Overgrown Fern

[romaida]

Hi everyone! I was given a fern and it is very overgrown. It's in a white plastic hanging pot and it's huge! I can't even touch the soil to see if it's dry or not. Can I split the thing into four? Can I cut it back any? It looks like the bottom leaves are dying and its going everywhere in the house. Thanks in advance for your help!

[unicorn2564]

First off do you kow what kind of fern it is??
yes I have heard of people just cutting them into 4 pieces. Or you can work the soil off its roots and untalgle them and then repot. Guess it depends on how much time you want to spend on it and I imagine you may lose some leaves if you decide to cut it. Good luck.

[GARDEN GUY]

Depending on the size......you can cut it in 4 to 6 pieces. Re pot in very rich soil high in compost and peat moss. Keep moist and mist the ferns and they will take off for you.

[romaida]

I have no idea what kind of fern it is. I'm not very familiar with many plants. Can I cut back some of the leaves underneath? They're dying since no sun reaches it.

[beautifulbay]

sounds like it's probably a boston fern....go ahead and split it...or if you want to keep it big, repot into a bigger pot with more dirt....and shower it every so often. Ferns like water.

[romaida]

I finally split the fern. Here's a picture of what it looked like before I split it. Does anyone know what kind of fern I have? Thanks!

[beautifulbay]

That is a Boston Fern, very pretty too. They like water, mist it daily.

[muggyruggy]

Can these be overwintered indoors? I dont have enough light inside to keep it alive, can they go dormant till Spring?

[beautifulbay]

They don't usually go dormant, they live fine as nice houseplants. I move mine inside when it gets cold, and outside just for the summer. It does fine with low light, but mist it every day,esp if you heat your home with dry heat, such as a woodstove. The most common cause of death for these ferns is drying out.