Hedera grows quickly, easily adapts to apartment conditions, and is an undemanding plant. The main difficulty lies in the need for training and the awkwardness of repotting large adult specimens.
It grows well in shade or partial shade and does not tolerate direct sunlight. The optimal place for keeping the plant is a shelf (cabinet, dresser) deep in the room where diffuse sunlight reaches for at least several hours a day.
It does not tolerate heat well; at high air temperatures, growth slows down, and leaves wither and turn yellow. A favorable temperature regime at any time of year is 18-23 °C (64-73 °F). In winter, the plant readily tolerates a drop in temperature, but pauses its growth until spring.
Stagnant water in the pot is fatal to ivy, so the substrate is moistened as the top layer dries. In summer, generous but infrequent watering is required no more than 1-2 times a week. In winter, watering can be skipped entirely, provided that indoor humidity is at least 30-60%. If the air in the apartment is dry, the soil is moistened 1-2 times a month and the foliage is additionally misted from a spray bottle 2-3 times a week.
Repotting is performed when it becomes evident that the ivy has grown extensively and its roots are cramped in the pot, or the plant has halted its growth. Ivy feels great in almost any substrate. A loose mix of peat or humus soil and sand in equal parts is an advantage. Leaf mold is also suitable.
Young plants are usually repotted once a year in spring with soil replacement (March or April). The pot should be chosen wide but shallow, 2-3 cm (0.8-1.2 in) wider in diameter than the previous one. Adult plants do not need annual repotting; once every two years is sufficient. In doing so, one can replace only the topsoil layer.
Besides repotting, pruning ivy shoots that have lost their leaves plays an important role. It is best to do this during the period of intensive growth in spring. This will add bushiness to the plant. If shoots are overly long, it is necessary to cut them back by approximately 1/3 of their length.
Despite its unpretentiousness, ivy requires fairly frequent feeding from spring to late autumn, at least twice a week. In winter, fertilizer is slightly limited. If overdone, the leaves can become too large, which diminishes the plant's decorative appearance. Fertilizer should contain a complete set of minerals, with a large proportion of nitrogen and potassium.
Vegetative propagation methods are preferred for ivies. The simplest and quickest way to obtain a new plant is to root in water and plant cuttings taken from the mother bush. The rooted cuttings are planted 2-3 per pot.
It can also be propagated by layering. For this purpose, a long stem is taken and, without detaching it from the adult plant, pinned to the soil with staples in several places. Small incisions are preliminarily made on the underside of the shoot. After rooting, the branch is divided into several sections, each of which must have a root and at least 1 leaf. Young layers are transplanted into separate containers in groups of several plants.