CAn you get a Boston Fern "back" after it's mostly dead?

I have such trouble with remembering to mist and water my ferns adequately. I usually throw them out after 80% of the green fronds are gone. Last year I tried to bring one back from the dead but I did it blindly with no tips- it didn't work. I was wondering if it's possible? Should I juts go buy new ones at Home Depot for $10?
Thanks

 

perhaps you should adjust your target and invest in plants that would rather not be watered too often and dont need misting? there are tons of tropical plants to choose from. you could try home depot or cannors nursery in abbotsford. one of those stores will generally give you cheap plants and the other will probably charge you a bit more but they will offer informed advice and likely a more diverse selection.

 

Well thanks and yes, I do have about a million other plants that don't need that much help but I just love the look of the Boston fern. I know, I know, it's selfish to sacrifice a fern every 6 months so I can have a "jungle" in my bathroom. But, if you ever saw my house I think you would agree that I actually have too many plants- plus I propogate more. And I think Cannor Nursery is tired of me and my phone calls. Thank goodness I found this board! LOL.

 

Well I don't know boston ferns specifically and I don't grow indoor ferns at all, but what happens with outdoor ferns that get dried out (I grow several in pots, and it happens) is that the fronds that have suffered do not recover, but new fronds may be produced once the plant gets some water. So I don't know what you did with 'no tips' but the one thing I'm sure it would require is however long it usually takes to produce new fronds.

 

A few years ago I had a boston fern that I neglected and it was pretty much brown, so I set it out by the compost heap (this would have been around May). When I got around to adding it to the compost it was starting to sprout new fronds....so I hung it on a hook on the north side of the house. By the end of the summer it was beautifully full and lush.

 

Boston Ferns in Florida can be rather like a plague. If they get and stay too dry, they will die back, but the corms(roots) will survive for long periods. Should you allow them to become to dry, just cut back the dead fronds and water what you have left. The roots should start a new batch of fronds within a couple of weeks. And keep them in pots lest they take over your world.