How to Propagate Ivy

I recently had someone ask me how to propagate Ivy (of the Hedera genus). Now, I do run a business where plant propagation is about 4/5ths of the job, but am I going to gatekeep? HECK NO! 

So let me tell you how to propagate Ivy!

Propagation of ivy (as well as many other plants) is more successful during their time of active growth. Spring is a great time to take cuttings!

Step 0: Mise en place! (Gather your materials)

1. nursery container(s) or a tray, with or without drainage (See: Step 1)
2. potting media of choice (See: Step 1)
3. sanitized cutting implement, be it scissors, shears or blade (See: Step 2)
4. a shallow container of water
5. rooting hormone powder or equivalent (See: Step 3)
6. a hole-poking implement, such as a chop stick or pencil
7. a spray bottle or plant mister filled with water
   

Step 1: Prepare your propagation container

Prepare small nursery containers or a tray with about 2 inches of lip, and fill with moist potting soil, sphagnum peat moss, coco coir, vermiculite, or whatever combo you're comfortable working with for your local humidity indoors. 

My media of choice is sphagnum peat moss, because moisture disperses very evenly throughout the media. I also tend to be an over-waterer, and peat moss dries out relatively quickly. Lastly, an inert growing medium will reduce the potential for mold or bacteria that could reduce your success rate. 

For this situation, "moist" means that when you squeeze the growing medium in your hand, you shouldn't get any water dripping out, and it will clump together but very easily break apart again. Drainage is not strictly necessary here unless you're prone to overwatering things.

Step 2: Take cuttings

Before cutting anything, make sure you sanitize your shears or blade to reduce the chance of a bacterial infection at the site of the cut. Or don't. Live dangerously if you want. It's up to you!

Take cuttings from your ivy with 2-3 leaves on them. Cut the stem at a 45° angle to maximize the cut's surface area.

Note: Really tiny, delicate new growth leaves from the tip don't count. You want well-developed leaves that look strong, firm and hardy. In fact, if you're taking a cutting from the tip of a vine and you have those teeny leaves at the end, snip those off. They won't make it anyway.

Step 3: Prep a cutting

Strip off the lowest leaf on the stem. The joint on the stem where the leaf used to be is called the "node." If you have rooting powder, dip that bottom cut up to the bare node in a little water to get the stem wet. Then swirl that wet stem in the rooting powder, knocking off any excess.

If you don't have rooting hormone powder, check out these alternatives that you probably already have on hand. Or really, you don't strictly need rooting powder for ivy cuttings. Most of your cuttings will still root eventually.

Step 4: "Plant" your cutting

Make a hole in your potting mixture with the tip of a chopstick or pencil or whatever you have, about the depth of the first digit of your pinky finger, or however long it needs to be in order for the bare node to be covered by the media. Insert your cutting and gently firm up the soil around the stem so it will stay in place. 

You don't want to just stick your cuttings directly in the soil without making a hole. All that good rooting hormone will be pushed up the stem and away from the cut end and node where it needs to be. You might also bend and break the stem, and that would be a cutting wasted. What a bummer.

Repeat steps 3 and 4 for all your cuttings.

Step 5: Find a place for your propagation station

Place your propagation container(s) where the cuttings will receive a medium amount of light. It won't do well directly in a window sill. Ivy doesn't like a whole lot of direct light, and it certainly won't like it while it's recovering its support system.

Step 6: Take care of your propagation station for . . . 2 or more months. 

Keep the soil moist — but not waterlogged! — for at least the first week. I like to place my propagation tray in a place where I will walk by and notice it on the daily. I keep a spray bottle of water next to it and mist them once a day during this beginning week or so. 

You'll see that the leaves will get a little wimpy somewhere in the first 48 hours, and then they'll start perking up again. Keep up with the daily misting until all the cuttings' leaves are strong and firm. Some won't make it; that's to be expected. Remove those wimps when they start turning brown or are wilted way past the point of recovery.

After that first week or two, it's ok if you only mist occasionally. They'll be getting used to their new situation by now. You can let the surface of the soil dry out a little bit, but try to keep it evenly moist.

Rooting may take up to 2 MONTHS and sometimes even longer. A really good indication of rooting is when you see new growth, but it's not 100% reliable. I like to take a chopstick and gently loosen the soil around a promising-looking cutting. I use the tip of the chopstick as a wedge to push the cutting up and out of the soil, backing off and doing more soil loosening around the perimeter if I feel any resistance. You don't want to break those fresh roots!

Once your cutting has several roots that are 1-2 inches long, you can transplant that cutting into its own container and treat it like the plant it is. 

Congrats! You made a new ivy plant!

And there you have it. This is my preferred way to propagate cuttings of ivy. Be responsible with your new superpower. You don't want to end up like this guy, do you? ➠

. . . 

I mean, of course you do.

So, while on your mission to fill every surface you own with propagated ivy, why don't you check out some of the ivy varieties I have available now (or soon) in the table below. Or if you happen to be into more than just Ivy, check out my complete collection.