How Fast Does English Ivy Grow? (How To Grow It Faster)

English Ivy is becoming an increasingly popular houseplant due to it being so versatile with its ability to grow well in hanging planters or as a wall climber. Plus it’s rated as one of the best air purifying plants for your home. So if you’ve just got your hands on a new English Ivy plant then you’re probably curious as to how long it will take to grow.

How fast does English Ivy Grow? English Ivy grown indoors can grow up to 9 feet annually but it will be at least 2 years before any significant growth. To encourage quicker growth, take good care of it and make appropriate adjustments before planting and use fertilizer to encourage fast growth.

Check out the information I’ve put together below to learn more about the growth rate of English Ivy and see what steps you can take to ensure strong and healthy plant growth, along with information on how to encourage quicker growth.

English Ivy Growth Rate

There’s multiple factors that can influence the growth rate of English Ivy but it is a fast growing plant. However, in the first year after planting, English Ivy grows slowly. But in its second year, the growth rate will increase significantly and as it enters its 3rd year, it can reach growth rates of up to 9 feet per year.

So it can take several years before you finally see the progress you want but with the right care and ideal conditions this process can be sped up and this can be enhanced further with appropriate fertilization.

Influencing Factors Over Ivy Growth Speed

English Ivy is pretty adaptable to most situations but there are a few different things that come in to play that affect the speed at which it grows.

Growing Conditions

The conditions that a plant is grown in are the most significant influences over the growth speed and the overall health of a plant. If you try to provide your English Ivy with the best growing conditions then you’ll provide it with all the right ingredients for powerful growth.

So let’s summarize the ideal growing conditions for English Ivy:

• Watering: Whilst the plant is young, keep the soil moist. Once it’s more established, allow the soil to dry out before watering it again.
• Potting Soil: To aid its growth, well draining soil with some organic matter (compost), like this one on Amazon, is required as this also prevents root rot from occurring.
• Light: Moderate to full shade will help stimulate the most growth.
• Temperature: It can survive in almost any conditions but keeping it in an environment around 15-25c is ideal.

Growing English Ivy Indoors vs Outdoors

Whether the Ivy is being grown inside or out can have a significant influence over how quickly it grows. English Ivy that is grown indoors can grow quicker indoors if you make the conditions ideal.

Different Growth Stages

English Ivy loves a long growing season, mainly through the spring/summer months. This plant doesn’t do well through harsh winters, this is where growth will be the most stunted. So growing the plant indoors will avoid this situation and growth can be stimulated all year round.

Ivy Pests

Growing outdoors means there will be plenty of pests to irritate your ivy, this will stunt the growth – plus growing indoors will also prevent birds from eating the berries. Again, by growing the plant inside you will have more control over this and be able to help prevent pests like these from hindering the health of your plant.

Plant Health

If your English Ivy is healthy, the growth will be far superior than that of a plant struggling with various health problems or inferior growing conditions.

Does Ivy Grow In Winter?

Winter is when Ivy’s growth is the most stunted, it doesn’t fare well in harsh winters and prefers long growing seasons. Keeping it indoors helps avoid these environments and allows you to simulate the ideal environment to promote growth.

How Fast Does English Ivy Grow On A Fence?

It will take around 3 months for the Ivy to become established on your fence, once that has happened the growth rate will significantly increase. You can expect your ivy to grow up to 9 feet annually and the leaves to grow up to 3 feet, so your fence will be covered quicker than you realise.

Preparing A New English Ivy Plant To Enhance Growth

When you’re about to plant a new English Ivy, there’s a few steps you can take to help kick start the growth at the initial stages of its life.

Organic Soil

English Ivy requires soil that has some organic matter in it to really help promote rapid growth. You can do this by making your own compost and mixing it in with the soil before you plant your ivy or buy a complete mix such as this one on Amazon.

You can use a wide variety of things to mix in the soil to promote growth:

• Eggshells
• Tea
• Banana Peels
• Epsom Salt

Appropriate Pot

Clay pots are ideal for English Ivy as they allow the water to drain well and dry out the soil appropriately.

Keep your Ivy in the center of a large pot, this will allow the roots to spread further.

