Ferns are another well-known ornamental plant often seen as part of green walls (covered with plants) in outdoor spaces, and the credit goes to their effortless blending into the background; that is why they often remain unnoticed despite their presence all around the World. Let’s explore what makes Ferns set apart from other vegetation and what is unique about Ferns:
How Much Sun Do Ferns Need?
Ferns require shade mostly or about 65-75% shade, making them fit for the inside of rainforests and forests. In case of over-exposure to the Sun, these ferns for Sun develop their sunscald on the top of their leaves or show stiff upright growth that is too light green. The easy prevention is adding more shade if your ferns develop these abnormalities and only prefer indirect light (indoors or outdoors). That’s why East and north-facing windows would always be a better option than south or west-facing windows (for obvious reasons).
Why Ferns are Some of the Best Houseplants
Ferns are ideal for homes, as you can do little to maintain them, i.e., they don’t require pruning. Moreover, they don’t require direct or excessive sunlight. All you need to do is trim the dead brown leaves away, and you are all set.
Ferns love water, which makes them great houseplants. Their watering schedule could be more uptight, even if they can easily keep up with over-watering and under-watering in case of negligence.
All you need is to look out for sunscald, brown, dead, brittle leaves, and light green leaves. You can help mosses retain moisture by using potting soil with peat moss or sphagnum moss. Even though bugs are uncommon regarding the fern scale, mealybugs and spider mites are common.
How to Grow New Ferns
Propagation (also known as propagation) is the easiest way to grow ferns, and the best season for that is “spring” (no surprises!). You can begin by watering your plant the day before propagation, then gently remove it from its container (or dig it up) and take a few leaves (at least) to divide the ferns into sections.
The Life Cycle of Ferns
Ferns are unique as they don’t possess seeds or flowers and reproduce through spores, which sets apart their life cycle from other plants, i.e., most plants reach their mature adult form by growing from a seed. At the same time, that is not the case with ferns, as they have to grow through an intermediate stage before maturing into an adult fern.
Gametophyte Stage
Spores only begin germinating once they are produced on the underside of the mature plants, which then become gametophytes (heart-shaped plants) growing into tiny plants. These gametophytes produce both egg cells and sperm that, in turn, fertilize themselves and others. The growth of adult fern begins as soon as the fertilization process initiates.
Adult Stage
In the adult phase, you witness your plant’s growth as it flourishes. The fertilized gametophytes give rise to some green growth. It is essential to be aware of direct sunlight, especially when you begin to see the fern growth, because it can dry out the plant or, at some point, kill it.
The plant gets to enjoy a better chance of survival as soon as it begins growing tiny fronds, which, on maturation, transport moisture throughout the leaves from the ground, which makes it able to handle direct sunlight to some extent. The ferns continue to grow spores (located under the leaves) even after it is fully grown, and that’s how the process repeats itself.
Interesting Facts about Ferns
There are tons of interesting facts about Ferns and how it couldn’t be with its over 10,000 species. Even though we can’t go through all 10,000 species, we can explore a few of the intriguing facts about the ferns:
Christmas Fern Facts
Around 20-35 pairs of conical-shaped leaflets with pointed tips make deep green leathery leaves called Christmas ferns. They come with shorter trunks and scaly bases but bloom into healthy green leaves. Despite the intriguing name, you can easily find a Christmas tree all year round, even during the holidays.
Cinnamon Fern Facts
Cinnamon Ferns, i.e., Osmundastrum Cinnamomeum, are tall ferns you can easily find in the wild, especially in moist spaces like swamps and mountain slopes around North America. The fern turns out green; however, with growth, it transforms into a colored plant (hence the name cinnamon).
Maidenhair Fern Facts
Maidenhair ferns are infamous for their use in shampoo and their utility as asthma, cough, and snakebite relievers. Moreover, Maidenhair ferns are considered excellent houseplants.
Marginal Wood Fern Facts
Dryopteris Marginalis, aka Marginal Woodfern, flourishes on dry, rocky areas (quite the opposite of cinnamon ferns). Marginal Wood Ferns are infamous for staying green even over winter; hence, you can easily find them even during snow.
Royal Fern Facts
Royal fern Facts from the Osmundaceae family grow in incredibly moist places, i.e., wetlands in the Adirondack Mountains, marches, swamps, stream banks, etc.
FAQs
How do you define ferns?
The fern are plants with no flowers or seeds. However, they do possess leaves, stems, and roots.
What are fern leaves specifically called?
Fern leaves are called fronds.
What are spores?
Spores are tiny cells that ferns utilize to produce.
Are ferns poisonous?
Ferns are collectively harmful; however, as far as poisonous is concerned, they are detrimental to everyone (humans and animals). However, some species are non-poisonous.
What kind of soil do I need for growing fern plants?
Moist yet Well drained, alkaline soil works for most of the variety. However, some varieties prefer acidic medium soil.
Which variety of fern plants should I get for indoors?
A few of the best-suited indoor fern plants are Adiantum Monocolour, Blechnum Gibbum Asplenium Nidus, etc.