Rabbit Foot Fern Care & Propagation Guide

Rabbit Foot Fern (Davallia fejeensis) additionally recognised as Hares Foot Fern is an evergreen perennial fern. It is phase of the Davalliaceae household and is native to Fiji. The Rabbit Foot Fern is a hardy fern that can continue to exist indoors or out. It is gradual developing but lengthy lived. It's recognised as Rabbit Foot due to the gentle fuzzy rhizomes that creepy alongside the soil surface. Rabbit Foot Fern have lacy, finely divided foliage which is mild to darkish inexperienced in colour. If grown inner they want a bight spot that is out of direct sunlight. It can be grown outdoor in hotter climates in a sheltered region that receives masses of shade.

Rabbit Foot Fern Quick Info

Botanical/Scientific Name	Davallia Fejeensis
Common Name	Rabbit's Foot Fern
Uses	Excellent ferns for hanging baskets or for shallow pots
Origin	Fiji
Light Care	Moderate to bright light
Soil Care	Enough to make the soil moist
Temperature Care	Between 70 and 75 degrees F(21-24ºC)
Humidity Care	Moderate humidity
Watering	A liquid houseplant fertilizer mixed at half strength
Pruning Care	Pruning it in late winter before new spring growth begins
Fertilizer Care	Fertilize every 2 -3 weeks during the growing phase with an organic fertilizer
Propagation	Snip off 2- to 3-inch pieces of its rhizomes​
Toxic	Non toxic for cats, dogs and horses.

Rabbit Foot Fern Care in Detail

Rabbit Foot Fern Watering

Water the Rabbit Foot Fern gently however regularly to preserve the floor of the soil gently moist. Daily misting helps Rabbit Foot Fern hold the floor rhizomes from drying out. Every two weeks your rabbit's foot fern care need to additionally encompass watering the plant with a liquid houseplant fertilizer blended at half of strength.Rabbit Foot Fern wants repotting about each two years, and the great time to repot is in spring. Mix normal potting soil half-and-half with sand to create an perfect medium for Rabbit Foot Fern. This is an top notch time to divide massive plants.
During spring and summer time strive and maintain the soil moist at all times, besides leaving the soil soaked. Rabbit Foot Fern solely has small roots so it is taking most of it is water and vitamins from the pinnacle soil and stroring them inside it is rhizomes. As epiphytes, Rabbit Foot Fern can take in water from the air, rain, or via the surfaces they sit down on.
Indoors maintain the soil moist, however in no way soggy. Since rainwater is a herbal supply for them, they'll like an overhead watering indoors too.
When they're mounted, watering is greater hands-on. Provide moisture via every day misting, making sure the Rabbit Foot Fern don't dry out.
I advocate the usage of distilled water or rainwater if possible. Davallia fejeensis can be touchy to the salts and chemical substances located in faucet water.
Read More:
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Rabbit Foot Fern Soil

Choose a light-weight pot if you are developing a striking planter. The dimension of the pot have to be simply barely large than the base of the Rabbit Foot Fern. These ferns experience being crowded. Removing the fern from the current pot is the trick. If it is a less expensive nursery pot, you can reduce the plant out to liberate it. Otherwise, use a hori hori or narrow planting tool to gently pry round the interior of the pot and loosen the soil. The backside of the pot might also additionally have roots developing outside. Loosen these and, if necessary, you can reduce off these that have wound round the drainage holes. Don't worry, there are masses of Rabbit Foot Fern roots nonetheless to maintain the plant and it won't harm the fern. Use a potting combine with little to no soil such as two components peat, 1 phase soil and 1 phase sand or perlite. You may additionally determine to divide the Rabbit Foot Fern if it has gotten too large. Cut it into up to four sections with a sharp, easy knife. Plant in the new soil with the rhizomes balanced round the part of the pot. Water well.

Rabbit Foot Fern Light Requirements

Rabbit Foot Fern requires reasonable to vivid mild to grow. You can vicinity it on an east-facing window with bright, however oblique light. If you're developing in a south-facing window, region it at least a few toes away so as no longer to expose it to too lots light.
Being a Rabbit Foot Fern, direct mild can lead to hot of leaves, so make certain you pick the plant place carefully. During the day, the best temperature for rabbit foot fern is between 70-75°F (21-24°C) and a barely cooler temperature vary at nights. An essential issue to bear in mind is that rabbit fern is relax sensitive. So make positive the temperature doesn't fall under 55°F (13°C).

