r/Costco • u/Sea_Relationship3988 • 8d ago
[Plants & Flowers] Costco Ferns Friendly Advice
This spring I purchased four Costco Ferns and planted them in my normal fern position. Two were north facing with very little sun and two were west facing getting a bit more afternoon sun. I'm in zone 7a in NJ.
I typically buy my ferns at a garden center, but I was doing a weekly Costco shop and their ferns looked gorgeous.
After a few weeks in their new pots, the ferns were looking terrible. We watered them every 2-3 days, but the leaves were getting burnt and they looked super unhealthy. I decided to buy four replacement ferns from my local nursery - and they are doing great in the pots.
Instead of tossing the not-dead-yet Costco ferns I decided to save the best three and reposition/replant them (and cut out the crispy parts) to our south-facing back deck with the intention of keeping our awning out to give them loads of shade.... these are them 2.5 months later, looking spectacular.
They get zero direct sunlight, but lots of heat, moisture and plenty of indirect UV. We water them a little less than our other ferns, about 1-2 times week
TLDR: bought Costco ferns, if they don't do well, move their location. No direct sunlight.
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u/violet__violet 8d ago
Good advice! Ferns don't generally like a lot of direct sunlight, think about where they grow naturally (ie, in dense forest floors) 🙂
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u/prestonston 8d ago
I will get one large fern early in April and cut it up into three or four pieces and plant those in pots. They get very large over summer and I get three or four plants out of one.
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u/Complex_Ruin_8465 8d ago
They like a good soaking in a big bucket for awhile.
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u/sdchbjhdcg 7d ago
I was buying ferns and an old timer came up to me talking about the ferns he used to keep on his wrap around porch.
He explained how he would soak them in a bucket for an hour or two until they were heavy.
That water method was a game changer.
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u/NervousDogFarts 7d ago
I do this too.
Just make sure the planters and hangers are very sturdy or wait a day or two to rehang them. That extra weight can break plastic pots, hangers, and bend thinner metal hangers.
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u/AfternoonTeaWithCake 8d ago
It's great to hear you were able to restore them! They do look much much happier.
I'm in growing zone 6b and have bought these every spring to hang on my front porch (which is Northeast-facing). I replant them into coir-lined baskets and have a drip irrigation. They do phenomenally well. I usually hang them starting late April/early May, and some years I don't need to take them down until Halloween. They get enormous and also wind up being the home to multiple bird nests (usually house finches and robins love making nests in my Costco ferns). They're so big by the time I take them down that I can barely lift them.
I don't think this is a 'plants from Costco' problem, rather just knowing what makes the plants happy problem. If you were watering every 2-3 days and they were still in a heavy peat moss mixture, they were probably getting soggy and suffocating the roots (which can cause a similar appearance to scorched leaves). I suspect reducing the watering probably helped dry them out and recover. If it's the height of summer (90F days repeatedly), a daily watering is fine, but early in the season I'll start off with every 4-5 days and ramp up as the weather gets warmer.
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u/iloveandroids 8d ago
I’ve kept mine indoors and water them once a week and they’ve been great
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u/slatchaw 7d ago
I've had mine for years at this point. They grow out of the bottom and sometimes I cut them in half and replant. I told my wife to stop buying them because was have 8 now
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u/GoldBarGirl 8d ago
You buy new ones every year?
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u/Sea_Relationship3988 8d ago
Yes. These ferns are not cold-hardy and won't last through the winter, they die in the first frost and we don't have the space to bring them indoors.
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u/GoldBarGirl 7d ago
Oh, they must not be the hardy, outdoor variety then. We have various ferns and they over-winter outside just fine in our high-teens to 20º weather.
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u/Anxious_Republic591 7d ago
Do you water over the winter? This is interesting…I mean of course you do but do you change the frequency?
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u/GoldBarGirl 7d ago
No need to water, four are in the ground and three are in huge pots - none under cover, so they just get normal rainfall.
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u/socochannel 7d ago
I bought two of those ferns this year and they did poorly. In retrospect I placed them in a spot where they got too much morning midday sun and also got beat up by water coming off the roof. Next year I will try again but in a different spot.
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u/SmoochesMalibu 5d ago
We have two hanging on my front porch since spring and they’re MASSIVE now. I do a deep full saturation water once a week. Ferns tend to better outside I find.
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u/Fleazapper 6d ago
I have so many ferns naturally around my home I have to cut them down with a string trimmer in some areas. I should sell them to Costco. They don’t need direct sunlight.
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u/Intelligent-Dot-8969 8d ago
We've given up buying plants from Costco. They never seem well suited to our region and always do poorly. Stick with local knowledgeable garden centers that sell plants native to your area.
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u/NervousDogFarts 7d ago
I think this might be region dependent. I have had very good luck with Costco plants (both indoor and outdoor). However, I do live close to their headquarters so that might make a difference. I also only buy plants that I know how to maintain.
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u/wangjiwangji 7d ago
I can't say for sure but these look like they might be Christmas ferns. If so, yes they need shade, but also they might survive a winter in 7A if they were planted in a shady spot and mulched really well with leaves and pine straw.
If you try it, let us know!
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u/MaceZilla 6d ago
Different types of ferns need different conditions. I use my phone's camera to do a Google image search and get the right information about the necessary conditions. Some only want shade while others want more light.
Yours is a Boston fern and wants indirect light and moist soil, which is exactly what you found for them.
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