy when you keep some of the basic needs of the plant in your mind. This plant needs bright light or good sun exposure in order to grow well. This plant loves humid environment and requires even moisture when it comes to watering. Also keep in mind that this plant requires balanced amount of fertilizer for its proper growth.

You will notice the plant shading leaves and showing signs of lifelessness. This is the sign that the plant is not receiving enough sunlight or is not kept in a humid environment. In this case, you will need to fulfill the plants need making sure that the plant is alive till the spring season shoots up.

The following are some of the easy guide to taking care of the Boston fern.

Watering : Boston fern like all the other plants needs some amount of water to keep it moist. The plant throughout its growing season needs to be kept moist. You will need to provide good amount of water especially during the summer or when the weather is too hot. Also make sure that you do not over water the plant or it may harm the roots causing water blockade which in turn will lead to root rottenness.

Fertilizer : You will need to feed good amount of fertilizer to the plants at least once or even two times during the active growing stage of this plant.

Temperature : Boston fern loves humid temperature. It will grow best when the temperature is between 16˚C to 26˚C.

Light : Boston fern takes in some amount of shady light. The major need of the plant however is full sunlight to indirect sunlight. The plant needs to be faced north or east but never south.

Humidity : One of the major needs of the Boston fern is a humid environment. This is the core reason why this plant is grown in the tropical to sub tropical environment. Low humidity will eventually kill the plant. Thus, you will need to consider humidity when planting Boston fern.

Repotting : It is possible to repot Boston fern. Repotting will make the plant grow taller. You will need to try this process in a good amount of soil, making sure that the root is kept at the required soil level as before. This avoids root rot.

Propagation : Like most of the other plants, it is possible to propagate your Boston fern through the division method and layering method.

Boston fern is regarded or found to be the most admired plant species. This plant has fresh green color along with hanging fronts that adds more beauty to the environment. This adds more beauty, elegance and charm to our house.

Uses : The major use of Boston fern is to add beauty, elegance and charm to ones home environment. The plant, when planted in a container and kept on your decks or porches provides wonderful décor of the green environment, at the same time adding extra beauty to the environment around you.

This plant has great economic use. It is majorly used by the bouquet keeper in decorating the flowers at the same time improving the fresh effect the green fern brings to the plant. Boston fern is used in decorating the vehicle during marriage especially in the Nepali and Hindu culture.

One of the other major uses of the Boston fern is that it has excellent air purifying value. The plant when planted inside the home, purifies the home air, making you breathe in clean and less polluted air. It pumps out quite a large amount of water vapor, in a way purifying the air around its surrounding environment. As this plant improves the air quality of the household environment you will improve the quality of your breathing at the same improving your health.

Caution : This plant is found to be a bit sensitive towards the environment where it is kept. For instance, the plant is found sensitive to chemicals, smoke from firewood etc. Thus, you are recommended to keep this plant in a healthy growing environment away from any forms of chemicals or harmful smokes. Do not use any sorts of root shine products. In case you want to get rid of the dust, all you need to do is to spray some good amount of fresh water or rain water but no chemicals at all.

The brown to yellow spot found under the leaves of a Boston fern is totally normal. You should not mistake it as an infection. Do not spray insecticides during such time.

Attacks : Boston fern is often attacked by some pests such as bugs, spiders etc. In such cases you will need to use organic pesticides as this plant is sensitive towards chemicals.

While keeping at home, make sure that this plant is away from the harmful chemicals such as smoke from cigarette, king mat, nail polish to kerosene smell.