English Ivy
Hedera helix
📖 About this plant
A classic, evergreen climbing vine with distinctive lobed, dark green leaves — variegated cultivars feature white, cream, or yellow margins. Widely used indoors in hanging baskets, topiaries, and as a trailing accent. Excellent at removing formaldehyde and airborne mold spores from indoor environments. Outdoors it can become invasive, but indoors it is a well-behaved, elegant trailing plant that requires bright, indirect light and consistent moisture.
🧑🌾 Care requirements
Bright indirect
Every 1-2 weeks
Moderate to high (50-70%)
10-21°C
Well-draining potting mix with peat, perlite, and compost; prefers slightly alkaline to neutral pH
Balanced liquid fertilizer (10-10-10) diluted to half strength every 4-6 weeks during growing season; avoid over-fertilizing
🌐 Common Names
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- Europe, western Asia, North Africa
- 📏 Max height
- Trailing 1-3+ m; climbing can reach 20-30 m outdoors
- 📐 Spread
- 100-300 cm
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Fall
- 🎨 Bloom color
- Green, Yellow
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Dark Green, Variegated
- ⏳ Lifespan
- Perennial
- 📈 Growth rate
- Fast
- ☠️ Toxicity
- TOXIC to cats and dogs — contains triterpenoid saponins (hederagenin) that cause vomiting, abdominal pain, excessive drooling, and diarrhea; foliage can also cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals; berries are highly toxic to humans
- 🌱 Propagation
- Stem cuttings (tip or internodal cuttings) rooted in water or moist potting mix; very easy to propagate
🛡️ Health & Safety
TOXIC to cats and dogs — contains triterpenoid saponins (hederagenin) that cause vomiting, abdominal pain, excessive drooling, and diarrhea; foliage can also cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals; berries are highly toxic to humans
Common issues
- Spider mites especially indoors
- Leaf spot fungi
- Root rot from overwatering
- Scale insects
💡 Care tips
- Prefers cooler temperatures than most houseplants
- Excellent air purifier removing formaldehyde
- Toxic to pets so hang out of reach
- Prune aggressively to maintain desired shape
