Monstera deliciosa care is easier than you think! This post is the ultimate guide on growing Monstera deliciosa, and I will also show you some remarkable tips and tricks on repotting Monstera as well so that you can be the best plant parent that you can be!
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This plant was once popular a few decades ago, and it is back with a vengeance! Monstera deliciosa is one of the trendiest houseplants that you can grow these days.
Not only are they a striking houseplant, but they are also very easy to grow and a fantastic beginner plant! Anyone can grow a Monstera!
My plant which was barely 1 ½ feet tall when I purchased it, grew quite large after less than 3 years.
Keep reading to find out exactly how to care for Monstera deliciosa, and also learn about repotting Monstera.
I will also show you how to provide a very sturdy support so your Monstera can climb securely! Forget about the moss posts. I have a much easier and more effective solution.
Table of Contents
About Monstera Deliciosa
There are so many common names for this plant: Swiss Cheese Plant, Mexican Breadfruit, and even Split Leaf Philodendron. Common names are enormously confusing and I always refer to this plant by its botanical name (genus + species), Monstera deliciosa.
You may be wondering about the botanical name Monstera deliciosa. The genus, Monstera, literally refers to the "monstrous" proportions that this plant takes on in the wild.
The species name, deliciosa, refers to its edible fruit that it commonly produces in the wild. Indoors, you may never see this, but know that it does produce an edible fruit!
These plants hail from tropical regions in the south of Mexico and also parts of Central America and are found growing at the base of trees. They will climb and attach to tree trunks via the aerial roots that they produce.
Monstera Deliciosa Care
1. LIGHT
As you can imagine by how this plant grows in the wild in its natural habitat, as described above, it prefers filtered light, or bright indirect light. I grow mine in a large Eastern exposure window so it received plenty of light, including morning sun which is gentle on the plant.
It can tolerate much darker, low light conditions, but your growth won't be as spectacular. After all, plants need light to photosynthesize!
You'll want to avoid too much direct sun however, especially the harsher afternoon sun.
If you live in areas that typically have a lot of strong sun, you'll want to shield your Monstera deliciosa so that it doesn't receive too much direct sun.
2. WATERING, FERTILIZING & HUMIDITY
Monstera deliciosa is pretty forgiving when it comes to watering. Just like most plants, I like to let the top part of the soil dry out before watering again.
Depending on the size of the pot, I'll let the top inch or two completely dry out before I water again. Just use your finger to test the soil moisture. Tap water will work just fine.
Mine is growing in a 14 inch pot, so I'll let the top 2 inches, roughly, dry out before I even think about watering.
Keep in mind that larger pots may take longer to dry out than much smaller pots, so don't water by your calendar.
Use your finger as your guide! If your Monstera is in a smaller pot, let at least the top inch of the soil dry out before watering again.
Avoid extremes in watering. Never let this plant sit in water otherwise it can easily experience root rot. Always discard any excess water that accumulates in the plant saucer.
On the other hand, try not and let the potting mix completely dry out if you can help it. Find a happy medium!
As far as fertilizing goes, I fertilize my Monstera deliciosa year round except for the winter months.
I sometimes rotate and change fertilizers, but I'm currently using Dyna-Gro Grow for most of my leafy houseplants and I don't think I'll ever switch again. This is an AMAZING fertilizer and I stock up on it from Amazon.
I like to fertilize dilutely with every watering. That way my plants receive constant nutrients, similar to how they would grow in nature, and I don't have to remember the last time I applied fertilizer!
As far as humidity goes, although this plant would appreciate high humidity, it does just fine in my home, even with low humidity during the winter time.
3. LEAF PROGRESSION
One of the most rewarding parts of growing Monstera deliciosa is watching the plant evolve from its juvenile leaves, to the more mature adult leaves.
Young plants have leaves that are completely solid and that have no slits or holes.
As Monstera deliciosa ages, the new leaves will have more and more fenestrations (holes) and slits among the leaves. Keep in mind that after a leaf opens up, it will stay the way it is and will not change.
As the plant matures, the newer leaves will slowly have more and more fenestrations.
Depending on how good your growing conditions are, very young monstera plants may take years indoors before they start to exhibit any fenestrations.
Take a look at the following progression of leaves from my own plant:
4. Repotting
For some general repotting tips, and knowing when to repot your plant, check out my blog post on repotting.
This post contains many critical aspects of repotting and important steps, so be sure to read up after you're done reading this Monstera post.
