Why I Oughta...

Over the weekend, I posted some photos and an update on our potted Maidenhair Fern .  After having this delicate plant in our house for close to a year, it was time to give the soil a little refresh and to give it a closer look as Winter and the dry air in our house was taking a toll on it.  In that post, I also talked about a little bit of digging around the Web that I did in order to figure out how I can best help the fern live its best life.   If you read anything about Maidenhair Ferns, you'll find that most people recommend that they do best with very humid environments and that some people even talk about misting the fronds of the Maidenhair fern 'multiple times a day' .  Who the heck has time for that?!?   But, as I kept poking around on ferns and houseplants, I continued to come across resources talking about terrariums.  There are all sorts of terrariums.  Open ones.  Closed ones.  Succulent ones.  Orchid ones.  And, variations on those ideas.  You can't swing

We're coming up on my one-year anniversary of living with a Maidenhair Fern in our house.  I picked up a tiny one at Wannemaker's in February of 2021 and re-potted it into a larger clay pot .  If you go back and look at that original post , you can see that the fern was quite happy.  Feather-light and green.  A month later (March of 2021), it was thriving .  I seemed to have figured out how to keep it happy in terms of light and moisture and feeding.  After that post, I don't seem to have shared any further updates on the fern.  But, it has *been* a journey.  When people talk about Maidenhair Ferns being finicky, they're not lying.   During the life of this potted fern, I've kept it inside.  Either in our family room or screened porch.  And, it has been a series of ups and downs.  After that March post, I think I saw some decline.  Followed by me tending to it, watering it and feeding it.  Which lead to a period of happiness.  Then, typically followed by another cyc

Just about one month in and (knock wood), our Maidenhair Fern is still green.  And, showing some signs of growth in terms of width and height.  Here is the post showing off this delicate fern that we brought home in late February and have been careful to keep happy. I have a couple of brown tips, but also new growth.  Thus, a mixed bag so far after one month.   If you poke around the Web just a bit, you'll find people talking about how difficult these ferns are to take care of as indoor plants.  And, while I'm certainly no pro, it seems like the key for this fern (SO FAR) is to keep it mostly watered.  For me, that means a couple of times per week.  And a good soaking in terms of watering.  I place the pot in our sink and soak it pretty good - letting the water run out the bottom for a bit before putting it back into the little plastic tray.   Once the warm days of April begin to appear, I'm going to plan on putting some of our containers out for little parts of the day to

 Over the weekend - without much thought - I picked up a tiny Maidenhair Fern and potted it up in a six-inch clay pot and added it our little collection of house plants.  My thought was that this would MOSTLY replace the dead fern that I tried to bring back this Winter  and would live next to the potted-up wire vine that I treated similarly .  I opted against using the traditional clay saucer for this one, opting instead for a small plastic container to keep the water from running out AND keeping the humidity level up higher.  One of the things I know about Maidenhair Ferns is that they're temperamental and like to have a higher degree of humidity around them.  Being in clay pot isn't ideal, but it is the cheapest of the pots, right?  It was just $2.99 and quite small, but looks nice potted up.  Here, below, is where its stands as of today.   Like, umm, everyone, I was naturally drawn to the light, airy leaflets of the Maidenhair that kind of dance when you blow on them.   Wha