Sick Ivy Plant

Hi every one,

I have an english ivy plant and it looks very healthy and has many leaves. I bought it at my local Walmart and I haave had it for 2 years. It was transplanted 1 time and since that trans plant it has thrived. The problem is it smells like puke. Excuse the slang there. My husband said I should take a cutting off it and root it and plant the rest outside. The problem is I don't know that it will survive the winter months. Secondly
I have never taken a cutting from a plant and root it. Any Ideas?
Nanners

What is it planted in? English ivy is very nearly invasive in the East but might not be drought tolerant enough for outside in NM. I would replant it - fresh potting mix, etc, and maybe give it a bath. There are some helpful articles on the site about caring for houseplants! (Go to guides & information at the top and pull down articles and type in house plants.)

It should survive your winters just fine, but your summer climate is not ideal for it (which isn't necessarily a bad thing...if you are in an area that gets enough rain, it can be a bit overly aggressive). But it's probably going to need a decent amount of water to survive outdoors in your area, so I think there are probably better plants to consider for outdoors.

Some potting soils get a foul smell to them. The soil it was in when you bought it may have been very cheap soil that smells bad over time. I agree with carrielamont, repot it. Take it out of the pot it's in, gently rinse off all potting soil and put it in a fresh pot of soil. I have three ivy plants and they are pretty tough so I don't think you'll have any problems with repotting. Also, rooting ivy is easy--just cut of several healthy ends (approximately 6 inches should be good), remove all leaves except a few at the tip, and put them in water. Dipping them in a little rooting hormone will ensure faster roots. When you have several nice healthy looking roots on them, pot them up.

I'd give them a good shower with a spray hose first, leaves, roots and all. The firm spray will also knock of any bugs that might be tagging on. I wouldn't leave any trace of the old soil on it.

My ivy's problem is spider mites and I give it a shower once a week so that I don't have to use any chemicals or anything to kill the mites.

Hi,
It was mentioned, something about rooting compound. I have checked the web to see if there is a homade version and al lot of them said use chopped willow trees. Where I live there are no willow tress. Could some one help?

I think ivy's pretty easy to root so I'm not sure if you need the rooting hormone or not. But if you want to get some, your local nurseries may carry it or else there are a number of online sources. Rootone is a fairly common brand, but there are others too.

Hear, hear. She's right.

I never heard of homemade rooting hormone, but generally "aggressive" plants like English ivy will root on or in plain potting mix , or even water. Try that.

Or you may be able to separate off a bit of your plant and plant it separately, instead of "rooting it" as your husband suggests.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/search.php?q=houseplants&Search=Search

Mom took an English Ivy house plant and stuck it in the ground here in NY. It gets snow in the winter and only the rain in the summer, and is doing great! I would try to root a cutting in water. Most ivy root well in water. Good Luck with your Ivy!

You're talking hedera, english ivy? it roots quite well in potting soil kept from drying out but not drenched. Using 4" pots is handy. Keep in total shade. Be sure there is a node buried under soil level and 2 or 3 leaves above soil level. It should root in 4 to 10 weeks depending on the time of year and the length of your days. Don't tug on it to see if it's rooting. When it starts putting on new growth, it's rooting. Plants placed in water that have produced the delicate hair water roots have a hard time adjusting to soil. It's much better to START them in soil or a potting mix. Some people have success rooting them in the ground in the shade. Watering would be critical though.