Fern brown spots on leaves

[BearsPaw]

Hello everyone,

So I have this really nice fern which I bought as Phlebodium aureum, but I did some research and it appears to be rather Aglaomorpha coronans.

Unfortunately some leaves get brown and yellow spots, the small ones get kind of papery.

It seats in a terracota pot (I repotted it a couple of weeks ago), around 3 meters from my East facing window (but it gets also quite a lot of reflected light in the afternoon). I added some orchid mix and sphagnum to the potting mix and I water my plant more or less once a week and I mist it a couple of times a week, just to keep rhizomes moist.

It pushed some new growths so I guess it's not totally unhappy, but I am quite worried about these spots. I will be thankful for any advice!

 

[oneeye]

The plant didn't like the transplant because of the increase of water in the roots. It can't breathe because you are watering it with the same frequency as the smaller container. The plant is holding too much water between waterings. To fix, just let the soil dry a little more between waterings. If you want to be sure absolutely, just put your hand over the plant and tip it out of the pot very gently and feel and look at the soil. If you are using tap I would recommend using filtered water or rain instead. I hope that helps

 

[BearsPaw]

Thank you so much for your reply My fern might get too much water indeed, but I supposed that being a fern she would appreciate it... Maybe that plus rather low light makes the soil too moist. Speaking of light, do you think my fern can hold such a low light situation?
Do you think I should check up the roots as well or that would cuase addittional stress to the plant?

 

[oneeye]

If you can tip her out of the pot without the soil crumbling apart and get a closer feel, it would be good. If its real wet holding too much moisture then remove a little of the soil off the top so the plant will dry a little faster before the next watering. BearsPaw, I just don't think that is enough light, so push her closer to the window and get more light.

 

[BearsPaw]

oneeye, I will try to do that. I would be happy to give her more light but unfortunately this is the only spot I can put her right now... But maybe I could get a grow light and compensate for the lack of natural light.

 

[oneeye]

The best light would be a screw in the socket fluorescent light about a 150 watt cool bulb. The price is about 3 to 5 us dollars. I put mine on timers and run them 12 to 16 hrs. My plants love it and do better than outdoors or by any window. Good luck

 

[BearsPaw]

That's great! Thank you!
I know that color temperature plays the key role as it comes to light that plants "eat". Do you have any information about the light temeprature of this particular bulb?
I live in Poland and probably won't get the exact same bulbs but I will definitely go look for a similar one.

 

[oneeye]

They run very cool and that's why I choose this one. Incandescent bulbs burn very hot and are not good for ferns. You can use low wattage and get super results.

 

[oneeye]

The light can be placed 6 to 8 ft, or 1.8 meters above the plants.

 

[BearsPaw]

oneeye, thank you for the tip!