Perhaps the best time of year to repot your plant is early spring when plants are starting to perk up. It can really be done at any time of year if you have good growing conditions. Later winter or early spring is a good bet though.
As I mentioned earlier, Monstera deliciosa is a climbing plant in nature, so you'll want to add some support, and the perfect time to do this is when you repot your plant!
This way, you will minimize the damage to any roots. Although if you are careful, you can really add support at any time.
After you take your plant out of the pot, be sure to loosen up the root ball a bit. Only choose a larger pot that is 1 or 2 sizes bigger than the current pot. And always use a pot with drainage holes!
I used a wheelbarrow outdoors to blend my potting mix and loosen the root ball on my plant.
I like to cover the drainage hole with a broken pot shard (placed like an upside down U over the hole, which leaves space on the sides). Some people like to place a piece of old window screening over the hole.
When you repot, this is the perfect time to add a support so that your plant can start climbing!
As the vines grow, you can loosely tie them to the posts.
Take a look at the bamboo tee-pee that I created below.
I simply purchased some bamboo stakes online from Amazon, and put three of them in the pot at the time of repotting. I like to have extras on hand because I also use them in my garden.
Then I simply took some garden twine and tied the top up. It is a very stable structure!
You can also add a moss pole or moss stick when you repot. I wrote a printable, detailed how-to blog post that shows how you can make your own moss post! It's way better than anything you would buy pre-made and much better quality.
Use about 1 part of the perlite to 2 parts, or even 3 parts, of the potting soil.
It is a highly sustainable mix, and the owners of the company compost food scraps and add the compost to the mix. I've had amazing experiences with this mix and am switching many of my houseplants to this mix (when the time comes to repot).
It already contains plenty of perlite, so there is no need to adjust at all!
I also surveyed my readers to inquire about all their frustrations with potting mixes, and the makers of 'House' potting mix answered all these questions and more.
If you want an organic, sustainable, top-quality mix that you can use straight out of the bag, check out my blog post: Oh Happy Plants Potting Mixes.
This will give you a nice airy, nutritious, well draining soil that this plant loves!
If you're trying to decide what type of pot to give your Monstera, check out my Monstera Pots post that will help you choose the best pot for your plant.
5. Propagating Monstera Deliciosa
Who wouldn't want more of a good thing? If you want to propagate your Monstera deliciosa, it is very easy to do.
There are a couple of different ways that I will describe to propagate your Monstera deliciosa.
If you are impatient and don't want to spend too much time, you can simply just cut a vine and place it in water. Not just any old vine though. You'll want to choose a vine where you see an aerial root.
Then simply just cut below where the aerial root is, near where my finger is in the photo below.
Then simply place this cutting in water. The aerial root will quickly grow in water and it you'll be able to pot it up in no time at all.
The other method that you can use to propagate your Monstera deliciosa is by air layering. You'll want to air layer in the exact same spot that I described above (where my finger is in the photo).
For a detailed photo guide, check out my blog post on propagating Monstera in water. The benefit of doing this is that your vine will be much less stressed (versus just cutting it completely off the plant).
You can check out my blog post on air layering houseplants where you can read exactly how to do it! You can do it exactly as described in that post.
Or, alternatively, as long as you choose a vine where you can wrap the sphagnum moss around an existing aerial root, you don't even have to cut into the vine like I mention in the air layering post.
Simply proceed without cutting because the aerial root will start growing almost immediately.
Other than that one detail, you can follow all the rest of the instructions. Then once it is ready, you can simply cut the vine under where you air layered and pot up your new plant!
Be sure to get everything you need to help your Monstera deliciosa thrive. To summarize, these are the products I talked about in the blog post so you can grow your own gigantic Monstera deliciosa. (Pretty soon, mine will overtake the living room...)
Use 2 or 3 parts Miracle Gro Potting Mix to 1 part #3 perlite. This provides a beautifully airy and well-draining potting mix that these plants just love.
Dyna-Gro Grow is just simply one of the best fertilizers around. Use it regularly on you Monstera deliciosa plant and ALL of your tropicals!
And don't forget the bamboo stakes to make your tee-pee with. Monsteras need support as they grow.
If you want to browse other species of Monstera that you'd like to explore growing, don't miss my post that includes 15 Amazing Monstera Varieties to add to your collection.
There is a huge debate on whether you may have a Monstera deliciosa vs. Monstera borsigiana. Be sure not to miss my post on how to tell the difference between the deliciosa vs. borsigiana species.
