The Leaves on my ivy Plant Are Drying

Question

I’ve hung my plant near a window facing northwest and have been watering it every week but found that I was probably watering it too much. Figuring that is why it is drying out, so I have extended the watering by touch. But it’s still drying out. I don’t understand. I was told they were easy plants to take care of. Help, what should I do? I don’t want to lose it. Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Assuming you are talking about an ivy plant, if it is inside, it is possibly reacting to dry air. Ivy thrives in high humidity and struggles in a dry atmosphere. Most homes have fairly dry air that can be remedied, to a point, with misting or a vaporizer. Moving your plant to a brightly lit bathroom, kitchen or plant room will help as well. Also remember that spider mites love dry air, and love ivy too…get the three together and you’ll probably have trouble.

Answer 2

I’d like to know a couple of things about your plant. What exactly do you mean by “drying out?” You said first that you thought you were watering it too much, in which case it wouldn’t be drying out, would it, it would be too wet. Then you said you “extended the watering by touch.” That’s kind of mysterious to me–do you mean you tried to determine the soil moisture by touching the soil, and are trying to let it go longer between waterings? But it’s still drying out? When you say drying out, do you by any chance mean that the leaves are turning brown? Dark brown or light brown? And have the leaves wilted at all?
Another question that occurs is what kind of plant you have, because you call it ivy, but do you mean English ivy or Devils ivy. Because Devils ivy is not an ivy, it is really called pothos, which is in the philodendron family. The leaves on those tend to turn dark brown if the soil is kept too wet for a long time.
English ivy, on the other hand, is much more difficult to grow, and the leaves will turn a lighter brown if it’s too wet, or too dry, for that matter.
Also it’s extremely susceptible to spider mites, especially after it dries out a couple of times, which also result in brown leaves.
Whatever kind of plant you have, it looks like you might need some help with basic watering. You might want to check out this video, as well as the others in the series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBBh0RPPqu0
If you can offer some more description of your problem, maybe I can offer some better advice.