Maidenhair fern
Also called Delta maidenhair, Maidenhair.
| Light | medium light |
|---|---|
| Water | Every 3 days in the growing season, every 6 in winter |
| Pets | Cats not known, dogs not known |
Source: ASPCA Animal Poison Control, toxic and non-toxic plants, no entry for Adiantum raddianum.
Nothing else indoors looks like it: tiny fan shaped leaflets on stems as fine and black as wire, moving in any draught. It is also the hardest fern in common cultivation to keep, and the reason is simple and unforgiving. It must never dry out, not once, not for an afternoon. A maidenhair that has gone crisp in a warm room on a Saturday is usually beyond saving as it stands, though it is worth cutting the whole thing to the compost and keeping it damp, because a healthy root will often push out a completely new set of fronds. A bathroom, a north facing kitchen windowsill or a closed glass jar are where these succeed. A living room shelf is where they die.
Ailments observed
| Brown crisp edges on the leaves | It dried out, which for this fern takes one warm afternoon. Cut the whole plant back to the compost and keep it damp. It will very often push out an entirely new set of fronds within a month. |
|---|---|
| Leaves falling off | Dry air in a heated room, which is the same problem earlier. Move it to a bathroom or put it in a closed glass container. Misting a maidenhair does almost nothing. |
Filed underPlants for a bathroom, Plants for humid air
Neighbouring entries
Bird's nest fern
Asplenium nidusBird's nest fern care for a shaded bathroom, with how to water without rotting the crown and why the new fronds unfurl from the middle.
Boston fern
Nephrolepis exaltataBoston fern care that stops the fronds going crisp, with the humidity it needs, how often to water, and what to do with a plant that has gone brown in the middle.
Male fern
Dryopteris filix-masA hardy garden fern for dry shade: when to plant it in each hemisphere, how little it asks for, and why the old fronds are worth leaving on.