Caring for Indoor Ferns
Ferns bring soft, woodland texture to a room, but they can be fussy about humidity and watering. Here's how to keep Boston, maidenhair and bird's nest ferns lush and green indoors.
Ferns are some of the oldest plants on earth, evolved for shaded forest floors where the air is damp and the soil never quite dries out. Recreating those conditions inside a centrally heated home is the main challenge of fern care. Get the humidity, moisture and light right, and ferns will reward you with arching, feathery fronds for years.
Meet the three most popular indoor ferns
Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)
The classic hanging-basket fern, with long, gracefully arching fronds. Boston ferns are the most forgiving of the three but still drop leaflets dramatically if they dry out or sit in dry air. They appreciate space around them so the fronds can breathe and arch naturally.
Maidenhair fern (Adiantum)
Delicate, fan-shaped leaflets on wiry black stems. Maidenhairs are the divas of the fern world: they crisp at the slightest dryness, dislike draughts, and need genuinely humid air. Worth the effort for their fine, lacy texture, but best suited to bathrooms, kitchens or a terrarium.
Bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus)
The easiest of the three. Instead of feathery fronds, it grows broad, glossy, undivided leaves from a central rosette that looks a little like a nest. It tolerates lower humidity better than its cousins and is a good choice if you want a fern that won't sulk in average room conditions.
Light
All three ferns want bright, indirect light. Think of dappled light filtering through a forest canopy. An east-facing windowsill is ideal, or a spot a metre or two back from a south or west window. Direct midday sun will scorch the fronds, leaving pale or bleached patches that turn brown.
They will cope with lower light than many houseplants, but growth slows and the plant becomes leggy and sparse. If a fern is reaching towards the window or producing thin, weak new fronds, move it somewhere brighter.
Watering and humidity
This is where most ferns fail indoors. Their thin fronds and shallow roots cannot tolerate drying out, but soggy compost will rot the crown.
- Keep the compost consistently moist, like a wrung-out sponge. Check every few days by pressing a finger into the surface.
- Water thoroughly until it runs from the drainage holes, then tip away any water left in the saucer after ten minutes.
- Use tepid water. Cold water from the tap can shock the roots.
- Maidenhair ferns in particular hate going dry even once — a single missed watering can crisp the whole plant.
Humidity matters just as much as soil moisture. Most homes, especially in winter with the heating on, sit at humidity levels far below what ferns enjoy. Signs of dry air include crispy frond tips, browning edges and dropping leaflets.
To raise humidity:
- Group ferns with other plants so they share transpired moisture.
- Stand the pot on a tray of damp pebbles, keeping the pot itself above the waterline.
- Run a small humidifier nearby — by far the most effective method.
- Site the plant in a steamy bathroom or kitchen if light allows.
Misting helps briefly but is not a substitute for genuinely humid air.
Soil and potting
Ferns want a light, airy compost that holds moisture without becoming waterlogged. A peat-free houseplant mix with extra perlite works well, or you can blend standard houseplant compost with a handful of coco coir and a little orchid bark for structure.
Always pot into a container with drainage holes. Ferns hate sitting in water, despite their love of moisture — there is a difference between damp and saturated. Repot in spring every couple of years, or when roots are circling the pot. Bird's nest ferns prefer to be slightly snug; avoid jumping up more than one pot size at a time.
Feeding
Ferns are light feeders. From spring through early autumn, give a balanced liquid houseplant feed at half the recommended strength roughly once a month. Strong fertiliser will burn the delicate roots and scorch the frond tips. Stop feeding in winter when growth slows.
Why are the fronds going brown and crispy?
This is the single most common fern complaint. The likely causes, in rough order:
- Low humidity — brown, papery tips on otherwise green fronds.
- Underwatering or inconsistent watering — whole fronds crisp from the tip inwards.
- Direct sun — bleached or scorched patches in the middle of fronds.
- Cold draughts or hot radiators — sudden browning, often on one side.
- Overfeeding or hard tap water — brown tips with a build-up on the soil surface. Try rainwater or filtered water.
- Overwatering — yellowing fronds and a soft, rotting crown, especially in bird's nest ferns.
Trim crispy fronds off at the base with clean scissors. New growth should appear from the centre of the plant if conditions improve.
Pests and common problems
Ferns are generally not pest magnets, but watch for scale (small brown bumps on stems and the undersides of fronds) and mealybugs (white, cottony tufts in leaf joints). Wipe off what you can with a cotton bud dipped in diluted washing-up liquid; insecticidal sprays can damage delicate fronds, so spot-treat rather than soaking the plant.
If the centre of a bird's nest fern turns mushy and brown, that's crown rot from water sitting in the rosette. Always water around the edge of the pot, never into the nest itself.
