Features care for indoor ivy

Indoor ivy is one of the most beloved plants of gardeners. The homeland of ordinary ivy (lat. Hedera helix - ivy curly) is the Mediterranean. Today, thanks to the work of breeders, there are more than a hundred varieties of indoor ivy ("Holibra", "Eve", "Mona Lisa", "Harald", "Jubilee", etc.).

Necessary conditions for growing indoor ivy

Ivy ordinary attracted attention due to these qualities:

• decorative;
• resistance to temperature and draft;
• unpretentiousness (it is not exacting to watering, shade-loving);
• ability to grow fast.

Location and lighting

How to care for indoor ivy? First you need to decide where your plant will live. When choosing a place you should take into account that indoor ivy is a shade-loving plant. Bright light with direct rays is contraindicated. The best option is to find a place sufficiently illuminated by diffused sunlight (you can even in the back of the room). If you have a variegated representative of the kind of ivy, then the light will need more (otherwise all the beauty of the leaves will disappear - they will turn green).

If you want to grow ivy as an ampelous plant - then it is better to choose a place near the wall (so that there is room for young shoots to grow).

Air temperature and humidity

Content of indoor ivy in summer:

• comfortable temperature from + 22 to + 25 degrees;
• heat and dry air are contraindicated. Young plants in hot weather, it is desirable to make in the cool (in the shade on the balcony); preferably - daily spraying, douche with leaves (to refresh and wash off the dust).

Ivy content in winter:

• allowed to stay plants in a cool room with a temperature of + 12-13 degrees;
• it is not necessary to place the flower near the heating devices (otherwise it is necessary to increase the humidity - water more often, spray it);
• in a heated room, it is better to place a pot with ivy on a tray with expanded clay and water.

Room ivy stoically withstands drafts and sharp fluctuations (up to 10 degrees) of temperature.

Soil: watering and fertilizing

Ivy prefers slightly acidic soil (pH - 5.5 - 6.5). In terms of composition, the best 1: 1 ratio of the following elements:

• leafy ground;
• sod land;
• humus soil;
• peat;
• sand.

The soil should be loose and slightly wet (in summer). Himy - wet from the inside (the top layer can be slightly dried). Heder better tolerates a lack of moisture than excess. Ivy should be watered twice a week (in summer) and once a week in winter. Much depends on the ambient temperature.

Periodic feeding (in spring and summer - 2 times a month, in winter - once) will ensure growth and green ivy. For top dressing it is better to use complex fertilizers for leafy indoor plants.

Pruning

At some point the owner will have a question about how to cut room ivy.There is nothing complicated here - you will occasionally have to cut ivy. This is best done during periods of active growth of the plant. Pruning needed:

• to create a lush crown and remove bared shoots. In this case, you need to leave one or two buds. Later several new shoots will grow from them;
• for complete removal of diseased or weak shoots.

How to transplant indoor ivy

When do ivy transplant at home?

The first transplant will be required, most likely, after the purchase of heders - it is often sold in the transport substrate. You need to wait from 7 to 10 days (the plant must adapt to new conditions). The substrate must be completely removed without damaging the roots. Replace need in a wide container with expanded clay drainage.

Young plants recommend replanting annually, at the age of three years - once every two years, over five years old - they are not transplanted, but they change the top layer of the old soil with a new one.

It is best to transplant in early autumn or spring.The method of "transshipment" is used: after watering, the old clod of earth together with the plant is planted in a tank with drainage (2 cm larger in diameter than the old one), the cracks are covered with fresh earth. Watered and sprayed.

Ivy propagation

Propagation of indoor ivy at home is possible by three main methods: cuttings, shoots and layering.

Stem cuttings

Apical stem cuttings (up to 10 cm long) with air roots are used as the starting material. The procedure is simple:

1. Cut cuttings;
2. To plant in a pot with a nutrient mixture (sand and leaf ground). You can plant in one pot of three cuttings;
3. Pour and cover with a transparent film;
4. Periodically moisturize so as not to dry out;
5. After rooting, transplant in a separate pot.

Alternatively, the cuttings can be germinated in a jar of water (after removing the lower leaves on the process).

The method of propagation of ivy cuttings used growers most often.

Shoots

Using this method, one can obtain several rooted processes simultaneously from one whole stem:

1. Cut off the shoot with ten leaves;
2. deepen in the sand by 1.5 - 2 cm (the leaves should remain on the surface).Sometimes cuts are made along the entire length of the stem - this will speed up rooting;
3. Water and constantly moisturize until the formation of roots 2 - 3 weeks (a signal is the appearance of new leaves);
4. Remove the stem from the sand and cut into pieces (each part must have a sheet and roots);
5. plant in pots.

As a result, several new plants can be obtained at once (minus - a long duration of the rooting process).

Layering

The third method is used, as a rule, when ivy is kept on the street or unwillingness of a grower to take a process from ivy. If capacity allows, it can be used at home. To do this, the ripened lash-shoot needs to be bent down to the ground, a longitudinal section is made along the stem, prikopat ground and secure, so as not to straighten. After rooting, cut off from the mother bush and transplant.

Problems and diseases

Room ivy has a high immunity. Possible causes of the death of ivy - complete disregard for all rules of cultivation. Therefore, a fatal outcome (if you do not set yourself such a goal) is unrealistic.

Most often ivy lovers face problems:

• variegated ivy varieties begin to lose decorativeness, gradually fade. The reason is a lack of light. Treatment - to rearrange the flower in a brighter place;
• new ivy leaves are becoming smaller and are beginning to actively crumbling. The reason why ivy leaves dry is low air humidity. Treatment - often spray, balance watering, feed;
• massively begin to turn yellow leaves. The reason - an excess of moisture or fertilizing.

Among plant pests, the most frequent diseases of heders (especially in dry air) cause:

• shieldovka - deprives the food leaves;
• Aphid (especially winged) - feeds on sap, infects young shoots and leaves;
• mealybug - infects the leaves, pollutes the fungus, inhibits the growth of ivy;
• red spider mite - strikes the stem.

Pest control and ivy treatment includes spraying and watering with a special solution (for 1 liter of water - 2 ml) Aktellik, Aktara or Karbofos. The procedure must be repeated every three days (until the solution is over). It is also possible to treat the aerial part of ivy with an insecticide (if the disease is neglected).

The healing and beneficial properties of indoor ivy

Room ivy, in addition to high aesthetic qualities, possesses a number of useful properties:

• cleans the air from harmful impurities in the room, saturates with oxygen, kills fecal bacteria (true if there is a pet in the house);
• It has medicinal properties (high-content of vitamin E, provitamin A, carotene, hederin, tannin and oleic acids in the leaves), is a part of many drugs (antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant).

This plant is a whole pharmacy in the room.

The people have long noticed and used the healing properties of the loach:

• for cough (infusions and decoctions of dry leaves);
• from corns (gruel from fresh leaves);
• from rheumatism, arthritis, with the deposition of salts - infusion of leaves;
• from boils, scabies, burns - infusions from the roots.

Myths and reality about ivy

Ivy is surrounded by a variety of myths. People often call him a flower-muzhegon, a love mate, they say that this plant is an “energy vampire”, “survives” other plants, etc.

There is no scientific evidence of these speculations.On the contrary, in the Mediterranean tradition, ivy is placed in the bedrooms of spouses - it is believed that the header connects family members with each other and ties them to their home. In the east, ivy is considered as a source of vital energy and, accordingly, to plant ivy - to get it. Garden ivy is often planted in potted pots with other plants.

If you like ivy - start it boldly: it is unpretentious, useful and beautiful plant.