I've had similar experiences to yours. Ivy can be challenging once it starts to die. I woudl suggest prunning off the dead areas and placing it in a very sunny area (most ivy like much sunlight). Do not overwater or add fertilizer yet, or it may cause more harm to the plant.

Sarah

I, too, have a dying ivy and need to revive it. I see that Sarah has said to prune off the dead areas. I have never pruned a plant before, and I am wondering do I completely cut the vines, or just remove the dead leaves from the vines? I'm wondering if the vines are hopeless - or if they will have a chance to produce new leaves after the sunlight and water therapy....

For most plants, I prune off all of the dead area (brown parts). Typically, if you leave the sick or dead parts of a plant on, the plant will focus a good deal of its energy on those areas rather than producing new growth. Of course, with some plants such as indoor trees and orchids, the methods of pruning are a bit different. A far as ivy, you can cut off the brown areas on stems and the leaves. Unfortunately, in my cases I've had trouble reviving many of my ivy plants. I've also found that for ivy plants that need low lights that is not always the case, at least when compared with plants that can tolerate low light well.

Sarah

cbritton: yes, you remove the entire vine portion with the brown leaves. Your plant will appreciate the pruning.

jake, please know that one of the primary causes of serious problems with English Ivy (and cultivars of English Ivy) is spider mites. If this is the 'ivy' you are referring to, then you'll be in for quite a battle.

Repeated misting of the the plant with good squirts of water will help flush away spider mites. They like dry conditions and don't handle being washed away well.

I have a green and white ivy plant that seems to be loosing it's leaves.I've watered and it is in good soil.I have it in a northside facing window.I've moved it all over my house hoping that the different like would help.Is there something I can do to help it grow?

Dori and I recognize that the big odds favorite answer for "What ails my ivy" is spider mites - if it actually IS an ivy ..... and Jake hasn't yet been back to let us know that. It could also easily be a watering issue - too much/too little - or a salt build-up from improper watering ....

Someone upthread said, "Typically, if you leave the sick or dead parts of a plant on, the plant will focus a good deal of its energy on those areas rather than producing new growth" I just wanted to point out that this isn't so. Plants are shedding organisms. When a part of the plant is using more energy than it produces, the plant isolates and sheds these parts. Before it sheds them, usable nutrients and bio-compounds that are mobile in the plant are actually 'withdrawn' from the parts that are being shed and translocated to other areas of the plant. Of course, dead areas are just that - 'dead', and there is no energy flow in or out of them. They are simply shed parts that haven't yet been physically discarded by the plant.

Al

I have an ivory and i found it left behind i tool the dead leaves off but i left the veins on cause they area still green will it matter that i left believe on the plant or should i take it off so s new one grow

I've read all the messages, and cut off the dead stuff: it is currently standing in water and I will remove it soon. It is in a north room in a corner on a lamp table. Will table lamp light do any good?

Not unless it is one of those new fluorescent bulbs and about 6 inches away from the plant, otherwise put it in a window, or by (but not in) a south window.