Dividing and Caring for Small Potted Ferns

Dividing an overgrown potted fern, such as a Boston fern, is not as hard as it may seem. This is actually good for it as it will re-grow again into the stately plant it once was. The best way to tell that your fern needs to be repotted and divided is to look for roots either growing out from above the soil or out of the water drainage holes. The most definite sign is that you cannot see the soil all that well anymore.

Tap around the side of the pot with either the palm of your hand or make a fist and lightly tap it. This will loosen the soil free from the pot to slide out more easily. Carefully turn the potted fern over some newspaper to catch it as it comes out of the pot. Set the pot aside. Use a pruning saw to cut the root ball in quarter sections from the top to the bottom.

Loosen the soil a little around each quartered section but not too much that it all falls away from the roots. This may take much of the root system with it if you loosened it too much. Set each new ferns root system in water for around two hours before repotting into new pots. This will allow the plant to soak up well and be ready for a new home.

Clean each new pot with a mixture of one part bleach to eight parts of water. This will kill any contaminants on the pots. This should be done especially to the pot the plant came out of if you plan to reuse it again. Change the cleaning mixture to one part bleach to four parts water when reusing pots. You can store this mixture for up to three to four months if you think you will need it again.

Rinse the pots well in hot water to wash off any bleach left behind. Pour in some rich loamy soil with some perlite - the white pellets that aid in soil drainage - and make a wide dip in the soil to place the new fern. Set the fern in place and add more soil compacting it as you go. Try to keep the soil at least a half inch from the top of the pot. Repeat this planting procedure for the other three new ferns.

Now you have four new ferns to enjoy in your home. Do not forget to lightly water the plant before you set it aside. This will help the new soil to adhere to the root system.

Since ferns like humidity, replace the drain pain with a wider one and fill it with small pebbles. Fill this with water just above the pebbles and place the potted plant on over them. The evaporating water will provide enough humidity for the plant. Check the water level daily so that your fern will have enough humidity to last throughout the day.