How to Grow and Care for Rabbit’s Foot Ferns

Davallia solida var. fejeensis

I think rabbit’s foot ferns are among the most adorable of houseplants.

It looks like a rabbit or two decided to hide out under the laciest ferns they could find, only they don’t entirely fit under the fronds and their fuzzy little feet are sticking out.

Okay, full disclosure: I actually think the “rabbit’s feet” look more like tarantula legs, but few indoor gardeners are going to grow a plant called tarantula foot fern outside of Halloween, right? So let’s stick with the bunny reference.

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Rabbit’s foot ferns don’t mind the lower humidity of the average home environment, and they aren’t as fussy as some ferns, like maidenhairs.

Plus, they won’t hurt your curious dog or cat friends since they are nontoxic.

In our guide to growing ferns, we cover how to cultivate these diverse plants as part of your indoor jungle.

Now let’s take a look at what makes rabbit’s foot ferns special and what you need to know about growing them.

Here’s what’s ahead:

Also called Fijian hare’s foot, lacy hare’s foot, and lacy paw, Davallia solida var. fejeensis, formerly D. fejeensis, is an epiphytic, herbaceous perennial.

In their indigenous environment in the tropical forests of the Caroline Islands and Fiji, these ferns grow on trees, attaching with their fuzzy rhizomes.

They aren’t parasites, as they don’t draw nutrients from the host plant.

Rabbit’s foot ferns hang out on trees and gather moisture and nutrients from rainfall and debris that falls into the canopy.

The fronds can each grow up to 24 inches long but they generally stay smaller when grown indoors.

They can grow straight up, completely horizontal, or anything in between. Each leaf is ovate and made up of a number of lanceolate pinnules, or leaflets.

Hare foot, also known as blue star fern (Phlebodium aureum), has fuzzy rhizomes, but the leaves aren’t at all lacy.

Rabbit’s foot fern can be grown outdoors in Zones 10 and 11, but most gardeners will choose to grow it as a houseplant.

How to Grow

Rabbit’s foot ferns have similar requirements to their relatives but they aren’t fussy if they don’t get exactly what they want.

The two most important elements to caring for rabbit foot ferns (and most plants) are light and water.

Light

The light requirement is fairly easy to nail. They want bright, indirect light – avoid direct light but find a spot that’s as bright as possible.

If the plant is exposed to direct sunlight, the fronds will burn and turn brown. Those cute little rabbit feet might turn brown and shrivel up.

Soil

These plants need a loose, loamy, moisture retentive potting mix with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5.

I’m always singing the praises of FoxFarm’s Ocean Forest potting soil.

FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Soil

This product is made from sphagnum peat, forest humus, bat guano, and earthworm castings. All the stuff many plants love.

You can purchase a cubic foot-and-a-half bag at Amazon.

Water

As for water, keep the soil moist at all times but not soaking wet. Think about the texture of a sponge that you’ve wrung out really well. That’s what the soil should feel like.

If it feels soggier than that, the soil is too wet, and if it’s any drier, you need to give it some water.

Let the top half inch of soil dry out but the rest should remain moist like a well-wrung-out sponge.

Don’t forget when you water to empty out the decorative container or any saucer or cachepot within a half hour of watering.

If you leave water in the saucer, the soil will soak it up over time, keeping the soil wet.

Temperature and Humidity

Keep your plant somewhere the temperatures will remain between 65 and 75°F.

A slight deviation from this range is fine, but anything extreme will harm and potentially kill your plant. Temperatures below 55°F for any length of time will cause damage.

Avoid placing the fern near a door, under an HVAC vent, or next to a single-pane window if you live somewhere with freezing winter weather.

It’s especially important to avoid HVAC vents because these will reduce humidity and dry out the plant.

In other words, they can survive low humidity, but they’ll be happier when it’s above 50 percent.

Fertilizing

These aren’t hungry ferns. You only need to fertilize once a month during the spring and summer. Stop in mid-fall and don’t feed at all during the winter.

Use a mild, balanced food, with an NPK ratio of 1-1-1 or 2-2-2.

I use Dr. Earth’s Pump and Grow food, since it’s suitable for so many plants. Plus, it’s made from grocery store food waste and comes in a handy pump bottle.

Dr. Earth Pump and Grow

You can find it at Arbico Organics in a 16-ounce bottle.

Where to Buy

There’s only one common cultivar of this species, and it’s worth looking out for.

‘Plumosa’ takes the beautiful shape and size of the species, along with the cute fuzzy rhizomes, but it stands apart with extremely lacy, feather-like foliage that arcs gracefully from the plant.

Rabbit’s Foot Fern

If you’re looking for the species plant, it’s available from the Rooted Store via Amazon in four- or six-inch growing pots.

Maintenance

Unless a frond or rhizome dies, don’t worry about maintenance. So long as you are feeding and watering your rabbit foot fern, it doesn’t need any additional babysitting.

If a frond gets broken, dies, or shows signs of disease, prune it off right away. Similarly, if something looks amiss with one of the rhizomes, give them the ol’ snip-snip.

 Make sure the pruners or scissors that you use are clean. You can wipe them with isopropyl alcohol or scrub them in hot, soapy water.

Propagation

Most of us will buy our first rabbit’s foot fern, but you can also easily propagate them from rhizome cuttings.

From Cuttings

As the rhizomes spill over the pot and crawl down, they will eventually sprout fronds. You can remove these for propagation.

To do this, cut a section of rhizome that has a few fronds and is at least three inches long.

Fill a small container with potting medium and set the cutting section on top of the soil. Take a small section of horticultural wire and bend it in a “U” shape.

Use a piece or two of wire to anchor the cutting in place and moisten the soil.

You can move them into larger containers at this point.

Transplanting

When you bring a plant home from the store, you’ll eventually want to move it into a larger container.

I think the sooner the better because you’re going to disturb some of the rhizomes and if you want to encourage and display them, you need to get the plant into a long-term home as soon as possible.

Fill the base of the new container with your choice of potting mix. Carefully pry up the existing rhizomes and then squeeze the pot to loosen up the roots and soil or use a clean butter knife to loosen the soil from the edge of the pot.

Gently set the rabbit’s foot fern in the new container and lift up the rhizomes. Pour some potting medium around the roots.

Managing Pests and Disease

When grown indoors, rabbit’s foot ferns are not generally subject to problems with pests and disease.

The usual houseplant insects like aphids, mealybugs, and scale may show up. These can be dealt with by using neem oil.

Remember that in their native habitat, these plants live in the trees, and you’d better believe that water doesn’t accumulate on tree branches.

Learn more about root rot in houseplants here.

Hop to It

Whether you see the resemblance to a bunny’s foot or you share my tarantula visions, rabbit’s foot ferns are attention-grabbing plants.

All that beauty doesn’t come at the cost of extensive care, though. These are pretty easy-going ferns.

Are you growing these ferns? If so, what do you see when you look at those fuzzy rhizomes? Share your ideas in the comments section below.

If you’re a fan of growing ferns as houseplants, there are lots of other species out there to learn about. Have a read of these guides next: