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Hey, so my sister has this bird nest fern…poor guy is a little rough.… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

Jordan

Hey, so my sister has this bird nest fern…poor guy is a little rough. She asked if I could help her revive him. The first pic is what he looks like now and the second is what he looked like. He had dead leaves and some were rotted towards the bottom. I repotted him (drainage holes and chunky soil), got rid of rotted/dead leaves and roots and put him in my greenhouse. The pot he’s in is sitting in a bowl that has rocks on the bottom and water (not high enough for his pot to touch the water) but I saw that can help with humidity that the plant needs. Is there something else I should be doing? I want to save him (oh his name is Marcel) for my sister. Thanks to all in advance 💕

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7 comments

  1. Adrian

    Did you treat the roots with hydrogen peroxide to kill any lingering bacteria from the rot? If so, you might find putting Bonide’s Rooting Hormone Powder on the roots will speed up the root development process to help the fern recover faster. As for the pebble tray, if you’ve got a greenhouse it’s in atm, that’ll probably provide it more of the humidity the fern needs than any pebble tray situation. Similar to misting, it’s commonly suggested, but not really effective. If you’re planning on giving it back to your sister, you might want to tell her to buy or place it near a top-filling humidifier or place it outside in the summer to increase the humidity. Hope this helps.

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    • Adrian

      Btw love the name Marcel for the fern. Hope it recovers soon for your sister. Ferns can be very finicky, so please don’t feel you personally did anything wrong with it if it doesn’t recover quickly or at all.

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    • Jordan

      Thanks! She made sure I knew his name before she sent him home with me. And thank you 💕

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    • Jordan

      I did yes! Thank goodness too bc I HATE repotting ferns haha. Thank you for the great advice. Appreciate you! 💛

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    • Adrian

      No problem! 😉 good luck with Marcel!

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    • Jordan

      Hey….me again. Sorry… have you heard if putting a birds nest fern in a self watering plant is okay or not?

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