I have spent a lot of time away from home the last few months, including a vacation, but mostly to take care of my Mom. Needless to say, my plants have suffered a little. (My Mom is doing great, though, and that is all that matters.) My husband did the best he could, but with the sheer number of plants, it was inevitable that one or two would be missed in the watering rounds.
One of the plants that was affected was my ‘Crispy Wave’ bird’s nest fern (Asplenium nidus ‘Crispy Wave’) It was completely collapsed when I returned home last time. (Now, just to let you know, this may have happened on my watch, as well. I’m not going to lie). Anyway, it was time to groom the plant. The yellow leaves and brown ends needed to be removed. These are the things that happen when your watering practices are inconsistent.
Some old leaves on a ‘Crispy Wave’ bird’s nest fern Asplenium nidus ‘Crispy Wave’
The great thing was, last week, Fiskars sent me an amazing box of tools. I pulled two out that especially appealed to me, knowing I could use them for my houseplant grooming purposes. (P.S. I am not being paid to promote these tools and I wouldn’t if I didn’t like them.)
I had trimmed the leaves before, but was able, with the Fiskars pruning snips, to get in close to the area I need to trim. The normal scissors I was using hadn’t been able to get close to the base of the leaf and left a stub. Not attractive.
Some of the leaf ends had turned brown from the inconsistent watering and so needed to be trimmed. Before, I had cut them straight across with regular scissors. But the floral scissors were easier because they have rounded handles, and shorter, sharp blades to really trim the leaves better as the small size of the blades makes it easier to see what your are trimming.
The plant looks much better now and the process was made easier with the right tools. Thanks Fiskars Tools for sending me some helpful tools. P.S. The blade covers are amazing!
The finished groomed plant and the Fiskars tools I used
Hello,
I’m so glad to have found your website, and thank you for making it so easy to navigate. So, I’m just beginning to understand why my plants are doing this or that, and what is needed from me to keep them happy – most of them manage to cling onto life but am guessing they wouldn’t call themselves happy! And I didn’t know you could trim leaves, who knew, figured it would damage the whole plant, so thanks for that tip!
Wanted to let you know that like a lot of people, I’ve read books and websites over the years but nothing has really helped me understand how to care for my plants until now. You just make sense and I’m feeling more confident, so yippee!
I’ll keep reading and will hopefully do a better job for my plants.
Bella
Hello,
I’m so glad to have found your website, and thank you for making it so easy to navigate. So, I’m just beginning to understand why my plants are doing this or that, and what is needed from me to keep them happy – most of them manage to cling onto life but am guessing they wouldn’t call themselves happy! And I didn’t know you could trim leaves, who knew, figured it would damage the whole plant, so thanks for that tip!
Wanted to let you know that like a lot of people, I’ve read books and websites over the years but nothing has really helped me understand how to care for my plants until now. You just make sense and I’m feeling more confident, so yippee!
I’ll keep reading and will hopefully do a better job for my plants.
Thanks Gail! I’m glad I could help. Plants are fun! Enjoy yours!
My crispy wave is small and growing well. My concern is several brown spot-tiny holes. Does this mean some sort of a bug or is my watering schedule harming it. Maybe water straight from the facet-chemicals in house water
When should I fertilize
Hi Mary Jane. I would look for some kind of insect that is making the holes or it could possibly be a fungus. You could send me pictures and I’ll see what I can do to help. I water all my plants from the faucet which is Detroit city water. I would fertilize when it is actively growing from about March-September.
My Birds next fern was so beautiful. I had it since 2014. It grew large and then I re potted it. It did well until about September 2019. Then it started to droop, the leaves looked dry and brown. I watered it regularly, once a week and misted it occasionally. I decided to check if the roots were damaged or it was too wet. I changed the soil and put it back in the same pot. It looked even worse. I cut off the dead leaves and I don’t know what to do.
Can you send me a picture? You can find my email on my website. A pebble tray is better than misting your plant. But I wonder what changed if it has been doing well since 2014.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve had my crispy wave fern for about a year and a half or so, and several months ago I noticed root rot. It was pretty bad, and I figured it wouldn’t be able to recover, but I cut off the bad roots and I repotted it anyway. It still hasn’t totally died and has even maybe continued to grow, but has pretty consistently turned brown at the ends and shriveled. Is it just very slowly dying or am I just suddenly taking terrible care of it? 😬 Should I just cut all of the struggling leaves totally off and hope to start somewhat fresh??
Can you send me a picture? It sounds like it is definitely struggling.
My crispy wave has a few brown spots when I bought it home from the garden centre. Do I cut these off? How do I deal with these spots?
Thanks!
Are they just on the ends or all over the leaves. You can email me a picture or message the houseplant guru on Facebook. Also, check out my blogpost called Keep Em’ Trimmed for more information. Thanks! Have a good day!
Hi, my plant is struggling. How do I send you a picture?
Hi Daralyn,
You can send a picture to lisa@thehouseplantguru.com
I just got a crispy wave fern and one of the leaves started turning yellowish with a dry brown spot. Help!! I don’t want it to die!!
If it is just one leaf, don’t panic. It may just be reacting to being moved to a new home. If it continues, then you can be concerned. Lisa
Hi! Was given this wavy fern, but the centre is empty. Does this mean it is dying? Or can it recover and send up new growth? What should I do?
Hi Emily, The center of bird nest ferns are where the new leaves will come from. If you look in there, it resembles a birds’ nest. Soon, hopefully, you will see small green buds in there, thus the bird’s nest name, and they will unfurl into new leaves. Lisa
I love my 2 birds nest ferns I like to watch the center where more leaves will start coming up! If I forget what to do I check your web site Thank you for helping people know what to do.
HI Louise,
Thanks so much for using my website! I do love the bird’s nest ferns, too.
Lisa
Hi! I got a crispy air wave plant in the middle of spring last year and it was great until I was gone for the summer and left it with my mom. It has some brown and yellow spots, and closer to the base some leaves are browning. What should I do?
Hi Jillian, Can you send me a picture? I hope it is saveable!
Lisa