English ivy care indoors: light, water and a cool room
English ivy grows well indoors in a cool, bright room, watered once the top of the compost has dried. It is a hardy European plant rather than a tropical one, and that explains much of what goes wrong with it in a heated flat. This page covers where to put it, which variety to buy, watering, pests and pets.
- Bright light without direct sun, in the coolest room that has a window.
- Water once the top centimetre of compost is dry, and never leave it standing in water.
- Toxic to cats and dogs on the ASPCA listing, and the sap irritates some people’s skin.
What English ivy is, and why it wants a cooler room than most houseplants
English ivy is an evergreen woody climber in the ginseng family, and NC State gives its home range as Europe and Scandinavia east to Russia. That makes it a temperate plant. Most of what sells as a houseplant comes from the tropics and wants a warm room, while ivy survives frost outdoors and grows best indoors in rooms a tropical plant would find cold.
It grows in two stages, and only one of them is sold. NC State describes the juvenile stage as the climbing, spreading one, with lobed leaves and stems that put out aerial roots, and the adult stage as a shrubby plant that stops climbing, flowers in autumn and sets blue-black berries. The ivy in a garden centre is juvenile and stays that way in a pot, so it trails or climbs and does not flower. The plant care guide has the light and water for every other species on the site.
English ivy varieties and which one to buy for indoors
There are hundreds of cultivars, and Clemson sorts them the way the American Ivy Society does: by leaf shape, from the usual five-lobed leaf through heart-shaped, fan-shaped and bird’s foot to curly, plus miniatures with leaves under 2.5 cm. For indoors the RHS advice is to choose a small-leaved or slow-growing cultivar. Clemson says the same: small-leaved, slow-growing types are easier to keep in a small pot.
The white and gold in a variegated leaf need more light to stay, and Clemson notes that variegated forms may turn all green in low light. Buy a plain green cultivar for a dim room and keep the white-edged ones for a bright one. Two in the table do not trail at all, so they suit a shelf rather than a wall.
| Variety | Leaf | Light it needs | Suits a pocket? |
|---|
| Hedera helix ‘Glacier’ | Triangular, grey-green with creamy white margins | Bright indirect, or the white fades | Yes |
| Hedera helix ‘Goldchild’ | Grey-green, edged in bright gold | Bright indirect keeps the gold | Yes |
| Hedera helix ‘White Knight’ | Mottled white and grey-green | The brightest spot you have, out of direct sun | Only in a bright room |
| Hedera helix ‘Needlepoint’ | Miniature bird’s foot leaves, narrow lobes | Bright indirect | Yes, and it stays compact |
| Hedera helix ‘Duckfoot’ | Tiny duck’s-foot leaves in low mounds | Bright indirect | Yes, though it mounds more than it trails |
| Hedera helix ‘Ivalace’ | Glossy, blackish green, curly wavy edges | Copes with medium light | Yes |
| Hedera helix ‘Green California’ | Deep green, no variegation | Copes with less light than any variegated kind | Yes, and the one for a dim wall |
| Hedera helix ‘Buttercup’ | Pale green in shade, bright yellow in sun | Needs bright light to turn yellow | Yes |
| Hedera helix ‘Congesta’ | Dark green leaves packed tight on upright stems | Bright indirect | No, it grows upright and does not trail |
| Hedera helix ‘Arborescens’ | Unlobed oval leaves on a small shrub | Bright indirect | No, it is the adult form and does not vine |
Where to put English ivy in the house
Put it near a north-, east- or west-facing window, in bright light that does not land on the leaves. Those are the three windows Clemson names, with most cultivars growing best in bright light but not direct sun. The RHS adds that in a south-facing room the plant has to stay out of direct sun, which scorches the leaves. Clemson also grows it under artificial light, which makes a windowless hallway workable with a grow lamp.
Clemson says ivy copes with low to medium light at the cost of slower growth, and that dim light is where variegated plants go green. A plain green cultivar in a darker corner is fine. A white-edged one needs to sit close to the window, and when new leaves come in greener than the old ones, move it brighter. Plants for a low light room compares what else takes a dark spot.
Why English ivy wants a cool room, and what heating does to it
Clemson gives the comfortable range as 10 to 21°C in the day and a few degrees lower at night. That is cooler than most living rooms in winter, so a bedroom, a landing or a hallway with a window often suits the plant better than the warmest room in the flat. A bedroom works well as long as it has the light described above.
