I've always thought ferns need a lot of moisture and I've seen advice suggesting to water them when the soil feels dry. However, I've also found some online resources that say to water them sparingly during the winter, sometimes waiting up to 25 days. My home tends to get pretty dry with the heat on, so I often mist my ferns or take them into the shower. I'm curious, how often do you all water your ferns, and do your watering habits change with the seasons?
2 Answers
I live in Colorado, which is quite dry, so I keep my ferns in self-watering pots. They seem to love it! Some of them really drink a lot, especially my maidenhair fern; I have to refill its reservoir every couple of days. If I forget for a few days, it's not pretty!
I have a palm that I bring inside during winter in zone 8A. I try to water it when it’s warm outside; like today, it was over 70°F, so I gave it a good soaking. Luckily, I timed it right because it’s supposed to rain tonight!
Haha, I'm in the Midwest! If I waited for above freezing to water my plants, they'd all be dead by now. It gets super cold here, and my hands get so dry—I can’t imagine my ferns enjoy it either!
Eek, maidenhair ferns are beautiful but definitely a challenge to keep alive indoors! Are you using bottom-watering pots for those?