Question
I have an ivy plant that was doing very well when I made the mistake of over watering and developed a white "mold" on the surface of the soil. I scraped the soil off and tossed it, and continued to watch. After looking up solutions to this problem, I decided to transplant hoping to save what was left of the plant and it is doing worse. I tossed all of the soil and washed the roots and container off good and transplanted in back into the same pot with miracle grow soil. I think that I have finished it off now. It is in a 12in pot that is in filtered light. I water everyother week and fertilize once a month with miracle grow. it has an adequate drainage system and I am tossing the run off. HELP!

Answer
Hi Tiffany,

The mold that you first saw was a good indication that you were keeping the soil too moist. One thing that Hedera ivies do not tolerate is soil that is too moist or too dry. By the time you saw mold, many of the roots had already been damaged.

Unless this is a really huge ivy, then a 12" pot is way too big for it and is contributing to the problem. At this point, there may not be any healthy roots remaining.

About all you can do is to unpot it again. This time remove all loose soil and get down to the soil that immediately surrounds the roots. The roots should not be soft and mushy - if they are, then the plant is history.

Assuming you still have some healthy roots, then put the plant into the SMALLEST pot that the healthy roots and a little soil will fit into. A small pot with little extra soil will dry out much more frequently than a large pot with excess soil. Plant roots need to have the surrounding soil dry out frequently to keep from rotting. Do not put any "drainage material" in the bottom of the pot; that is an outdated notion that has been discredited.

A properly potted Hedera ivy should be watered only when the top quarter of the soil is dry to the touch.

Finally, avoid all fertilizer until your ivy is fully recovered.

Good luck and please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

You can E-mail me directly at: [email protected]

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