Grape Ivy
Living as I do in a house with a hot air heating system and its resultant dry atmosphere, any plant that will tolerate these conditions for two or three months is bound to be a favorite. One plant that will take a beating – hot or cold, wet or dry, sun or shade – is the grape ivy.
After being given a rooted cutting of grape ivy, friends who had previously said, “I can’t grow a thing in my house” became quite excited a few weeks later and exclaimed, “My plant has two new shoots on it.” Cuttings are easily made from grape ivy – a factor which stimulates my interest and that of my neighbors in growing things.
Importance of Feeding
Feeding house plants is to me important whether it be grape ivy or any other window garden denizen. I use a gallon wine bottle, fill it with water and dissolve in it one-half the amount of any one of the balanced chemical fertilizers (sold in florist shops, seed stores or dime stores) recommended per gallon, and give the plant a thorough watering with this nutrient solution once each week.
Grape ivy, Cissus rhombifolia
Applications of chemical fertilizer once a week are, I realize, at variance with the usual recommendation. However, a weekly schedule of feeding simplifies the routine, and avoids the nuisance of making a calendar chart where there is more than one plant to care for. At least I find it so. In the past, when Saturday or Sunday came around I couldn’t remember whether it was last week or the week before that I gave the last feeding with the result that the plant usually got too much plant food. At any rate, I have observed nothing but beneficial results from weekly feeding with diluted chemical fertilizers.
W Nitsche New York City