The takeaway
Ferns aren't difficult so much as particular. Give them steady moisture, humid air, gentle light and a sheltered spot away from draughts and radiators, and they'll settle in beautifully. Start with a bird's nest fern if you're new to them, work up to a Boston, and only tackle a maidenhair once you've got your humidity sorted.
Tools and supplies for this
Products we'd actually buy for this job. Linking to Amazon — if you buy through these links we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
- Weston Mill Pottery Terracotta plant pots, 175mm (pack of 10)
Mid-size workhorse terracotta — perfect step-up for plants outgrowing their nursery pots.
- Weston Mill Pottery Terracotta plant pots, 20cm (pack of 5)
Heavyweight 20cm clay for established plants — the porous walls help prevent the soggy roots aroids hate.
- Whitefurze G04012 7.5cm Garden Pot - Terracotta (Set of 10)
Cheap, cheerful plastic propagation pots — what we actually use for cuttings and small offsets.
- Whitefurze G04013 10cm Garden Pot - Terracotta (Set of 7)
Reliable mid-size nursery pots with proper drainage holes — the boring essential every plant parent runs out of.
BotanicBuddy Editorial Team
Plant Care Team
Passionate about helping plant parents succeed with expert tips and proven techniques.
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Comments(9)
I've learned the hard way that ferns really do need that humidity—I killed my first maidenhair by treating it like my other houseplants. Now I keep a couple of ferns on a pebble tray with water, and they're finally thriving alongside my other tropical plants. Thanks for the reminder on the specific needs for each type, because Boston and bird's nest are definitely more forgiving than maidenhair.
I appreciate the focus on humidity—that's where most people struggle indoors. I've had better luck with *Nephrolepis exaltata* (Boston fern) when I stopped obsessing over constant moisture and instead used a pebble tray with water underneath, which gives steady humidity without waterlogging the roots. Maidenhair ferns (*Adiantum*) are trickier in temperate climates though, and I've mostly accepted they need more coddling than my other herbs and houseplants.
The pebble tray approach is solid—I've had the same experience with Boston ferns thriving on that steady ambient humidity rather than daily misting. That said, I'd push back slightly on maidenhair being impossible in temperate climates; I grew one successfully for a couple years by keeping it in a bathroom with warm showers and spotty bright light, though honestly it wasn't worth the fussing compared to my other fifteen plants. In tropical conditions they'd barely need attention, but they're definitely the high-maintenance choice indoors if you're not in the right climate.
I've kept one succulent for years in tropical humidity, so I'm honestly curious whether ferns would actually thrive in my setup—though they seem like the opposite of what I'm used to managing. The humidity part I get, but I've heard maidenhair ferns especially will drop leaves if the soil dries out even slightly between waterings, which sounds exhausting. Does the post cover how often that actually needs to be, or is it more general advice? I'd rather know the real frequency than another "keep consistently moist" situation.
Maidenhair ferns *are* genuinely demanding—I learned that the hard way when mine shed half its fronds in a week during my first winter here in the cold climate! For me, checking the soil every other day and watering when just the top feels slightly dry has been the sweet spot, but honestly, it depends so much on your pot size and air circulation. Since you're used to tropical humidity, the good news is that's actually the harder part to nail down indoors—have you considered grouping plants together or misting, or does your setup already stay pretty humid?
I'd push back gently on the "fussy" label—I've found ferns are actually pretty straightforward if you match the right species to your setup. Boston ferns genuinely want consistent moisture and humidity, but maidenhair and bird's nest are far more forgiving than they're given credit for. I killed my first maidenhair trying to recreate a rainforest; once I accepted my apartment's dryness and backed off the misting, it thrived. Soil that stays evenly moist (not wet) and indirect light sorted both mine out.
I've been battling with a maidenhair fern for two years now—it's definitely the pickiest plant in my collection of 15! My game-changer was moving it away from my heating vent and misting it almost daily, which sounds excessive but honestly made all the difference in my dry climate. Are you finding that one species is easier than the others to keep happy indoors, or do they all need basically the same TLC?
I've learned the hard way that consistency matters more than perfection with ferns—I killed two maidenhair ferns (Adiantum raddianum) before realizing they just needed steady moisture and humidity rather than the dramatic swings I was giving them. Now I keep mine on a pebble tray with water and mist every couple days, and they're finally thriving alongside my other tropical plants. The bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus) is honestly more forgiving if you can nail the humidity part.
Ferns are honestly harder work than they're worth for me—I'd rather spend my energy on my orchids, which are way more forgiving in my cold apartment. That said, if someone's dead set on ferns, the bird's nest varieties are genuinely the easiest of the bunch; they're less neurotic about humidity swings than maidenhair. I'd be curious what your take is on watering frequency in winter, since that's where most people seem to mess up.