If you are growing it indoors, I'd say don't bother. These guys like cool winters and are about as prone to spider mites as houseplants get, I'd say 90% chance it catches them within a few years

Best left in the backyard where hardy. (No zone was posted.) Then, you jus' have to have to hack it back regularly, or it takes over the world. So, might bebetter in the house in a pot in that hot house with the spider mites after all.

Every once in a while I will get an ivy craving and I always regret it. Ivy is short lived inside unless you can provide a cool room for it to winter as said above. Spider mites, also mentioned are a big problem and can wipe out an ivy in a week's time. So you're looking at having to provide both humidity to combat the spider mites and a cool room to winter. Most people cannot provide that. Why greenhouses sell them as houseplants really baffles me because they really need to be outside.

So the best way to care for one is plant it in a pot outside and leave it in the brightest but moistest place possible or plant it in the ground and hope it doesn't take over the neighborhood.

Kinda sad. If it was a better houseplant, it would be extremely popular. They are pretty

You can spray then with neem oil weekly to help keep the spidermites at bay.

Also, let it dry out between waterings. I have 4 of them but i have lost several in the past.

If i see one that is really pretty than i cannot help but to buy it.

They are always put outside during the warmer months.

Try to find the species Hedera canariensis (Algerian Ivy). It IS a true ivy but may be better for warm/dry interiors. (Outdoors it hardy to about 7b.) It also has some nice variegation (cream colored).

We have English Ivy in hanging baskets that we have kept for years. Here is what we do. Every spring/early summer we take a spoon and remove old soil from the top. We then take the Ivy out of the hanging basket, loosen the roots a bit, put a bit of fresh soil on the bottom, replace the plant and add fresh potting soil on top as needed.

We hang the ivy on the porch and let it hang out there all summer. In the winter we bring them inside. We cut the ivy down a bit and remove any dead leaves or branches. We keep them in a sunny room where the temps are about 64 degrees throughout the winter. We water them once a week if they are dry. If they are not we wait a bit more. We lose a lot of leaves during the winter but the plants still look relatively nice. Then when danger of frost is over we take them back outside.

"when danger of frost is over ..." Ivy is very hardy and a bit of frost will not worry it. It could probably stay outdoors a lot longer than you are giving it credit for. I don't know where you are located, arcadiafun, so maybe you have very cold winters but ivy is native here and survives anything our weather can throw at it.

Can Hedera canariensis survive freezing temps outside in a pot that is hung under a carport? I have a large one in a 10 inch pot that i have sitting in my living room to protect from freezing. I would rather leave it hanging outside if i could. The vines have grown so long this past spring and summer!

World in a pot is very different from life in the ground. I have one planted under the overhang of my house. Assumed it was dead after last winters hellish cold. I came back from the roots. I would say it is about as cold hardy as Aspidistra (which also came back after last winters cold btw), but I would not overwinter them outside in a container.

Hedera canariensis is hardy through most of the UK which that means down to about 14f. In a container obviously it would be far more tender. H helix (English Ivy) is much tougher.

"I don't know where you are located, arcadiafun, so maybe you have very cold winters but ivy is native here and survives anything our weather can throw at it."

Floral you are right. In the ground it survives fine here in zone 6. I have found if I leave a plastic hanging basket out for the winter it cracks. So partly I take them in for this reason and since I am taking all the tropicals in it is no trouble.

I just checked and Algerian ivy will survive to 7a-8b outside depending upon who you ask. This can probably be fudged if you protect the pot and roots when it really gets cold. You may lose leaves but as long as the roots are protected it should come back.

I have several English ivy plants indoors, but they are just sort of hanging on (a bit leggy looking), even in the west-facing window with plenty of light. They are loving the cooler weather, though, and I've noticed more growth now than in the spring and summer! Isn't that weird?

The spider mite thing is tricky. I do run a humidifier, so I haven't had as much of a problem as others. Also, every time I water, I gently spray the leaves to rid of any dust or pests.

Like others said, this plant is probably best outdoors on a trellis or where it can be controlled. Personal opinion: I would not want to constantly be bringing this plant from indoors to outdoor and vice versa, since that is a nice way to invite the dreaded spider mite into your home to hitch a ride on your other plants. : )

This post is one of the things that made me go out and get an ivy yesterday. Now I have finicky plant for the winter.

My grandma once had ivy growing up one of her walls and was about 7 feet tall. She had it for many years, but something happened to it I guess as its not there anymore.

I've never tried to grow Ivy and I don't think I'll try. I much prefer the appearance of philos, Hoyas, pothos and aeschynanthus.

Ivy are pretty cheap so I don't see why you couldn't give it a go and see if they work out for you and your house conditions. If not there's loads of other Vining and trailing plants if that's what your looking for.