How to Grow and Care for Boston Fern

Popular since Victorian times, the Boston fern has long been a favorite plant to display in living rooms and on patios and front porches. With graceful, arching fronds that can reach 4 feet in length, it looks especially lovely in hanging baskets or on plant stands that show off its elegant, fountain-like shape. (Want to DIY your own hanging planter? Check out these ideas.)

A Boston fern is easy to grow in the right conditions. It's a fast-growing plant that is perennial in gardens in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 and warmer. (Find your hardiness zone here.)

Since that area is typically restricted to small parts of Florida and Southern California, most of the country treats the Boston fern as a low-maintenance annual plant. (Here's what you need to know about annuals and perennials.)

A Boston fern can be overwintered and saved for next spring, but it does take a dedicated plant lover (and a lot of patience!) to see it successfully through winter in cold climates.

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• Common Name: Boston fern, sword fern
• Botanical Name: Nephrolepsis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’
• Plant Family: Nephrolepidaceae
• Type of Plant: Annual, or evergreen perennial in USDA zones 10 to 11
• Native Origin: Florida, West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America, Polynesia and Africa
• Sun Exposure: Part sun
• Mature Size: 2 to 3 feet tall and wide
• Toxic to pets: No

Outdoors, Boston ferns aren’t fussy at all, as long as they receive ample light and moisture levels. They are especially happy when humidity levels are high during the steamiest summers.

Outdoors, Boston ferns prefer dappled shade, though they’ll tolerate a few hours of morning or late evening sun. Just don’t put them in direct sunlight, or they will fry.

The best place to keep a Boston fern outdoors is in a hanging basket or on a plant stand under the shelter of an overhang of a porch or portico.

Indoors, Boston ferns can be displayed in any room of the house in bright, indirect light, such as an east, west, or south-facing window. Or use an LED grow light if you don’t have the right lighting conditions. (Here are a few we recommend.)

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Boston ferns prefer to stay lightly but consistently moist. Typically, you’ll want to check them every few days, and water frequently to keep the soil damp.

That’s damp, not soaking wet! Water when the surface of the soil feels just barely dry, and don't let it dry out completely.

Also, make sure the container has a hole in the bottom so excess water can drain out.

Boston ferns thrive outdoors in most of the country, unless temperatures dip into the 40s at night. If you expect a cold snap, you can cover them or bring them indoors.

In the warmer climates, they can grow outdoors year-round. They can also be planted in the ground among annuals and other perennials.

To keep your Boston fern looking its best, trim off any fronds that begin to brown at the base of the plant. Make sure to keep the soil lightly moist at all times. To give it a boost, fertilize with any all-purpose houseplant fertilizer during the growing season from spring to fall. Dilute the package recommendations by about ¼ to ½.

Indoors, your fern will need a little more TLC to look good. First, give it the right light (or it will drop lots of fronds). Then keep it watered (or it will drop lots of fronds). Seeing a pattern here? Boston ferns can be finicky inside your home, but if you give them good light and keep them moist, they can adapt.

Grouping your Boston fern with other houseplants, as well as running a small area humidifier, will help keep the humidity levels in the zone it prefers (40 to 50 percent). Get a humidity gauge if you want to see what your indoor levels are.

Finally, forget about misting your fern; no matter what you’ve read, that’s an old myth that just won’t die, and it doesn’t raise humidity levels any significant amount. Instead, keep it watered and it can adapt to dry indoor conditions.

Boston ferns don’t mind being root-bound, so you typically won’t need to repot them if you’re only keeping them for one season. If yours survives the winter, however, you can repot if it shows signs of being too crowded in the pot, (such as your fern needs watered more and more frequently).

Any type of pot is fine, except terra cotta, which tends to dry out too quickly—ferns don’t like that.

Make sure it has a hole in the bottom, or consider using a self-watering container, which will keep the soil at the right moisture level.

Ease the plant out of its old pot, size up about 2 inches in pot diameter, add your plant, and backfill with fresh potting soil. Any quality brand of potting soil is fine.

If you want to make a new plant, you can saw through the root ball vertically with a garden knife (it’s going to take some effort because the roots are fibrous), and separate into two sections. Then pot each piece into a new pot with fresh potting mix.

If you live in a cold climate and can’t bear to part with your Boston fern in the fall, you can bring it indoors for the winter. However, it will require some patience. These plants will drop fronds as they adapt to indoor conditions.

Even if you give it good light and keep it moist, your Boston fern is likely going to get on your nerves at first. Worse case scenario: If you can’t keep up with the mess, cut the plant back to a few inches above the soil, and stash it in a cool place, such as your basement or garage. Water occasionally throughout the winter.

As daytime temperatures start creeping up into the 60s, you can place it outdoors again in bright, indirect light, resume watering and hope for the best.

If all of this seems like too much effort, compost your plant and buy a new one next year. One of the great things about Boston ferns is that they’re readily available and reasonably-priced, so you can treat yourself every spring if you don’t feel like dealing with a messy plant all winter.

Pests: Pests are rare on these plants, but you may occasionally have to deal with mealy bugs, which look like fuzzy white ovals, and scales, which are waxy, stationery, and brown or black in appearance. The easiest fix is to cut off the affected fronds, or try an insecticidal soap.

Brown tips or dropped fronds: This occurs due to low light levels or allowing your fern to dry out completely. Trim damaged fronds back to the soil level, and keep the plant watered to help it recover.

In addition to the most common variety, there are several other types of Boston fern:

‘Compacta’ is short and compact with 15-inch-long fronds

‘Fluffy Duffy’ has finely-textured stiff fronds and reaches about 24 inches long

‘Dallas’ tolerates lower light and humidity levels so it’s a good indoor choice