The Best Ferns to Grow Indoors

With their lush green foliage, ferns are known for their ability to add a soft, graceful texture to indoor gardenscapes. If you’re interested in growing ferns, we’ve put together a selection of popular fern subspecies that you can keep indoors, which will also add beautiful diversity to your plant collection. Ferns come in many varieties and can be found in all the continents across the world, except for Antarctica, resulting in an abundance of diversity. Due to their ability to grow in different habitats, ferns will bring a touch of wilderness to your plant collection. They are excellent indoor plants and relatively low-maintenance if kept in the right environment. 

Keeping ferns to grow indoors became popular in the 19th century Victorian era. Victorians developed an avid fascination with exotic plants, tropical ferns being one of them, and would often create magnificent displays of exotic plants in their homes. This fascination has continued into modern life as keeping ferns in the home offers a range of health benefits and works well with other popular house plants. 

Ferns are native in every part of the world where there is a humid, temperate climate. In their natural habitat, ferns grow in a variety of places such as forests, wetlands and on trees, mostly in shady spots, preferring low light conditions and a moist atmosphere. Because of this, ferns are very well suited to the UK climate, often enjoying indoor spots with indirect sunlight and high levels of humidity, like the bathroom.

Key Conditions to Consider for your Indoor Fern:

Humidity is the key condition to consider - you will benefit from placing your fern in a humid spot in the house, but if they are kept in a dryer environment make sure to mist them regularly. As for light, you will want to place your ferns in a fairly bright spot but out of direct sunlight. Most prefer light conditions that emulate the dappled shade in their natural environment. 
 
Ferns typically feature a striking cluster of leaves presented in various patterns, or delicate  furling fronds. They are an evergreen, non-flowering plant, offering a beautiful untamed look that emanates a wild, green vibrancy to the home. 

Proper care is crucial for maintaining lush, bushy ferns in your home. Sometimes they can develop brown, crispy leaves or grow leggy, so we’ve highlighted some plant care for these popular indoor ferns to ensure you have the knowledge to help your ferns thrive and remain luscious all year round. 

How to Care for Popular Indoor Ferns

Asplenium Fern | Bird’s Nest Fern | Sub-Tropical

The Asplenium Fern, also known as Bird’s Nest Fern, is a wonderful choice to grow indoors. It is a tropical fern native to Southeast Asia and features soft flourishes of wide, bright green satin leaves that subtly undulate at the edges. Asplenium Fern’s foliage is present all year round, and as a tropical fern it will tolerate a brighter spot than others in the genus. Partial shade or a bright spot with direct sunlight only in the morning or evening will work well. Lots of humidity will keep the leaves glossy and green. Asplenium ferns are natural epiphytes so prefer a free draining compost that’s left to dry a little between waterings. Make sure to give your asplenium lots of misting or sit it on a saucer of pebbles topped up with water if their environment is not humid, especially during winter months when air-drying central heating is kept on. You can group Asplenium with other tropical plants to create a humid microclimate. 

Boston Fern | Nephrolepis exaltata | Tropical/Sub-Tropical 

The Boston Fern is probably one of the easiest ferns to grow and maintain. Like all ferns, the leaves can sometimes be prone to browning, dropping and crisping when not in ideal conditions, but it can recover very quickly and with a bit of attention. They don’t like to be touched or brushed past, so make sure to keep it out of common through-ways like the hallway. Draughts and cold spots will also make the boston fern suffer. With enough water and humidity they will tolerate periods of direct sunlight. If you’ve ever visited the tropics of Asia, you will likely have seen these luscious ferns growing from the side of buildings in intense sunlight, somehow thriving. Keep the soil of your Boston Fern damp but not soggy. Steady moisture and humidity is key to a happy, flourishing Boston Fern. They are native to tropical and subtropical regions of northern South America and regions reaching up to Mexico. 

Staghorn Fern | Platycerium Bifurcatum | Tropical/Sub-Tropical 

Staghorn ferns are native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia and Australia and are natural epiphytes, meaning they are found growing on the trunk of trees. Staghorn ferns like warmer temperatures and it's beneficial to keep them away from any draughts in your home. They prefer high levels of humidity so you will want to mist your Staghorn fern on a daily basis if not in a naturally humid environment, especially during the winter months. You may have noticed the powdery layer on the surface of their leaves, much like that on a succulent. This acts as a natural sunscreen to the foliage, allowing it to thrive in areas with lots of direct sunlight. If you are putting your staghorn in a bright and hot area, be sure to check moisture levels on a more regular basis. If housed somewhere with lower light levels, the powdery layer will likely fade. Water from the base to avoid rotting the foliage. 

Common Fern | Asparagus Setaceous Fern | Tropical 

These delicate, lacy plants are native to the humid forests of Southern Africa. Contrary to its name, the Asparagus fern is not a true fern but rather more closely related to a lily - an imposter fern, as we like to refer to it! It is a low-maintenance houseplant that grows quickly when nurtured in the right conditions. In nature, they use the sharp spines on their stems to scramble and climb over other plants, meaning you can train them to grow up a frame or moss pole for a beautiful cascading foliage effect. Asparagus ferns enjoy very humid spaces, so they work well in bathrooms. They prefer bright but indirect light - too much light will scorch their delicate foliage and too little light will cause the “leaves” to yellow and drop. Interestingly, much like how this plant isn’t a true fern, the “leaves” are not actually leaves either, but flattened stems with a green tissue that takes on the process of photosynthesising. If your Asparagus fern starts to look a bit leggy, simply cut the stems back at the base to encourage fresh growth. If the leaves are browning and dropping then this usually indicates a lack of humidity or light, or is sometimes related to over-handling. Asparagus ferns are a beautifully delicate plant and better left untouched, if possible. 

Maidenhair Fern | Tropical 

The Maidenhair fern is a leafy houseplant with small fronds and apple-green leaves. They are native to shady, humid wetland habitats of the Americas, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. They are fairly compact in size, with soft fan-shaped leaves clustered on stems that splay outwards so they work well as a contrasting foliage alongside other houseplants. Your Maidenhair Fern will want a lot of moisture, so regular misting is hugely beneficial and even placing it on top of a bed of pebbles will  provide a much needed moisture boost. They have a reputation for being temperamental but once you’ve found the right environment in your home, they will thrive. We have found that keeping the soil damp at all times has worked best for us in a bathroom with a bright but frosted window, however we recommend a bit of trial and error with these ferns as the care should be adjusted from one environment to the next. 

Crocodile Fern | Microsorum Musifolium Crocodyllus | Tropical

Aptly named due to its affinity with the texture of crocodile scales, this stunning and unusual fern features leaves displaying dark green veins that delicately run across waves of lime green foliage, creating a striking texture and adding plenty of intrigue to your plant collection. This fern originates in the tropical regions of Southeast Asia and Australia and in an indoor environment, enjoys indirect light. Too much direct sunlight will scorch the leaves so ensure your crocodile fern is placed in a spot with dappled shade. 

Pteris & Dryopteris | Table, Brake & Ribbon Ferns 

Pteris and Dryopteris ferns are houseplants that you would most typically associate with ferns. Pteris is a lively looking houseplant that features long thin fronds that grow in tufts, and the Dryopteris are most frequently found in British woodlands. They are commonly spotted outdoors in the UK, so unlike tropical ferns, these ferns can tolerate low light conditions. As expected, they require plenty of water to thrive, so keep the soil watered regularly so it doesn’t dry out. 

This is our favourite selection of ferns that are perfect for growing indoors. We do also keep a rotational stock of alternative ferns at our shops, so please feel welcome to visit or you can get in touch if you have a particular fern in mind.