How to Grow Ivy Indoors Successfully

Hello and welcome to Healthy Houseplants.com, where we teach you all about gardening in the great indoors. Today’s video is sponsored by our Amazon affiliate link, which you’ll see in the comment section below.

Today, I’m going to talk to you about growing ivy indoors. Hedera helix is one variety you can grow indoors, and this video was suggested by one of my viewers, Jim. So, thank you, Jim, for asking about Hedera helix revival.

I’m going to talk to you a little bit about growing ivy indoors. I believe that Jim’s plant is on a trellis of some sort, which you can do with these plants. They are very beautiful plants and make great hanging plants, as you can see. They can be placed on things like pedestals or hung from high places in hanging baskets. I actually have one of these in a gourd that I use as a hanging basket, and it’s just a really pretty plant.

Ivy plants look very easy to grow. When they’re healthy, they look really nice. As mentioned, you can have them grow up, along a wall, or hanging down, etc. I really like that they are nice decorative items because they have different colors, especially some green shades that you don’t always find in other plants. Additionally, the oak-shaped leaves are really pretty as well.

So, how do you keep them healthy? You may have grown these before, and they may have looked good for a few months, but then they went down the tubes. That’s very common. This is one of those plants that do better outdoors, and there are houseplants that will acclimate and do great indoors. However, there are some that really say, “Hey, I really want to go outside!” So, keep that in mind; they will have a few problems, especially during your winter months.

There are things you can do, however, to try to combat this. If you live in an area that has a summer season, where you can put them outdoors for a while, place them in a shaded location during the summer. This will help them during the rest of the year. If you have ivy indoors during the winter months, depending on which hemisphere you are in right now, you may have one that is struggling.

Here are some tips to get it through the winter. When you do have some nice weather, even if it’s during the day, having the ivy outdoors for a little while (as long as you don’t put it in direct sunlight) will also help your plant once spring weather hits.

Regarding watering, you do not want to overwater these plants. If they are overwatered, they will tend to go down the tubes quickly. They will develop rot, as they do not like wet feet in general. You’ll see that I have my ivy plant on the dry side. I am now going to water this, but it is pretty dry—slightly moist but not wet. This one was just recently watered, so it is moist.

I’ve had this one indoors for at least a whole season, and it’s doing pretty good. I haven’t had to put it outdoors, but I do have it in a brightly lit area. Bright light is essential for ivy. However, if you don’t have bright light, especially at this time of year, use full-spectrum lighting to help this plant through the darker months.

When using the bulb, place it as close to the top of the plant as possible, ideally within six to twelve inches. When you water, make sure to use warm water—do not use cold water on them, as that will shock the roots and cause problems.

Keep an eye out for mealybugs and scales. Occasionally, they will succumb to these pests, but they generally do so when they are not growing in ideal conditions. If they are very healthy, they usually do just fine. You may notice some browning leaf tips; this is not unusual. If you see browning, you can take off the tip. This browning might happen if the tip brushed against something, or it could be a sign of salt build-up.

If you suspect salt build-up, you will want to leach the soil of the plant. Wait until the plant is ready for watering, then let water run through it for a while—at least three times the amount of water of the pot itself. This will rinse the salts out.

Regarding fertilizing, you can fertilize about every 3 to 4 months. Ivy plants are not heavy feeders, but the more you fertilize, the more they will grow. If you prefer, you can fertilize monthly using half-strength organic fertilizer to avoid getting too much salt into the soil, as all fertilizers carry some salts.

If you find mealybugs or scale, treat them with insecticidal soap, horticultural oil, or isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol works well for mealybugs, while the other two options are best for scale. If you notice any infected leaves, cut them off right away to prevent the spread of pests. You can mist the plants occasionally; they enjoy a little misting now and then, especially if you’re starting to see browning leaf tips from watering issues.

It’s also very important that they are in the correct-sized pot. You want about 2/3 plant to 1/3 pot, or you can even go with 3/4 ivy to 1/4 pot. You’ll see that there’s quite a bit of plant in this pot size, and I am not going to be repotting anytime soon—probably not for at least another three months. The same goes for this one; I won’t be repotting it for a while either.

However, if you do get an ivy from the nursery and aren’t sure of the soil quality, you can repot the plant in new soil, just staying in the same size pot. This way, you can maintain that 3/4 or 2/3 ivy to 1/4 or 1/3 pot ratio. They do like to be a bit rootbound as well, as many ivies growing outdoors thrive in crevices and on walls.

So, that gives you a good idea of how to grow ivy indoors. Thank you for stopping by today! Please leave any comments about any indoor gardening tutorials you’d like to see, and remember to like, comment, subscribe, and share this video.

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