Bergeby, of all the ferns, this one might be the easiest to grow inside. I love BNFs and think that they are very striking. Take a hint at the type of habitat in which ferns thrive in nature and give them a peat/bark based potting medium. Since the mix should be kept moist, it must be coarse textured and fast draining. 'Most' potting media on the market don't fit that description without some altering. Amendments like bark fines would be a plus. Some commercial mixes are made with pine bark as the primary ingredient and those are great. Do not purchase a potting soil declaring 'moisture ' control and please don't underpot your plant. As far as watering goes, no one can give you a schedule. Ever! You need to use your fingers to dig around into the soil to feel for moistness. Here are some of the factors that influence the need for watering: type of plant, type of potting medium, type of container, size of plant in relation to container, temperature of the room, humidity levels, time of year, amount of light, plant vigor. Holy cow! Once you gain some experience, you will be able to judge the need for watering simply by lifting the pot to judge its weight. The coarser your mix, the more forgiving to overwatering. All plants grown in a container will require fertilization from you. That is a given. Beware of scale insects on ferns. They are kept under control at the grower's greenhouses by chemicals and may pop up after being in the garden center and your home for a few weeks. Scale insects are a real threat to indoor ferns, as they can be sensitive to common solutions used to control pests on indoor plants.

I'm new to house plants, but i've killed one birds nest fern before and the second is thriving (this is how we get to be good at caring for a particular kind of plant it seems you have to kill one and learn from your mistakes). What i've found is that it's easiest to water from UNDER the plant. What i mean is when the surface of the soil in the pot is dry (check it every other day folks you don't want it to get starved). Take it and set it in a shallow bowl of water mixed with the right amounts of liquid miracle grow houseplant food. Let it soak maybe 15-30minutes or until either all the water is absorbed or the surface of the soil is moist. If the soil is dry on the top and the water is all absorbed add more and check every so often. when the soil is thoroughly moist, remove the plant and drain for a few minutes (i stick it in the kitchen sink) and then return it to it's normal home. My 4 inch plastic pots sit inside glazed ceramic containers to dress them up and keep moisture from getting on the windowsill. Watering from underneath avoids crown rot (which i understand to be a problem common to this plant), and it assures even moisture in the soil, i've noted it's hard to get the soil fully watered when watering from 'overhead' esp since i have a 4inch pot for my birdsnest fern. Also i noticed in TOO HIGH lighting conditions the leaves get really really pale almost white even after just one day. When not watered enough the leaves get really dry and start getting brown spots at the edges. With crown rot i started loosing leaves rapidly and no new leaves would spring up out of the crown. I can tell my plant is healthy the way i've been caring for it now (after a few months after bringing it home from the nursery) the fronds have gotten darker (they started almost yellow and are now darker)and i'm getting new buds poking through the crown. My birdsnest fern is in a west facing window with a 6 foot porch overhang. It gets gentle light until the end of the day just before the sun sinks over the horizon. It doesn't seem to prefer bright light, nice 'understory' kind of filtered light seems to suit it well. (like what you'd get under a tree) I've started watering all my houseplants from underneath (with exception of my orchid which gets misted). The african violets and my birdsnest ferns love being watered this way from my experience. I've only had these about 6 months but for now it seems everything's going quite well.

You all are very inspiring - thank you. I keep working at making my yard wildlife friendly and you all remind me of why. Things are hopping here as babies are taught to forage at the bird feeders. The chickadees showed up yesterday - six (!) survived. It was a hoot. The downy woodpecker baby hasn't quite got the trick of the suet feeder but keeps pecking the metal pole and not understanding why he's not getting any suet - Dad Downy is a bit embarrassed I think. Only one thrasher baby survived and is being viciously defended by parents as he learns to forage, and two male red bellied woodpeckers got in a huge, rolling on the ground fight in the woods yesterday. Yikes. Great crested flycatcher knocked a blue jay out of the air when it got to close to the box. Sadly, my much loved Carolina wrens fledged too early and I doubt they will make it. They left the property as I have no underbrush here (yet) so can't monitor their progress. Had to stop mowing one area where robin babies are and the Mom hummingbirds are at the feeders more of late so juveniles can't be far behind. sowngrow - wrens here nested on my front porch. They tend to stay near humans as sort of a protection thing. Last year it was under my back porch which is very active, including my dogs being out there with me constantly and it did not seem to bother them at all. I have no idea where the phoebes nested. Built them two shelves but they went ignored so I need to relocate them. Love the phoebes! They feed in my yard daily, but no nesting. dodi34453 - love the blog. Thanks for showing us. :) ron45715 - WOW on the martins. How cool. Your air is going to be full soon - what a beautiful sight that will be. And the thrushes are singing.

Well a lot has happened for my little fern... Good and bad. Namely, a beastly infestation of scale. I have sprayed several times and they haven't let up, but I am going to hit it again on a consistent 2-week basis and see what happens. She has grown more bushy, and I have given her deep, less frequent waterings with only filtered water. Even on her gorgeous, large, glossy new leaves, the veins are totally lined with tiny, evil scales. I've been scraping them off with my fingernails whenever I have the time and patience... questions: I just bought fish emulsion, will fertilizing help her fight off her attackers? I read that fern scale is worse indoors because they lack natural predators like parasitic wasps and lady bugs. Should I give her a summer on the east-facing covered porch, or is that inviting more trouble from exposure to other pests and diseases?