Rabbit's Foot Fern
Davallia fejeensis
Through the year 🗓️
☀️ Summer now
Hang it somewhere bright but sunless and water more often as the basket dries quickly.
🍂 Fall
Taper feeding and expect a light shed of older fronds as days shorten.
❄️ Winter
Let the surface dry slightly between waterings and keep it out of hot, dry drafts.
🌱 Spring
Repot or take rhizome cuttings now. Spring pieces root fastest.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Bright indirect to medium; no direct sun
- Ideal PPFD
- 100–250 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 18–24 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Keep lightly, evenly moist, watering when the surface just dries. Water the soil, not the furry rhizomes, which rot if kept soggy.
- Fertilizer
- Balanced feed at ½ strength, monthly in spring–summer.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Light, airy epiphytic mix (peat/coco + bark + perlite); pH 5.5–6.5
- Humidity
- High preferred (50%+); more forgiving of average air than most ferns
- Temperature
- 60–75 °F
- Mature size
- 1–2 ft, with rhizomes trailing over the pot
- Repotting
- Every 2–3 yrs in spring; shallow pots and hanging baskets suit it
- Propagation
- Rhizome cuttings: pin a 2–3 in piece of "foot" onto moist mix and it roots; division.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellowing fronds, mushy or blackening rhizomes, sour-smelling soil
- Underwatering signs
- Dull, drooping fronds; shriveled rhizomes; leaflet drop
- Common pests
- Scale, mealybugs, spider mites
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when Rabbit's Foot Fern looks unhappy. Most houseplant trouble is watering or light, not disease — see all plant problems if you are not sure which plant is the culprit.
Crispy frond edges
Likely cause
Dry indoor air.
What to do
Raise humidity above 50% and keep the soil lightly moist.
The furry rhizomes going soft
Likely cause
They were buried in soil, or the mix stays soggy.
What to do
Let the fuzzy "feet" sit on top of the soil, never under it, and use an airy mix.
Yellowing fronds
Likely cause
Overwatering or too much light.
What to do
Bright indirect light, and let the surface dry before watering again.
More like this 🌿
Have a rabbit's foot fern?
Track it in DueDrop, with watering every 8 days, feeding every 28 days, prefilled for you.
Start tracking free