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I'd a maidenhair fern for 3 months that was thriving, very lush, seemed healthy. One morning nearly all its leaves shriveled. Most were still green, but several shriveled leaves near the root had turned yellowish-brown. This was a complete surprise. I'd watered it every other day making sure the soil remained moist. I'd fertilized it on schedule. I made sure it received appropriate lighting. Basically, I followed all the instructions given by my local garden center. Nevertheless, it apparently died overnight.

I've not been able to find a satisfying answer by googling; any thoughts as to what happened?

John Beverley
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Plants don't usually "die overnight" from natural causes. IMO the most likely reason is that you (or somebody else) watered or fertilized it with something which wasn't water or fertilizer.

Possibly you didn't completely clean some container that you had been using for weed killer or insecticide, or even a common household item like vinegar (acetic acid is used commercially as a weedkiller).

It doesn't take much to kill a potted plant, but obviously we have no way to know exactly what the cause was.

alephzero
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