Rabbit Foot Fern Temperature

From 60° – 75° tiers Fahrenheit (16° C – 24° C) is the best temperature vary for davallia fejeensis.
The rabbit foot fern may also want extra common watering when the temperature rises above 75° stages Fahrenheit (24° C) and much less watering when it falls beneath 60° tiers Fahrenheit (16° C).
When the temperature drops decrease than the best range, take a look at the soil earlier than watering; it must be dry to touch.

Rabbit Foot Fern Humidity

Rabbit Foot Fern requires a heat temperature and excessive humidity to thrive. Humidity is even greater fundamental if grown epiphytically, as it have to take in all its moisture from the atmosphere.

Rabbit Foot Fern Fertilizer

Fertilizer can be your exceptional pal when developing a rabbit foot fern, supplied that you go about matters smartly. In different words, don't over-do things. Too a good deal fertilizer will stop up doing greater damage to the fronds than good. You can format to use liquid fertilizer monthly, however solely after the fern has been planted for four to 6 months.
You'll additionally choose to mechanically anticipate your plant for quite a number pests. Gnats, mites, and different tiny critters thrive on rabbit foot ferns. Fortunately, you can take care of the trouble via truely brushing them off with a moist towel.

Rabbit Foot Fern Pruning

You should remove yellow or loss of Rabbit Foot Fern life leaves, and plant particles to motivate better-growing conditions. While pruning Rabbit Foot Fern,  we can usually use smooth scissors or shears to decrease the risk of bacterial and fungal diseases. Never reduce via yellowed tissue as this may additionally purpose in addition harm in the likes of illnesses or bacterial infections. Remember to make smooth incisions as too-damaged wounds might also shock the plant, inflicting weakened boom and a decline in health.
Trim all of the fronds lower back to the base of the Rabbit Foot Fern.
Viewing the rhizomes/root ball from the top, divide it with a sharp knife into fourths. Each fourth ought to have sections of the rhizomes (the furry "foot" parts) and roots. Prune away about 1 inch of the decrease parts of the roots.
Make a potting combine combo mainly for your ferns. You can use two components peat moss, one phase loam, and one phase smooth sand or perlite. Mix collectively well.

Rabbit Foot Fern Repotting

Loosen the rabbit's foot fern from its container, and cautiously slide the plant out. Repotting is first-rate finished in the winter, about January, earlier than the new spring fronds commence to grow.
Growing the rabbit foot fern is easy. It has a medium increase fee and is now not choosy about its surroundings or soil. It solely desires to be repotted as soon as it outgrows its present day container, which commonly will be each and every different year. Make positive to repot the plant in the spring for much less shock to the roots. Speaking of roots, the rabbit foot fern has a shallow root machine and will want to be housed in a pot to match. A shallow however extensive pot is perfect for rabbit foot fern plants.
In the iciness the rabbit foot fern will shed leaflets, however they will develop once more in the spring. Increasing humidity round the plant will stop immoderate leaf loss in the winter. The furry rhizomes that have a tendency to sit down on the floor of the soil need to in no way be buried.

Rabbit Foot Fern Pest & Disease Control

Thrips

Thrips of Rabbit Foot Fern are small, winged bugs that assault many sorts of flowers and thrive in hot, dry prerequisites (like heated houses). They can multiply shortly as a girl can lay up to 300 eggs in a existence span of forty five days except mating. Most of the harm to flora is brought about by way of the younger larvae which feed on smooth leaf and flower tissue. This leads to distorted growth, injured flower petals and untimely flower drop. Thrips additionally can transmit many dangerous plant viruses.

Fungus Gnats and Shoreflies

Fungus Gnats or Shore fliesare small pesky flies which can regularly be a nuisance interior the home. About the dimension of fruit flies, they can be viewed jogging on the soil floor of Rabbit Foot Fern pots. They appear to choose moist soil prerequisites and may additionally thrive in mixes containing hardwood bark or manure. While the worm-like larvae can reason root injury and adults can transmit plant diseases, they hardly ever purpose extreme plant damage.

Mealybugs

Small, wingless, dull-white, soft-bodied bugs that produce a waxy powdery covering. They have piercing/sucking mouth components that suck the sap out of plant tissue. Mealybugs regularly appear like small portions of cotton and they have a tendency to congregate the place leaves and stems branch. The younger have a tendency to cross round till they discover a appropriate feeding spot, then they hold out in colonies and feed. Mealybugs can weaken a plant main to yellow foliage and leaf drop. They additionally produce a candy substance known as honeydew (coveted via ants) which can lead to an unattractive black floor fungal boom referred to as sooty mold.

Whiteflies

Whiteflies are small, winged bugs that seem to be like tiny moths, which assault many kinds of plants. The flying person stage prefers the underside of leaves to feed and breed. Whiteflies can multiply shortly as a lady can lay up to five hundred eggs in a existence span of two months. If Rabbit Foot Fern is infested with whiteflies, you will see a cloud of fleeing bugs when the plant is disturbed. Whiteflies can weaken a plant, in the end main to plant demise if they are now not checked. They can transmit many hazardous plant viruses. They additionally produce a candy substance referred to as honeydew (coveted with the aid of ants) which can lead to an unattractive black floor fungal increase known as sooty mold.

Rabbit Foot Fern Propagation

Rabbit Foot Fern Leaf Propagation

Spore propagation takes the longest to produce a Rabbit Foot Fern, however it is nevertheless an choice if divisions or cuttings don't seem to be available. The spores are positioned in the small, brownish spots on the undersides of the fronds. These first show up a faded coloration however darken as the developing season progresses. When the dots flip very darkish brown in summer, get rid of a leaf and put it internal a clear plastic bag. Set the bag in a cool, dry region out of direct sunlight, and the spores will drop off as the leaf dries out.
Fill a small pot with moist, peat-based developing medium and unfold the spores throughout the floor of the soil. The University of Vermont Extension recommends sealing the pot in a clear plastic bag. Set the pot in bright, oblique mild the place temperatures continue to be between sixty five and 70 tiers Fahrenheit. Remove the bag as soon as the sprouts attain 1 inch in height. When the Rabbit Foot Fern seedlings attain two to three inches tall, they can be transplanted into character starter pots crammed with soilless potting mix.

Rabbit Foot Fern Division Propagation

Now, if pinning rhizomes to soil appears like too a whole lot work, you can definitely divide the fern into two or greater plants. Follow the specific identical system I described in element for dividing the Boston fern. Just be certain to pot the divisions so rhizomes are positioned above the soil line, now not underneath it.
The majority of boom happens above soil level. So this will be the foliage and these bushy "legs", the Rabbit Foot Fern root device that grows in the soil is pretty simple and now not as robust as many different plants. This ability they will do pretty properly in shallow pots.
They're like many ferns in that over time the roots will shape a dense compacted mass. Almost like clearly best netting or thread.
Over many years they will "eat" all the potting soil and all you will have left is the Rabbit Foot Fern roots. At this point, it may want to be a appropriate notion to think about repotting to refresh the potting medium and supply extra house for the roots to grow.
On average, you are not likely to want to repot mature plant life extra than as soon as each two or three years. I've now not completed something with mine in view that I added it and it is nonetheless spectacular and developing well. Plants that are very younger or these developing very quickly will want to be repotted greater frequently.

Rabbit Foot Fern Varieties

A Rabbit Foot Fern is any one of a team of about 12,000 species of plants. Unlike mosses they have xylem and phloem (making them vascular plants). They have stems, leaves, and roots like different vascular plants. Ferns do no longer have both seeds or vegetation (they reproduce through spores). These cool little ferns are easy and effortless to grow. By easy we imply that they do not continuously drop small leaves like different ferns do. When mature the fern grows smooth "rabbits feet" round the exterior of the pot. Davallia fejeensis, higher regarded as the Rabbit Foot Fern, is one of the most special and ferns available. The fronds develop out of a rabbit foot searching rhizome as you can see in the photo below. This fern does no longer want consistent moisture like most fern do and will live on with dry soil for quick intervals of time. As the Rabbit Foot fern grows, so does the furry rhizomes, absolutely engulfing the pot in a few years. Place your "Rabbit Foot Fern" in vivid oblique mild or filtered light. Avoid areas of excessive warmness as this will burn the subtle fronds. Keep the soil moist however now not soggy. It can be allowed to dry, occassionaly Feed bi- month-to-month with a balanced liquid fertilizer such as Peter's Plant Food. When mature your plant will enhance brown circles below the leaves... these are now not bugs, they are spores. Spores are essentially the identical as seeds to different plants. Propagate through dividing the rhizomes

