<p>I have a potted ivy (Hedera helix) in my dorm room. The first few months I had it, it grew so fast you couldn’t kill it with gasoline and a match. Lately it’s been wilting. I’ve watered it regularly (too much, maybe?), and it gets plenty of indirect sunlight. Any gardeners out there? I don’t want it to die. Does it need something- a larger pot or a wire to grow on, maybe? 
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<p>I thought this was going to be another HYP thread.</p>
<p>Second that, coureur.<br>
I think the most common mistake people make w/ houseplants is overwatering and ivies like to be on the dry side. I’d cut back on the watering a little and see if that helps.</p>
<p>Warblers:</p>
<p>I knew you were happy at Duke; but maybe your Ivy wants to join the Ivy League? :)<br>
I have ivy growing in my garden. One particular strand makes it through the winter and dies every spring. Sigh…</p>
<p>Not that it’s what the OP asked, but one of my dearest friends has an Ivy league cat. The cute little thing followed her brother home to Princeton one day. Later, because of travel/housing etc., the cat was shipped off to Yale to live with his former Princeton roommate, who was there for grad school. Later still, when the roommate graduated, the cat was sent to Georgetown to live with my friend, his sister. She subsequently graduated Georgetown, and the cat lived with her for a few years, until she entered graduate school at Tufts. She took the cat to Tufts, but her new roommate was allergic. So she shipped the cat to her friend at Harvard, but the friend had a schedule, or had never had a pet before or something, couldn’t handle it. </p>
<p>By then, the Iraq war started, and my friend’s brother was called home from Israel - he was studying there but the State Dept. cancelled his funds and made him come home. But then he got a job offer at Dartmouth (sp???) where he teaches archaic languages or something. So currently the cat lives at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Oh, I have no idea what to do about the Ivy. Maybe send it to a different school, see if a change helps?</p>
<p>Pour some beer on it? (only Rolling Rock)</p>
<p>Sorry - I have the white thumb: anything I garden turns to ash.</p>
<p>coureur- Oops, I guess the title was a bit misleading.</p>
<p>1moremom- Thanks. Plants are so finicky. :/</p>
<p>marite and latetoschool- I’m sorry, but my ivy does not wish to transfer at this point in time. :p</p>
<p>mini- Sorry, but no. We only put out beer to kill slugs. :D</p>
<p>beer on slugs? That’s expensive. I thought salt would do?</p>
<p>You put out a little bowl or saucer of beer and the slugs expire while drinking themselves silly. It’s not uncommon to find a half dozen slugs floating in the saucer in the garden in the morning… (sorry Sluggbugg!)</p>
<p>I always thought it worked best to put the beer in a pie tin (preferably Marie Calander’s).<br>
Do they sell Rolling Rock on the west coast?</p>
<p>mini,
I heard that Duke is now a dry campus. Beer is very hard to find. :)</p>
<p>Shame. Southern Comfort? ;)</p>
<p>Yes, you can get Rolling Rock in the west.</p>
<p>btw I kill all indoor plants and finally gave up. I do much better with outdoor plants and can usually get those to grow.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll try to help the Ivy! If it grew vigorously last year, it may need to be repotted in a larger container. If you take it out of its pot, you may notice roots tangled up around the perimeter – that would tell you it’s outgrown its pot. Also, it may need plant food, if it has depleted the nutrients in the soil. In any case, it probably won’t hurt the plant to put it into a larger container, so that’s what I’d try.</p>
<p>Thanks, sjmom! It will have to wait 2-2 1/2 weeks until I get home, but hopefully a larger pot will do the trick.</p>
<p>Also, if the roots are brown at the ends, cut them off when you repot. Just use a scissor or sharp knife, and you don’t have to be too careful. Cut back to white roots. </p>
<p>Also, before you repot, water it a lot and let all the water drain out to flush out any salts that may be in the soil. I would also replace almost all of the dirt with fresh potting soil. And use a pot no more than 1 inch larger than the one it’s in. You may have to repot more frequently, but you don’t want to use a pot that’s too big.</p>
<p>For the fertilizer, I use very diluted liquid fertilizer every time I water.</p>
<p>Many people on this board are obsessed with ivy, even though many studies have shown that you can get just as good a horticultural experience with other plants. It might not have the bumper sticker appeal of a Gloire de Marengo, a Dentata Variegata, or a Sulphur Heart, but a Dieffenbachia would be a much better fit for many young gardeners.</p>