Warmth matters because of spider mites. The RHS notes that red spider mites thrive in warm, dry conditions, and a shelf above a radiator is exactly that. Clemson makes the same link from the other side: cooler temperatures and higher humidity help prevent the common pests, with slower growth as the cost. So the first fix for spider mites on indoor ivy is a cooler spot.
Humidity matters less. Clemson says ivy prefers moderate humidity but tolerates the low levels of a normal home, and raises it with a tray of wet pebbles under the pot. The RHS sprays the foliage with water to discourage mites. Clemson also wants good air circulation and no crowding, so do not wedge it into a tight group of other plants.
How often to water English ivy indoors
Water once the top of the compost is dry to the touch, and let the room decide how often that is. Clemson says to water thoroughly, then let the soil dry to about 1 cm deep before watering again. The RHS lets the top few centimetres dry and says not to let the pot dry out completely. Both are a finger test, and both mean the same thing in practice: water right through, then wait.
How long the wait lasts depends on the spot. The RHS says warmer rooms dry the compost faster, and Missouri Botanical Garden lists light, temperature, vents, humidity and distance from a window as what sets the pace. The same plant needs water sooner on a bright, warm sill than in a cool bedroom, which is why a fixed day of the week gets one of the two wrong.
Never leave it standing in water. Clemson and the RHS both say so, and the RHS gives the reason: roots left sitting in a flooded saucer or cover pot rot. Tip out whatever collects after watering. The RHS prefers rainwater and says tap water is fine when there is none.
Letting it dry right through is the other mistake. It goes crisp and drops leaves when the compost dries right through, and Missouri Botanical Garden warns that a plant left too dry can seem to recover after a drink and then decline, because some of its roots died in the meantime.
Compost, feeding and repotting English ivy in a pot
Use a good houseplant compost in a pot with a drainage hole. Clemson calls for a rich commercial houseplant mix, and the RHS uses peat-free multi-purpose or loam-based compost. Of the two things, the drainage hole matters more than the mix.
The sources disagree on feeding. The RHS says ivy is not a hungry plant and does not generally need feeding unless the leaves turn yellow between the veins, and then uses a general-purpose liquid fertiliser at the dilution on the label. Clemson feeds monthly with a foliage houseplant fertiliser while the plant is actively growing, and stops when growth stops, whether in summer heat or in a cool spell. Feed only while it is putting out new leaves, and start with the RHS’s lighter hand in a plant’s first year of fresh compost.
Repot when the roots fill the pot. The RHS keeps ivy in its original pot for a year or two, unless roots are already packed or coming through the drainage holes. Clemson repots when the plant becomes top-heavy, root-bound or dries out too quickly, into a pot no more than 2.5 cm wider, because a pot that is too big stays wet too long and leads to root rot.
Pruning English ivy and training it to climb
Cut it back whenever it gets straggly. The RHS snips off withered brown leaves as they appear and trims overly long shoots to make the plant bushier. Clemson says most ivies spread without limit but can be pruned to almost any size as houseplants, and that cutting out the affected stems is the simplest answer to a pest outbreak that has not spread far. How to get rid of mealybugs covers one of the pests Clemson names.
Take out reversion as soon as you see it. The RHS says a variegated ivy may throw a vigorous all-green shoot, and a cultivar with a special leaf shape may throw one with ordinary ivy leaves. Remove the whole shoot at its base.
To make it climb, give it a wire hoop or frame. The RHS plants several ivies in one pot and ties the stems in until they hide the support, and Clemson builds topiaries by pinning a small-leaved cultivar over a wire frame stuffed with sphagnum moss, keeping the upper part moist. Left to hang, the stems trail instead, and hanging plants that last indoors covers where a trailing plant keeps its stems full.
Is English ivy toxic to cats and dogs
Yes. The ASPCA lists English ivy as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, with triterpenoid saponins as the toxic principle, and names vomiting, abdominal pain, drooling and diarrhoea among the signs. It also notes that the foliage is more toxic than the berries, which matters indoors: the leaves are all a houseplant ivy has.
It affects people too. NC State rates it medium severity and says contact with the sap can cause severe skin irritation, and Clemson advises gloves when pruning if you know you react to it. If an animal in the house eats plants, choose a species that is not toxic at all: a spider plant trails the same way and the ASPCA lists it as non-toxic to cats and dogs.
