Hi all,

I'm new to growing green things, so apologies if this is a silly question! I'm sure it's a basic problem!

I've got an Ivy plant indoors that seems to be shrivelling, and I try to give it a healthy amount of water - the light in there isn't too bad as there's a big skylight...just wondering if anyone could give me a tip as to where I'm going wrong, please?

.. I have other plants - they seem to be happy enough!

Thankyou loads in advance!!

The message
from millsy contains these words:

I'm new to growing green things, so apologies if this is a silly
question! I'm sure it's a basic problem!

I've got an Ivy plant indoors that seems to be shrivelling, and I try
to give it a healthy amount of water - the light in there isn't too bad
as there's a big skylight...just wondering if anyone could give me a tip
as to where I'm going wrong, please?

.. I have other plants - they seem to be happy enough!

Thankyou loads in advance!!

Could be that you're overwatering it?

I had ivy growing up my south facing gable-end

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/hsefront.jpg

but it had groped further up and was sprouting through the space behind
the bargeboards, so I cut sections out of the main stems at the base in
the spring.

It was still alive (though not exactly thriving) when I stripped it off
the wall this morning.

It could also be that the air is too dry and too hot.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article , Jaques
d'Alltrades writes
The message
from millsy contains these words:

I'm new to growing green things, so apologies if this is a silly
question! I'm sure it's a basic problem!

I've got an Ivy plant indoors that seems to be shrivelling, and I try
to give it a healthy amount of water - the light in there isn't too bad
as there's a big skylight...just wondering if anyone could give me a tip
as to where I'm going wrong, please?

.. I have other plants - they seem to be happy enough!

Thankyou loads in advance!!

Could be that you're overwatering it?

I had ivy growing up my south facing gable-end

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/hsefront.jpg

but it had groped further up and was sprouting through the space behind
the bargeboards, so I cut sections out of the main stems at the base in
the spring.

It was still alive (though not exactly thriving) when I stripped it off
the wall this morning.

It could also be that the air is too dry and too hot.

Could also be red spider - look for peppery dust (actually tiny
creatures) on the underside of new leaves, and very fine cobwebs at the
shoot tips. Red spider mite seems partial to ivy.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Thanks alot fot that, guys - really appreciate that!

It may well be that I overwatered it - although the leaves drying out led me to believe that I wasn't watering enough. I was giving it a drink once a week...recently I've had to but on the heating in the house, as the nights have been getting colder, just I wouldn't say it was that hot..but perhaps it's a tad dryer..maybe I'll move it nearer a window, but in a colder room.

Thanks again!

millsy wrote in message
...

Kay Wrote:
In article , Jaques
d'Alltrades writes-
The message
from millsy contains these
words:
-
I'm new to growing green things, so apologies if this is a silly
question! I'm sure it's a basic problem!-
-
I've got an Ivy plant indoors that seems to be shrivelling, and I try
to give it a healthy amount of water - the light in there isn't too
bad
as there's a big skylight...just wondering if anyone could give me a
tip
as to where I'm going wrong, please?-
-
.. I have other plants - they seem to be happy enough!-
-
Thankyou loads in advance!!-

Could be that you're overwatering it?

I had ivy growing up my south facing gable-end

http://tinyurl.com/4yen2

but it had groped further up and was sprouting through the space
behind
the bargeboards, so I cut sections out of the main stems at the base
in
the spring.

It was still alive (though not exactly thriving) when I stripped it
off
the wall this morning.

It could also be that the air is too dry and too hot.
-
Could also be red spider - look for peppery dust (actually tiny
creatures) on the underside of new leaves, and very fine cobwebs at
the
shoot tips. Red spider mite seems partial to ivy.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Thanks alot fot that, guys - really appreciate that!

It may well be that I overwatered it - although the leaves drying out
led me to believe that I wasn't watering enough. I was giving it a
drink once a week...recently I've had to but on the heating in the
house, as the nights have been getting colder, just I wouldn't say it
was that hot..but perhaps it's a tad dryer..maybe I'll move it nearer a
window, but in a colder room.

Thanks again!


--
millsy

Hi Millsy,

How long have you had the ivy? Could it possibly be root-bound? Ivy roots
fill their pot fairly quickly, till there is almost no soil. This means
that it is almost impossible to get the watering regime right.
Tip the plant out of its pot. If it is root-bound, you will need to pot it
up in a slightly larger pot. The extra compost will then hold on to water a
little longer, allowing you to regulate the watering correctly.
Spider

In article , millsy millsy.1dc4n
writes

It may well be that I overwatered it - although the leaves drying out
led me to believe that I wasn't watering enough.

It's worth remembering that leaves drying out probably means that the
leaves aren't getting enough water, but that there's more then one
reason why they might not be getting enough water. One reason is that
there isn't enough water in the soil, but another is that the roots are
damaged and therefore not able to take up the water, and root damage may
be rot because the soil is too wet, or pests damage like vine weevil
larvae. And of course snails eating the stem can equally stop water
getting to the leaves further up.

I was giving it a
drink once a week...

Ideally, you should water according to need - give it a good water (but
don't let it stand in water - one way is to stand the pot on a dish to
catch the water that naturally runs straight through dry soil, but to
tip the water out of the dish after the soil has had half an hour or so
to soak up some of the excess water) - then don't water it again till
the soil is dry. The main difference seems to be in *how* dry you can
let it get - ferns, for example, seem not to like getting much beyond
moist, whereas peace lilies will recover from complete leaf flop. Cacti
and fleshy leaved plants will cope with prolonged periods of complete
dryness.

recently I've had to but on the heating in the
house, as the nights have been getting colder, just I wouldn't say it
was that hot..but perhaps it's a tad dryer.

Some things don't like a dry atmosphere. Solutions are regular spraying
with fine mist of water (keep a sprayer nearby and spray at least
daily), or fill a tray with pebbles and water and stand the pot on that,
so evaporation of the water provides a moist atmosphere, but the pebbles
keep the pot out of the water and stop the soil getting too wet.



--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Been away from home, just got back to these messages - thanks to all of you, I'll give those ideas a try. Some of the fresh leaves are even dropping off, let alone the ones that are drying out!

I'll go and check to see if it's rootbound now - once again, thanks for your help!