This Fuzzy Fern Variety Makes For A Unique Bathroom Houseplant

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Keeping plants can be both personally rewarding and a great way to beautify your home. Studies show, for example, that the presence of indoor plants can reduce stress. When selecting places to cultivate your leafy green friends, you might have written off the bathroom entirely. These rooms tend to have small windows and are dark if the lights aren't on. Plus, they're prone to humidity from hot showers or baths. Rather than selecting a room for your favorite plant, try selecting a favorite plant for the room. This way, you can take advantage of everything a bathroom offers a plant compared to other rooms in your home.

If you're looking to practice bathroom horticulture, Davallia solida var. fejeensis, commonly known as a rabbit's foot fern, is a great choice. Native to Fiji and the Caroline Islands, rabbit's foot loves high humidity. Your shower serves as an ambient method for watering your fern, saving you time. It grows well in a hanging planter, which is perfect for those without much bathroom counter space. It prefers indirect light, so it can thrive even in dimly lit bathrooms.

The rabbit's foot fern gets its name from its fuzzy rhizomes, which are a kind of horizontal stem. Most plants' rhizomes stay beneath the earth. These furry rabbit's foot roots peek out from the soil and will eventually grow over the edges of their planter. Since a rabbit's foot fern can only survive outdoors in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 through 12, it enjoys the hot, wet climate of your bathroom and requires little watering once potted up.

Despite the rabbit's foot fern's love of moisture, it is still prone to root rot. Plant it in well-draining potting mix with a peat base and water it only when the first inch of soil feels dry. Repot your plant every few years to make sure the rhizomes don't get overcrowded. Like many ferns, homeowners commonly plant rabbit's foot fern in a basket or container hanging from the ceiling or a shelf. But since this plant is nontoxic to dogs and cats, you can keep it on the floor or counter if you wish. Still, you don't want your cat knocking your fern off a high perch. It's advisable to look into simple ways to cat-proof your plants to keep them safe from harassment.

You might have given up on plants if you have a windowless bathroom. Even in low light, you can liven up the space with a rabbit's foot fern by using a grow light. Instead of purchasing an elaborate apparatus to shine lights on your plants, you can replace the bulbs in your existing lighting fixtures. Something like a GE BR30 LED Grow Light would work well. Even though grow lights are energy efficient, it is still a good idea to turn the lights off after a few hours of exposure to keep your electric bills low. Plus, most ferns do not appreciate high PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) outputs, natural or otherwise. (PPFD is the unit by which a light from any source is measured.)

If you have never used a grow light before, be mindful of crucial grow light mistakes that can secretly kill your plants. This includes positioning the light too close to your fern, buying low-quality bulbs in the wrong spectrum, and not understanding how much light your plant needs per day. Other factors, such as dramatic temperature fluctuations, can also negatively affect your rabbit's foot fern. Make sure you place the pot wherever in the bathroom has a consistently warm temperature. Keep it away from air conditioning vents. With the right care, your fern can improve the vibe of your bathroom and maybe even bring you some good luck!