# Black Maidenhair Fern

*Adiantum capillus-veneris*

Uncommon · Fern · Fussy · Safe

A fern. Prefers partial shade. Wants a moisture-retentive substrate. As a species it wants water about every 3 days. Not known to be toxic.

## Black Maidenhair Fern: how often should you water it?

That’s the interval our references converge on for this species indoors: roughly every 3 days between waterings, adjusted for your light and your season.

### Why we don’t give you a date.

We publish the interval this species usually wants. We don’t publish a date for your plant — nothing here measures it. The interval is a starting point you adjust from what you actually log.

Guidance is curated against general horticultural references including the RHS, the Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, and university extension services. Each field is either published or left empty — never estimated.

## Care cadences

- **Water** — Every ~3 days
- **Fertilize** — Every ~30 days
- **Mist** — Every ~3 days
- **Repot** — Every ~365 days

Not established for this species: clean leaves. We’d rather leave them empty than guess.

## What’s known about this species

### Light

- **Exposure:** Partial shade
- **Tolerates direct sun:** No
- **Minimum light:** 550 lux
- **Daily light target:** 8 mol/m²/day

### Environment

- **Ideal temperature:** 21 °C (min 16 °C, max 24 °C)
- **Humidity:** 60–80% RH

### Soil & pot

- **Drainage:** retentive
Pot in a light, moisture-retentive mix (peat-free compost with added perlite) with good drainage; repot annually in spring as the fine roots quickly fill small pots.

### Toxicity

Safe · Pet-safe
Not reported as toxic to cats or dogs — ferns in this class are generally considered pet-safe, though ingesting large amounts of any plant can cause mild stomach upset.

### A short profile, on purpose

1 of the fields we publish aren’t established for this species in the references we trust. Empty means unknown — not zero, and not a guess.

[Suggest a correction](https://verdalia.app/en/species/suggest?slug=adiantum-capillus-veneris)

## The species’ year

- **Growing:** Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
- **Dormant:** Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
- **Feed:** Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
- **Repot:** Apr, May, Jun

A typical year for this species in a temperate northern home. It shifts with your light and your latitude — we don’t track your plant’s season, so treat this as rhythm, not schedule.

## Keep this species honest in your own log.

Verdalia holds the interval, your log moves it. Free to start.

[Start tracking](https://app.verdalia.app/register)

Verdalia publishes species guidance curated from horticultural references. It does not measure your plant — you log what you do, and the intervals adjust to what you log.

[Suggest a correction](https://verdalia.app/en/species/suggest?slug=adiantum-capillus-veneris)

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- [Русский](https://verdalia.app/ru/species/adiantum-capillus-veneris.md)
- [Species library](https://verdalia.app/en/species.md)