Rapid Root Growth

To promote an initial growth spurt in the roots, it’s advisable that you deprive the plant of water for the first 1 – 2 weeks. This will encourage the roots to spread further in seek of a water supply, providing a strong base for the plant to grow from.

How To Take Proper Care Of Your English Ivy To Promote Faster Growth

Keeping your English Ivy in the best health is the most efficient way to promote healthy growth. Luckily, they are one of the most hardy plants out there, some people even say it’s harder to make them unhealthy.

Anyway, here’s what steps you should take to promote healthy growth in your English Ivy:

Re-potting

Once the plant is established you want to move it into a  larger pot so the roots have much more room for growth.

Moving it into a larger pot will allow the roots to spread further. Ideally you should go for a pot that is wider rather than deeper as it will push the roots to spread further rather than deeper, creating a stronger base.

You should also ensure its placed into a well draining potting soil. By using this type of soil it will help prevent root rot from occurring and diseases that would otherwise hinder the plants growth.

Light/Shade

Keeping your ivy in an area with moderate to full shade will help promote the most growth, but the plant will still grow in lighter areas just at a slower rate.

Growing English Ivy in shaded areas also causes the leaves to grow larger than it would in areas with more light.

Watering

In the initial phases of an Ivy plants life you should keep the soil moist to the touch to really enhance the initial growth stages. Once the plant has become more established then you can start to allow the soil to dry out before watering it again.

Misting

Regularly misting your leaves helps prevents pests from invading whilst also keeping your ivy healthy and promoting growth by simulating humid conditions.

Fertilizing Your English Ivy To Aid Growth

Although English Ivy is one of the easiest plants to grow and it doesn’t really need fertilizing, using it in moderation can really enhance the rate of growth. You want to use a fertilizer that is well balanced and has nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in it, here’s the one I use from Amazon.

With English Ivy’s you only need to use half the recommended dose to get the optimal growth boost, just ensure that you never go above the recommended amount as it can become a hindrance to its growth.

Also, remember how I told you that you can use eggshells and tea to give your ivy a nutritious meal? Well these are essentially homemade fertilizers!

Eggshell Water
Another way to use the eggshells is by soaking them in water overnight and then sieving out the shells the next morning and then finally pouring the liquid over your Ivy’s roots.

Prune Your English Ivy To Control And Boost Growth

Another way to boost the growth of your English Ivy is by occasionally pruning the tips of vines, this stimulates growth in your plant. Obviously when doing this, ensure that you only trim away the tips unless you are looking to control its growth.

This also helps you control the direction that your Ivy is growing in, trim away unwanted vines and this will also help keep the ivy under control ifs starting to get out of control.

Summary

The following table summarises the key points in this article. 

Aspect	Details
General Growth Rate	– Grows up to 9 feet annually indoors after 2 years – Slow growth in the first year, increasing significantly in the second year.
Ideal Growing Conditions	– Watering: Keep soil moist for young plants; allow to dry out for established plants. – Soil: Well-draining with organic matter. – Light: Moderate to full shade. – Temperature: Ideal environment around 15-25°C.
Indoor vs. Outdoor Growth	– Grows faster indoors with ideal conditions. – Indoors avoids winter stunting and pests.
Winter Growth	– Growth is stunted in harsh winters. – Prefers long growing seasons.
Growth on Fence	– Takes 3 months to establish on a fence, then can grow up to 9 feet annually.
Plant Preparation	– Use organic soil with compost or a mix. – Use clay pots for good drainage. <br>- Deprive water for 1-2 weeks initially to stimulate root growth.
Care for Faster Growth	– Re-potting: Move to a larger, wider pot with well-draining soil. – Light/Shade: Moderate to full shade for optimal growth. – Watering: Moist soil initially, then allow to dry out. – Misting: Regularly to simulate humidity and deter pests.
Fertilizing	– Use a balanced fertilizer with nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. – Use half the recommended dose for English Ivy. – Homemade options include eggshells and tea.
Pruning	– Prune tips of vines occasionally to stimulate growth. – Helps control direction and manage out-of-control growth.