I inherited a Boston fern from a friend moving and I think it needs a lot of love... I am not sure what to do with it. Here are some photos











I cleaned it a bit, but it is seperated, full of leafless runners. I am wondering, should I prune it drastically, should I repot it. I am not sure what to do quite frankly. Its an inside plant.

I think you have a couple of options, either one requiring some fresh potting soil. You can either repot it into a larger pot or you can divide it and have two pots. I would use a richer potting soil - like maybe Happy Frog which does have some compost and good stuff in it without resorting to something like Miracle Grow. You could water them in with some diluted fish emulsion (which will be a little stinky) or seaweed extract. They do tend to pout indoors in northern climates in the winter, getting a little yellow or getting long and scraggly. When you repot/divide, a good time to get rid of anymore sickly fronds, all the way to the soil level. Then just keep it well-watered and maybe mist it daily until it recovers. Mine go outdoors in the warmer months which makes them very happy.

10 years ago mine looked just like that. There was no soil and it was crazy-root bound. I put it in a new pot and it thrives to this day. In fact, it has grown up so much i think it's time for an even bugger pot.

I buy Boston ferns at Walmart at the end of season. They are usually pretty rough looking. I separate them into two pots, lots of fresh soil and then soak them in a epsom salt/water mix. The epsom salt is like miracle grow to them!