Rabbit Foot Fern Benefits

The medicinal features of ferns, actual or imaginary, we discover noted as early as 300 B. C. with the aid of the Greek logician Theophrastus and the rabbit-foot fern is no longer an exception. Rabbit Foot Fern traditionally has been used with the aid of the indigenous humans of Honduras for malignant tumors, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis. In the Amazon rainforest a maceration of the rhizome is used for fever; grated fresh, it is made into a tea for whooping-cough and kidney problems. The Boras Indians (in the Peruvian Amazon) put together the leaves in a drink for coughs. The Witotos Indians (in the northwest Amazon) use the rhizome for treating coughs. Other Peruvian indigenous tribes use the rhizome for troubles of the pancreas. Indigenous companies in Latin America use the rhizome and leaves for many specific maladies consisting of cancer, psoriasis, peptic ulcers, kidney problems, diarrhea, arthritis, and pains in joints and tendons. It is typically regarded during the Amazon to be a regularly occurring tonic, to detoxify the body, and to aid the immune system.

Rabbit Foot Fern Care FAQs

White Rabbit Foot Fern

White Rabbit Foot Fern, is a creeping evergreen fern that produces fuzzy white rhizomes developing shut to the surface. Forms a dense, irregularly fashioned mound over time.
Ferns thrive in impartial to acidic, loose, richly natural soil which is moist however now not waterlogged. Prefers bright, filtered daylight and is terrific as a houseplant or in a seasonal container. Protect from freezing temperatures!

Blue Rabbit Foot Fern

In case you've got by no means heard of a Blue Rabbit Foot Fern, it was once kicked out of the greater acquainted genus polypodium over reproductive issues. We obtained our first plant from our buddies at Yucca Do, who have been excited about its iciness hardiness. After quite a few years of trialing, we are as equally excited. The 1' tall glaucous leaves, which seem extra like a snow mitt than a fern frond, emerge from the slowly-spreading, red-haired rhizomes that lay on pinnacle of the soil. Although Phlebodium pseudoaureum will develop in a broad vary of soil types, barely moist soils and a sloping website online are best.

Overwatered Rabbit Foot Fern

Most Rabbit Foot Fern like an common room temperature of sixty five to seventy five levels F in the course of the day, up to 10 levels cooler at night. If temperatures exceed seventy five ranges F, you may also want to water greater frequently. Below 60 degrees, add water solely when the soil is dry to the touch. Some of the greater tropical ferns can also develop poorly, preferring the greater temperatures.
Consistent watering, maintaining the soil evenly moist, now not wet, is additionally key to the fitness and properly being of the plants. Overwatering motives the fronds to yellow and wilt and may additionally finally lead to root rot and fungal diseases, specifically if the pot is allowed to sit down in water. Too little water additionally motives wilt. A few varieties, such as Rabbit's Foot Fern, Brake ferns, and Holly Fern are an exception to the steady watering rule. For these, you may additionally enable the soil to dry out barely between waterings.

Rabbit Foot Fern indoor care

Generally, ferns want excessive humidity to thrive. Though, Rabbit Foot Ferns are very resilient and an awful lot less difficult to please as indoor houseplants as adversarial to wild ferns. With current plant misters and humidifiers, you won't have to turn out to be a botanical specialist to care for a Rabbit Foot Fern.
Indoor flora can soak up the detrimental gasses and chemical compounds in the air like formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene. Plants can additionally act as a herbal air cleaner by way of recycling the carbon dioxide in the air and producing sparkling oxygen for us to breathe. Indoor air can have simply as many pollution as the outdoors, and having flowers to assist cleanse the air can assist us focal point and clear our heads better.

Rabbit Foot Fern dropping leaves

First, your Rabbit Foot Fern is no longer getting ample light. In an jap exposure, it need to be inside three toes of the window and the window should be saved absolutely uncovered at some stage in the daylight hours hours. I suspect that insufficient mild is the cause your Fern produces new leaves however can't preserve onto them.
Second, you have a watering problem. It is difficult for me to say what you may also be doing incorrect due to the fact you have been Watergate erratically. I'm guessing that the planter does no longer have drain holes. If so, that capacity that extra water has no area to break out and collects in the bottom. That will purpose root rot. Trying to counteract that by means of withholding water to the factor of dryness can additionally motive roots to die. Rabbit Foot Fern are no longer forgiving of watering lapses.
I advocate that you add a small volume of water as quickly as the floor of the soil feels nearly dry or simply barely damp. Add just ample water so that it reaches that degree of dryness once more in a week or less. Adjust the water quantity to get it on a weekly schedule.
Hydrogen peroxide will no longer add oxygen to the root zone, however it will add extra water. It is now not a treatment for appropriate watering. I suppose if you enhance the mild and your watering routine, your Fern will as soon as once more begin to thrive.
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