Had to change my whole watering routine after that greenhouse tour in Exeter

Last month I went to the Exeter Botanical Gardens spring open house. One of the volunteers there showed me how they water their ferns from below using shallow trays. I had been misting my indoor plants twice a day for years and still got brown tips. Switched to bottom watering about three weeks ago and my fronds are already looking way greener. Has anyone else found a better way to water their sensitive plants?

3 comments

3 Comments

paigem452mo ago

Oh man, I totally get this. I used to be a serial over-mister myself and my poor ferns looked like they were in a constant state of protest. Switching to bottom watering really does make a huge difference for some plants, it's wild how something that simple can change everything. I'm really glad you found something that works for your fronds, that must feel awesome after years of fighting brown tips. It's such a relief when you finally figure out what a plant actually wants instead of guessing.

oliver21mo ago

Bottom watering changed everything for my ferns too. I had one Boston fern that was dropping leaves like crazy until I started letting it soak for 15 minutes in the sink every week. Now it's putting out new fronds like it's getting paid for it. The brown tips thing with ferns is weird though because sometimes it's just the water quality not the watering method. Our tap water here has enough chlorine to kill a small fish so I let it sit out overnight before I use it. That one change cut the crispy tips by maybe 70 percent.

jones.anna2mo agoMost Upvoted

Okay but is crispy fern fronds really the end of the world? In my experience a little brown tip here and there just means it's alive and getting some sun. I stopped fussing over my calatheas a year ago and honestly they look about the same as when I was bottom watering and checking humidity every day. Your mileage may vary but sometimes plants just do what they do no matter how careful you are.