The Bird’s Nest fern is native to the rain forests of Asia, Africa, and Australia which explains why high humidity is essential for it to thrive. The unique attractive Bird’s Nest fern requires quite a bit of care and is not a good plant for beginners.
Bird’s Nest fern has long, erect, leathery, apple-green fronds that never split like those of a Kimberly Queen fern or a Maidenhair fern. The wide rippled leaves of a Bird’s Nest fern emerge from a central rosette or crown that looks like a fuzzy brown funnel. When the new fronds first emerge they resemble little bird eggs which is why we call it a Bird’s Nest fern. It’s important to never get water on the crown or it will develop plant diseases. The tongue shaped fronds of a Bird’s Nest fern are fragile so put it where it can’t be bumped.
Water your fern using a watering can with a long spout. That way, you can apply a water directly to a top of a potting soil. This is particularly relevant with hanging ferns where a fronds often hang down in quite thick curtains. You can maneuver a long nozzle between a fronds until it is over a soil.
Loamy soil, a relatively even mix of sand, silt, and clay, feels fine-textured and slightly damp. It has ideal characteristics for gardening, lawns, and shrubs. Loamy soil has great structure, adequate drainage, is moisture-retaining, full of nutrients, easily cultivated and it warms up quickly in spring, but doesn't dry out quickly in summer.
To prune a plant to encourage bushy new growth, snip off the dominant buds on select stems, staggering the cuts to encourage varied growth.
Bird's nest ferns prefer to be slightly underpotted. As naturally epiphytic plants, they are used to growing in a minimum of organic material and mature plants will elongate above the soil level as the fern grows and sheds lower leaves. The problem, of course, is that large ferns will easily tip over their smaller pots. When repotting, usually every other year, use the next pot size up and refresh the compost.
A Bird's Nest fern likes temperatures between 70°-90°F (21.1°-32.2°C) during the day and about 10° cooler at night.
Ceramic pots are the most popular type of containers for houseplants today. You'll find them in all kinds of styles, colors, and sizes. At one time, the clay pot was the most common container for indoor plants. When choosing a pot, choose a pot that is 2.5-5 cm (1-2”) larger than the current size.
All ferns love moisture and should be given humid conditions. In living rooms and family rooms, stand their pots on trays of damp pebbles or clay granules. Ferns also love being misted at regular intervals with tepid, soft water unless the humidity of the whole room is kept high through the use of a humidifier.
