What it is
English Ivy (Hedera helix) is in the Araliaceae family. A classic trailing or climbing ivy for pots and shade - roots easily, but keep it contained outdoors as it can run.
How to grow it
It wants bright indirect light, water it moderate, and give it well-drained soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0-7.5. Space plants about Pot/ground apart. Expect roughly Cuttings root. Tender/hardy vine.
How it's used
English Ivy is used: houseplant; groundcover.
🔎 How to identify it
- Lobed leathery leaves
- Climbing aerial rootlets
- Trailing stems
Not for eating
How to grow & propagate english ivy
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate english ivy
English Ivy is grown from seed. Start it in the season it favors, keep the seedbed evenly moist until it's up, and thin to give each plant room to size up.
Growing english ivy in Texas
Give it bright indirect light and well-drained soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Time your planting to our long warm season and watch the frost dates at both ends; the live weather tool on this site is built for exactly that.
In a container it'll dry faster than in the ground, so check the top inch of soil daily in summer; pots on a hot Texas patio can need water every single day.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly cuttings root before you're harvesting. Pick herbs in the morning after the dew dries for the strongest oils, and harvest little and often — regular cutting keeps a herb bushy and stops it bolting.
Making more for free
If you want more, let your healthiest plants mature fully and collect the seed once it's dry on the plant — then store it somewhere cool, dark, and dry until next season.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.