Blue Star Fern - 1 Gallon Pot

To use the map, find your location to see what color  region it is in and then find the number that corresponds to the color of that zone. This will be your USDA Zone.

* For more information about USDA Zones look below the map.

* The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map was created so that gardeners, growers and landscapers have a way to compare the average lowest temperature in their area with the average lowest temperature that a specific plant will survive without damage. 

Every type of plant has a low temperature threshold. Before purchasing plants to grow in your landscape or gardens, make sure it is one that will most likely survive the average low temperature in your zone.

Though many ferns are very difficult to grow indoors, the Blue Star Fern is easy. It can also be grown outdoors. Below are some helpful tips.

Indoors, the Blue Star Fern prefers growing in bright indirect light but will also do okay in medium indirect light. In its native habitat, you’ll find it growing in the canopy of tropical forests, where it usually receives shade to dappled sunlight throughout the day, but little to no direct sunlight, especially in the afternoon. Either way, just keep in mind that direct sunlight exposure can burn the leaves, but make sure that it receives filtered or bright indirect light for at least four hours a day..

You can grow the Blue Star Fern year round outdoors in the ground or in trees if you live in USDA Zones 9 to 11. Outdoors, the Blue Star Fern cannot tolerate temperatures that drop below freezing. Indoors, it can be grown at temperatures between 64 and 77 F (18 to 25 C). It doesn't like a sudden drastic change in indoor temperatures, which can cause leaves to wilt or shed. So keep it away from cooling or heating vents, especially during winter.

If you live in a cooler area where temperatures drop below freezing, we suggest growing it in a pot and bringing it indoors when temperatures drop below 50F (5C). 

Blue Star Fern prefers a moist but well-drained soil. It does not like a constantly soggy or wet soil, which causes the roots to rot. It will tolerate dry periods but will shed some or all of its leaves. Before watering the soil and roots of your Blue Star Fern, test the soil with your finger, and provide some water when the top inch feels dry to the touch.

All ferns love humidity, which is usually higher outdoors than indoors, unless you live in an arid climate, where this fern might not perform well outside without some very special care. Indoors, if you can keep the humidity levels at around 40 to 60 percent this would be good. High humidity will encourage abundant growth, larger leaves and help the fern maintain its unique blue-green color. Meanwhile, low humidity levels can result in crispy tips, dull leaves, and fronds that fall off before they get a chance to unfurl. If the humidity level inside your home is low, it's a good idea to mist the foliage, or keep it near a room humidifier or in a kitchen or bathroom. When misting, use room temperature, bottled natural spring water or distilled water and hold the sprayer a foot or so away from the foliage to cover the leaves in only a light sheen of tiny droplets. Allow the leaves to dry out before misting them again. Keep in mind that those tiny droplets will evaporate very quickly. To achieve any good results, in a very low-humidity space you might need to mist your plants several times a day.

To keep your Blue Star Fern as bushy as possible, producing larger leaves, you can gently mist the rhizome (roots at the base of the plant) once every two days. This method works best in summer, and should only be used if you have good air circulation in your home.

The ideal potting soil mix for the Blue Star Fern should be well-draining, moisture-retentive, porous, slightly acidic, and rich in organic matter. A light, bagged professional potting mix (not potting soil) would be best. In the wild, this plant is an epiphyte, and it grows in little substrate, usually just clumps of organic debris found between tree branches. This type of substrate provides plenty of air circulation to the roots, drains very well, and allows the fern to withstand long periods of rain without developing root rot.

If you make your own potting media, here's a good recipe for growing Blue Star Fern in pots or the ground...

Two parts peat moss

One part pine bark

One part perlite or pumice

One part coarse sand

One handful of horticultural charcoal

The Blue Star Fern is a light feeder but will benefit from nutrients throughout the growing season. In the ground, we suggest an organic plant food applied at half the suggested rate in early spring and again in early summer. In pots, you can feed once a month with a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted to half strength. Do be careful to avoid overfeeding this fern, especially in containers where salts can build up. A yearly flush of the soil by thoroughly drenching several times in a row can help remove salts from the soil. If your fern has been potted or repotted recently, avoid fertilizers for 6 months after potting.

Blue Star Fern doesn't require pruning. That said, stray or damaged or dried fronds can be removed as needed.

A fairly vigorous grower, depending on the size of the container, the Blue Star Fern might need repotting every 2 or 3 years. Once you notice that the roots are coming out of the drainage holes, it’s time to move the fern to a container that’s one size larger. The best time to repot an older fern is in spring or early summer, when the plant is actively growing. Avoid disturbing the roots of the plant when repotting. To prevent that, allow the soil to dry for a couple days before repotting.

When planting or repotting in a container, you can use ceramic, terracotta, or plastic pots. Whichever type of pot you use, always make sure that it has at least one drainage hole at the bottom to prevent a soggy soil. To keep roots and soil from stopping up the drainage hole(s), you can line the interior of the pot with a porous landscape fabric/weed barrier cloth.

Hope this info was helpful!

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