What's eating my maidenhair fern?

Maidenhair fern is delicate and prone to spider mites when air is too dry — the main indoor pest. Mealybugs occasionally hide at frond bases, and fungus gnats breed in their consistently moist potting mix. Scale can appear on mature stems. This fern's sensitivity to chemicals means gentle, low-concentration treatments are essential.

Tiny pale flecks and stippling on delicate leaflets; fine webbing along stems; fronds brown and shrivel from the tips. Increase humidity significantly; rinse fronds gently under tepid water; apply a very dilute insecticidal soap spray (test on one frond first); repeat weekly.

White waxy fluff at the base of frond stems and in the crown; leaflets yellow; growth stalls. Remove carefully with a cotton swab soaked in isopropyl alcohol; follow with a gentle neem oil spray at half the normal rate to avoid leaf burn.

Larvae damage fine roots in moist soil; wilting and yellowing even when watering is adequate; adults hover around the pot. Avoid letting soil stay waterlogged; apply Bti drench to the soil; use yellow sticky traps to monitor adult populations.