Why is my potted ivy dying?

Srfrgrl · 08-09-2017 5:54pm #1

I bought a small pot of ivy as a house plant but recently it's started to wilt the leaves are drying up falling off and some of the leaves have brown spots on them.i water it once a week and it mostly kept out of direct sunlight. Does anyone have any care suggestions should I be watering it more or less?does it need more sun?os there anything I can do to save my plant?

vicwatson · 08-09-2017 5:59pm

Is it potbound?

Srfrgrl · 08-09-2017 6:04pm

No it's not potbound

looksee · 08-09-2017 6:06pm

Ivy is not an indoor plant, it would rather be outside, the indoor ones generally die fairly quickly.

Srfrgrl · 08-09-2017 7:30pm

I have another type of ivy plant that's doing fine. I thought ivy were pretty common house plants no?

looksee · 09-09-2017 12:11pm

They are pretty common as houseplants, and sometimes they are fine, but its not to say it is the best place for them.

macraignil · 09-09-2017 5:55pm

Not sure what is causing it to die back but I have some variegated ivy on a windowsill that is doing fine for the last couple of years. Some direct sunlight will not do it any harm so it might benefit from a change in position. Some house plants I have put outside for a while and found the change revitalises them. The most likely problem from what you have said is that you are over watering. It's not good practice to water every week regardless of how wet the soil in the pot is. I read before that constantly wet soil for house plants leads to fungal disease being a problem and they actually need to dry out a bit from time to time. Re-potting into a slightly bigger pot with fresh soil and compost might also help.

Day Lewin · 10-09-2017 7:17am

For a plant that is so vigorous outdoors, indoor ivies have a sort of temperamental style.

I've often kept indoor ones for years, and then one week...they start to dry out and go brown and unhappy for no apparent reason, and they can't be recovered.

Sharply cutting off all the damaged parts and repotting the rootball may help: but it may not.
Its true that ivy doesn't greatly like bright sunshine but that doesn't seem to be the factor...I've had it happen to a plant buried in a medium-light shelf-load of houseplants, too.

So, sorry, the outlook is not very hopeful. But at least they are very easy to propagate - just take a healthy piece of stem with a "node" and shove it deep into some damp soil. Do 2 or 3 in a pot, and keep in a dim damp place until new growth starts.

Why is my potted ivy dying?

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