The Latest Complete Guide to Growing Ivy
Ivy is a rather popular large indoor potted foliage plant, especially suited for placement in larger living rooms, studies and sitting rooms, where it lends an elegant, simple style with a touch of southern charm. It is a world-famous new-generation indoor foliage plant with a graceful, neat plant shape. Let's take a look together at how to grow ivy!
The Growing Environment of Ivy
Ivy is a shade-loving climbing plant, though it can also grow in full-light conditions. It grows well in warm, humid climates and is not cold-tolerant. It is not demanding about soil, preferring moist, loose, fertile soil, and is not tolerant of saline-alkaline soil.
It often climbs on trees at the forest edge, on roadsides beneath the forest, on rocks and on house walls, and is also commonly cultivated in gardens.
Propagation Methods for Ivy
1. Seed propagation
For seed propagation of ivy, simply harvest the seeds when the fruit is ripe, pile them up to after-ripen, soak and rub them, wash the seeds clean and dry them in the shade, and they can then be sown. They can also be stored in damp sand and sown in spring the following year. After sowing, cover with 1cm of soil and cover with grass to retain moisture. When the seedlings emerge, set up a frame for shade, and in the second spring transplant them or, after the seedlings are established, grow them on into larger plants.
2. Cutting propagation
The cutting propagation method for ivy is to use soft shoots with aerial roots taken during the growing season, which root most easily. After inserting the cuttings, enclose them in a plastic-film arched frame and shade them, keeping the air humidity at 80%-90%, but the bed soil should not be too wet, so as to avoid the cuttings rotting. Roots form in about 30d.
3. Layering propagation
Layering propagation of ivy is done in spring and autumn, using the wavy layering method; after ring-barking the part to be buried, roots form very easily, making it a relatively simple propagation method.
How to Grow Ivy
1. Temperature should be suitable: Ivy likes warmth, with an optimum growing temperature of 20°C-25°C, and it fears heat and is not cold-tolerant. Therefore, when keeping it indoors, pay attention to ventilation and cooling in summer, and in winter the room temperature should preferably stay above 10°C, and must not fall below 5°C.
2. Light should be moderate: Ivy likes light and is also fairly shade-tolerant. Grown under semi-light conditions, its internodes are shorter, its leaf shape is uniform and its leaf color is vivid, so it is best placed in a bright spot indoors. If in spring and autumn you place it for a period in a shaded spot outdoors so that it gets more morning and evening sunlight, it will grow vigorously with bright green leaves. But be careful to prevent direct strong light, otherwise it is prone to sunscald.
3. Watering should be moderate: During the growing season, water according to the "dry-wet" principle, and do not let the potting soil become excessively wet, otherwise it easily causes root rot and leaf drop. In winter, when room temperature is low, watering must especially be controlled, keeping the potting soil only slightly moist. The northern winter climate is dry, so it is best to spray-wash Du Chuan once a week with clean water at a temperature close to room temperature, to maintain air humidity; the plant will then look lively, with tender green, glossy leaves.
4. Fertilizing should be reasonable: For home-grown ivy, the potting soil should preferably be a growing medium made by mixing leaf mold or peat soil with 1/4 river sand and a small amount of bone meal. During the growing season, apply a dilute cake-fertilizer solution once every 2-3 weeks. Generally, do not fertilize in summer and winter. When fertilizing, never apply too much nitrogen fertilizer, otherwise the patterns and patches on the leaves of variegated varieties will fade to green. The ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium should preferably be 1;1;l. In the peak growing season, you can also spray the leaves 1-2 times with 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution, which will make the leaf color look even more beautiful. But note that when applying liquid fertilizer, avoid contaminating the leaves, so as to prevent the leaves from scorching.