15
My neighbor swore that coffee grounds would fix my yellowing ferns, so I tried it for 2 months
I have this fern on my front porch in Nashville that just would not stay green no matter what I did. My neighbor Bob, who grows prize-winning orchids, told me to dump my used coffee grounds around the base every week. Said the nitrogen would perk it right up. Well, after 8 weeks the fern looked even worse, like it was dying faster. Finally I looked it up and turns out ferns are sensitive to caffeine and too much nitrogen can burn their roots. Bob meant well but his advice was way off for ferns. Has anyone else gotten plant advice from a "pro" that backfired?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
ruby2905d ago
Bob set you up with bad fern advice for sure. Coffee grounds work for acid loving plants like azaleas but ferns just can't handle the caffeine and heat from the decomposing grounds. Learned that one the hard way myself after killing a Boston fern last summer.
7
mila_reed5d ago
Read somewhere eggshells work better for ferns actually.
3