How to grow potted ivy? Cultivation methods and precautions

  Ivy is a rather popular large indoor potted ornamental plant, especially when placed in a fairly spacious living room, study or sitting room, where it lends an elegant, simple style with a southern charm; it is a world-famous new-generation indoor foliage plant with a graceful, neat plant shape. It can purify indoor air and absorb harmful gases such as benzene and formaldehyde released by furniture and decoration, bringing great benefits to human health.

  Growing some green plants at home is a very good choice: it decorates the home and improves indoor air quality, and many plants also have the ability to absorb harmful gases, and ivy is one of them. So how do you grow potted ivy at home? Below, the editor introduces the cultivation methods and precautions for ivy.

  Ivy can be transplanted in early autumn or late spring, and after planting it needs pruning to encourage branching. In the south it is often planted in shaded spots in gardens, left to creep naturally over the ground or on rockeries. In the north it is mostly grown in pots; potted plants can be tied to various supports and trained into shape. In summer, keep them under a shade shed; in winter, move them into a greenhouse to overwinter. Indoors, air humidity must be maintained and it must not be too dry, but the potting soil should not be too wet.

  1. Loose soil: Ivy is not demanding about soil and tolerates poor soil; it likes moist, loose, fertile sandy soil and dislikes saline-alkaline soil. Generally, fertile loose soil is used as the potting medium, such as equal parts of garden soil and leaf mold, or a mix of leaf mold, peat soil and fine sand with a small amount of base fertilizer, or a mix of garden soil, about 1/4 plant ash and a small amount of base fertilizer. Plant ash both keeps the potting soil loose and airy and provides plenty of potassium fertilizer to meet ivy's growth needs; it can also be grown in sphagnum moss alone.

  1. Suitable temperature: Ivy likes warmth, with an optimum growing temperature of 20°C-25°C; it fears heat and is not cold-tolerant. Therefore, when kept indoors, pay attention to ventilation and cooling in summer, and in winter the room temperature is best kept above 10°C, and must not fall below 5°C.

  2. Moderate light: Ivy likes light and is also fairly shade-tolerant. Grown under half-light conditions, its internodes are shorter, its leaf shape is consistent and its leaf color is vivid, so it is best placed in a bright spot indoors. If in spring and autumn you choose a period to place it outdoors in the shade 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. Moderate watering: During the growing season, water by the rule of "dry then wet"; do not let the potting soil become excessively moist, 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. In the dry northern winter climate, it is best to spray-wash the leaves 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. Reasonable fertilizing: For home-grown ivy, the potting soil should be a culture soil made of leaf mold or peat soil plus 1/4 river sand and a small amount of bone meal. During the growing season, apply dilute cake fertilizer water once every 2-3 weeks. Generally, do not fertilize in summer and winter. When fertilizing, never apply nitrogen fertilizer alone, otherwise the patterns and patches on the leaves of variegated varieties will fade to green. The ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium is best at 1:1:1. 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 even more beautiful. But note that when applying liquid fertilizer, avoid soiling the leaves, so as not to cause leaf scorch.

  5. Timely pruning: When young plants are potted up (best with 3 plants per pot) and grow to a certain height, be careful to pinch them back in time to encourage more branching, so the plant shape looks full.

  6. Provide supports: To let it climb upward, adding infinite charm to the decoration of the room, or to grow it as a hanging basket, with soft branches and vines drooping and swaying naturally, most elegant, blending into the delightful enjoyment of evergreen beauty through all four seasons. Therefore, it is a rare hanging vine foliage gem for modern living rooms, offices, performance venues and similar places. Generally, repot once every one or two years.

  Precautions:

  1. Ivy is simple and easy to cultivate and manage, but it needs to be planted in a spot with moist soil and good air circulation.

  2. In summer, keep it under a shade shed; in winter, move it into a greenhouse to overwinter. Indoors, air humidity must be maintained and it must not be too dry, but the potting soil should not be too wet.

  3. Pay attention to pest and disease control. Diseases mainly include algal leaf spot, anthracnose, bacterial leaf rot, leaf spot, root rot and phytophthora blight. Among insect pests, leaf roller borers, scale insects and red spider mites are the more serious. In late autumn or early spring, clear away fallen leaves and promptly cut off and burn diseased branches and leaves; before the disease occurs, spray 65% zineb 600-fold solution for protection.

  Tips:

  Ivy is most often planted on outdoor walls or in courtyards, or grown in hanging baskets indoors. Wherever it is, it has vigorous vitality, climbing like a gecko and spreading out like a spider web; every late spring and summer we see a mass of emerald green.

  Ivy leaves are like maple leaves, and at flowering time it also opens small pale yellow-white flowers, very beautiful and fresh. It has become a popular landscaping ornamental plant. Whether outdoors or indoors, it can bring a mass of emerald green and bring hope; especially indoors it is a very eye-catching green plant that can decorate and beautify, and can enhance the naturalness and freshness of the owner's living environment.