How to Propagate Ivy Plants

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By Ruby Bayan
eHow Contributing Writer

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Propagate ivy by cuttings or layering.

The ivy, or the "Hedera", is a crawling plant that can be found in almost every home garden. Available in numerous varieties like the Duck Foot, Golden Snow, Misty, Teardrop and Asterisk, ivies are lovely garden and house plants that are not only hardy and easy to care for, but also very easy to propagate. The two best ways to propagate ivy are by cuttings and layering.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Mature ivy plant
Small pots with soil
Garden staples, small stakes or toothpicks
Pruning shears or scissors

Propagate by Cuttings

Step 1

Mature Ivy Plant

Choose a mature plant with several trailing branches or "runners" that you can prune for cuttings.
Step 2

Cut the runners into cuttings of about three inches.
Step 3

Remove the leaves from the bottom inch of each cutting.
Step 4

Ivy Cuttings in Water

Place cuttings in a container of water. Glass containers are preferred so that you can see the water level and check if rooting has occurred. Water level should be just enough to submerge about an inch or two of the cuttings. Check the water level daily and top off as necessary.
Step 5

Observe the cuttings. When they have grown about an inch of new roots, you can transfer them to your containers or outdoor garden. Gently water the transplanted cuttings so that the roots come in contact with the soil.
Step 6

Ivy in Pots

Keep the transplants away from direct sunlight, and don't let the soil dry out.

Propagate by Layering

Step 1

Choose a mature plant with long runners. This will be the mother plant.
Step 2

Choose a second pot where you want to grow new ivy plants. Put soil and place it next to the mother plant.
Step 3

Mother Plant and Layering Pot

Lay some of the mother plant's trailing branches onto the soil of the second pot and pin them down using garden staples. You can also use small stakes or toothpicks-push two of them on an X-pattern to hold the branch to the soil.
Step 4

Sprinkle a thin layer of soil on the pinned-down branches. Keep the leaves above the soil.
Step 5

Water the second pot regularly with just enough to prevent the topsoil from drying out.
Step 6

Two Pots of Ivy

After about three to four weeks, the pinned branches on the second pot would have grown new roots, so you can cut the trailing branches to separate the second pot from the mother plant.

Comments

howwedoit said

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on 8/1/2009 Propagation by layering is new to me .. thank you for the info! Blessings, Terry Wolfe

cgreenberg001 said

on 3/7/2009 I have a hanging Ivy plant on my porch, I don't know what kind it is. The only time is gets any sun is when I put it outside to water it,it only gets a few hours. Would it be okey to leave it outside as I have a shepards hook I live in the west central part of Flordia, Any help in the matter will be greatly appreciated. My e-mail address is CGreenberg001@aim.com