English ivy on the wall
A pocket stands proud of the wall with air on every side, so the substrate dries from more directions than a pot on a shelf does. Ivy wants the top to dry and the rest to stay just moist, so a pocket needs checking more often than a pot, and more often again in a warm room. Living wall systems, compared covers the other ways to put plants on a wall.
Choose the coolest bright wall you have. Beside or opposite a window works; a wall above a radiator does not, for the spider mite reason above. Hang it at eye level or a little higher, so the stems have a drop to fill and the pocket stays where you will remember to feel the compost.
The Medium pocket holds 1.8 litres of substrate. The board hangs by a slot near its top on one wall hook, so the wall side is one screw, one plug and one drilled hole. Treat the filled weight like a heavy framed picture: plasterboard takes an expanding plug, brick a standard one, and a tiled wall needs a tile bit before the masonry bit. The mounting guide goes through it step by step.
- Fill the pocket a third full with peat-free houseplant compost.
- Slide the ivy out of its nursery pot and set it slightly forward, so the stems clear the fabric edge.
- Top up with compost, press lightly and lay the stems downward.
- Water slowly until the substrate is evenly damp, and trim any tips that got crushed.
English ivy problems and how to fix them
| What you see | Why | The fix |
|---|
| Fine webbing and pale speckled leaves | Spider mites in warm, dry air | Rinse the foliage, move it somewhere cooler and stand it on wet pebbles. |
| Brown, crisp leaves that drop | Compost that dried right through, or a spot by a radiator | Water before the pot dries out fully and move it off the heated wall. |
| Yellow leaves and soft stems at the base | Compost staying wet, or roots standing in water | Tip out the saucer and let the top centimetre dry before watering. |
| Variegated leaves coming in plain green | Too little light | Move it closer to a window, still out of direct sun. |
| One vigorous all-green shoot on a variegated plant | Reversion | Cut the whole shoot out at its base. |
| Long bare stems with leaves far apart | Low light, or no pruning | Trim the long shoots back and give it more light. |
How to propagate English ivy
Clemson says most types of ivy root easily in water, from stem or tip cuttings. The RHS gives the size of a cutting as a section of stem with at least two leaves.
- Cut a length of stem carrying at least two leaves.
- Strip any leaf that would sit under the water or in the compost.
- Stand it in a glass of water, or push it into free-draining peat-free compost and cover the pot with a clear plastic bag.
- Keep it bright and out of direct sun, and take the bag off once new growth appears.
- Pot several rooted cuttings together, so the plant looks full from the start.
Layering is the other method, and it roots a stem while it is still attached. The RHS pins trailing shoots onto the surface of moist compost and cuts them from the parent once they are well rooted. For cuttings in compost, the RHS names late summer as the time to take them.
Does English ivy clean the air indoors?
Not measurably in a real room. The RHS repeats the claim that ivy removes volatile organic compounds, but the figures behind it come from sealed test chambers, and the air exchange in an ordinary house swamps anything one potted plant does. Grow it for the leaves and the trailing habit.
How fast does English ivy grow indoors?
There is no measured indoor figure to quote. NC State rates it a rapid grower, but its height of 6 to 24 m describes a landscape plant climbing trees. Indoors the light sets the pace, and Clemson says it can be pruned to almost any size.
Will English ivy damage my walls?
Only where its stems touch them. The climbing stems carry aerial roots, and NC State lists painted surfaces and loose mortar among what ivy damages. Trim any stem that reaches the wall and it hangs free.
Can indoor English ivy go outside?
Yes, more easily than most houseplants, because it is hardy: NC State lists it for zones 4 to 13, and the RHS suggests planting one that has grown too big in the garden. Outside its native range it spreads hard, and NC State calls it invasive in North Carolina.
Why does my ivy never flower?
Because houseplant ivy is in its juvenile stage. NC State says flowers only form on mature branches, in the shrubby adult stage, followed by toxic berries. A pot plant stays juvenile, so no flowers is normal.
Is English ivy the same as devil’s ivy?
No. Devil’s ivy is a common name for pothos, a tropical climber in another family that wants a warmer room. NC State lists it under Epipremnum aureum, and it is often sold beside English ivy.
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