10 Essential Care Tips for Indoor Ferns

They have a finicky reputation, but we asked plant pros for their best advice to ensure your ferns thrive.

There is something magical about growing a fern indoors: It’s like having a little piece of the forest in your home. Unlike many houseplants, which hail from far-flung tropical environments, many indoor ferns resemble the ones you’ll find in the woods near where you live. We spoke to a houseplant expert and a plant shop owner to find out how to grow and care for ferns indoors successfully; here’s what you need to know.

Related: 10 Spectacular Ferns You'll Want to Add to Your Houseplant Collection

Be Realistic About Care

“If you're a person that travels for weeks at a time, most ferns are not a plant for you because they do need a little more care,” says Allison Futeral, the owner of Crimson Horticultural Rarities in Oakland, CA.

If you’re looking for an easy-care fern, Futeral suggests an epiphytic fern, like a Staghorn or rabbit’s foot, which require less frequent watering.

Beware the Maidenhair

The maidenhair fern, with its delicate fronds, is undeniably appealing. But many people end up killing it because they cannot deliver constant care.

Even Futeral, who owns a plant store says, “They're one of my favorite ferns. They're so incredible looking, but they do not live at my house,” because she knows she can’t keep up with the watering.

Rabbit’s foot fern is a favorite of both Futeral and Darryl Cheng, the author of The New Plant Collector, which has lace-like fronds but is less fussy than maidenhair.

Related: 12 Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes With Their House Plants

Get the Light Right

According to Futeral, a common misunderstanding about ferns is that they want to be in the dark. “They want to be in medium to bright indirect light,” she explains.

Cheng, who shares houseplant advice on Instagram as @houseplantjournal, says that most ferns can tolerate 1 to 2 hours of direct sun, but if they get direct light, he warns it is critical to keep up with watering.

“Use a white sheer curtain to diffuse the sun if the duration of direct exposure will be longer,” he says.

Choose the Correct Soil

Choose your potting mix based on light conditions, says Cheng. In low, indirect light, you can use standard potting soil with one part perlite or bark chips added into the mix.

He says in higher light conditions, omit the perlite/bark chips, noting, “The higher water retention will offset the more rapid water usage.”

Water with Care

Ferns do not like to dry out, so make sure you’ve got your plants on a regular watering schedule and check them often.

“Plants need that consistency,” says Futeral. They don’t need to be watered constantly, but she says they do need you “touching their soil and going, ‘Oh, you don't need water today.’ They need that consistency of paying attention to them.”

Related: We Tested 32 Watering Cans—Here Are the 7 Best of the Bunch

Or Provide a Constant Water Source

If you’re not great at remembering to water, Futeral suggests planting your fern in a self-watering pot, which has a concealed chamber full of water and a wick that lets the plant pull water to its roots.

Another option is to get an oversized saucer, fill it with clean gravel and fill that with water. “This method gives it a source to drink, but it also creates humidity,” says Futeral.

Mist Those Fronds

Ferns love humidity, so mist them frequently, says Futeral. Her favorite style of mister is not one of the pretty ones designed for plants, but rather a fine-mist continuous spray mister like a hairdresser would use. “It just gives this fine constant mist and doesn’t drip,” she says.

Watch Out for Ferns in the AC

Futeral cautions that plants can dry out in the summer—even if you’re keeping your home nice and cool with air conditioning. ”When you're constantly running an air conditioner, they'll dry out more because even though it's not hot, it dehumidifies the air,” she says.

Related: What Temperature Should You Set Your Air Conditioner in the Summer?

Prune to Maintain Health

Ferns don’t need shaping, but for ferns that grow from a central point, Cheng says it is a good practice to “continually cut off the oldest, outermost leaves, as new ones grow from the center.”

Feed—Don’t Fertilize

“I prefer to feed ferns versus fertilizing them because it's a softer way of getting nutrients to the plant,” says Futeral, who cautions that fertilizers can burn foliage if not applied correctly. She uses a well-rounded plant food once every couple of months on ferns.

Related: 10 Plant Watering Tips for Thriving Greens

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