If you like the look of Monstera deliciosa, but don't have the room, you can consider growing Rhaphidophora tetrasperma. It is commonly called "mini-monstera" but isn't actually a Monstera. It does have a similar look, but with smaller leaves.
Yellow leaves on your Monstera plant can be caused by a lot of different issues, and this is a very common problem. The causes of yellow leaves can include too little light, too MUCH light, soil that went too dry for too long (which typically results in the lower leaves yellowing), soggy soil, cold temperatures, and more.
These tropical plants do appreciate higher humidity levels, but normal room humidity is just fine! You don't have to invest in a humidifier for your plant. As long as you have proper watering practices and don't allow your soil to get too dry, average indoor humidity is just fine. Proper watering is far more important than trying to maintain a humid environment for your plant.
For smaller pots, wait to water until the top inch of soil has dried out. For larger pots, say 10 or 12 inches in diameter or more, you can easily allow the top 1-2 inches of soil to dry out before watering again.
Should you use a moisture meter for your plant?
I've seen too many people kill their plants by using faulty moisture meters. Many of the inexpensive ones are junky and will read moist, when in fact, your potting mix is bone dry. Save yourself the hassle, and use your finger to judge soil moisture. Wait until the top 1-2 inches of soil have dried out, and then water.
I hope you have enjoyed this post on how to care for your Monstera deliciosa.
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!
Can Monstera recover from spider mites?
Yes, but early detection is key in controlling any pests. You can tell if you have spider mites if you see fine webbing. You'll also start to see a speckled or mottled appearance on the leaves.
For best results, you'll want to knock off any existing spider mites with a stream of water, or use a damp cloth to wipe down all the foliage. Then regularly treat with an insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. Check out my post on treating houseplants for spider mites for step by step details.
Do Monstera plants need drainage holes?
Absolutely yes. It is much too risky to grow this plant without drainage holes. The risk of too much water accumulating at the bottom of the pot is too high. And if you're fertilizing, all the fertilizer salts will accumulate in the pot if you don't have drainage holes.
Is Monstera deliciosa toxic to animals?
Monstera deliciosa is toxic to cats and dogs, according to the ASPCA, because it contains calcium oxalate.
Does Monstera deliciosa product fruit?
Yes! And it is edible! It needs to be ripe though otherwise it may be painful to eat. Don't miss my blog post that is all about eating Monstera deliciosa fruit.
I hope you have enjoyed this post on how to care for your Monstera deliciosa.
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!
Hi, the images above where you show the solid leaf and the leaf with fenestrations is the same leaf?? If so, how long do you think it took for that transition to happen?
No, these are different leaves, but I wanted to show what the progression looks like. It's hard to say how long it will take. It really depends on the age of your plant.
Hi Jennifer! No they won't. Whatever the leaf looks like when it first opens, that's how it will be. You'll just have to wait it out for your plant to grow and you will eventually get the fenestrations!
If I cut my plant at the node (with an aerial root) will the stem below the cut then produce more leaves?
I have an Albo that I got as a cutting and I want to make a bushier plant with it.
Hello! Thank you for this. I have a beautiful healthy montserra that I am trying to propigate (total newbie here). I placed it in water and the aerial room is growing like mad, but there are no little roots coming out of it. Can you advise me what to do? Thanks!
Hi Chelsea. Just to make sure I'm understand you correctly...the aerial root is in water and you're seeing growth from that root in the water? If that's the case, it's fine! The roots are very thick and you won't see any fine roots. Feel free to email me a photo if you'd like and I will take a look!
Hi raffaele,
I just bought a 4 feet long monstera vine and had to cut it up into order to fit the big beauty into some pots. I have just plants them in soil and the vine had aerial roots all along it which were trimmed by the previous owner. Unfortunately the tips of the leaves are beginning to brown despite the soil not being too wet or dry and I only bought it a few days ago. Is it possible it's just recovering from me hacking it up into smaller more manageable sized plants?
Hi Tomas! I assume you made cuttings that only had aerial roots and no roots that were previously in soil? If so, yes, it can very well be from that. You'll have to expect some shock with large cuttings. I would try and increase the humidity if possible to help the transition!
Thank you so much for all this information! So helpful! I am in the midst of needing to repot my plant to add bamboo sticks and give it some more room. My monstera is about the same size as the one you show in the picture above in the black pot. What size pot is that and do you have any recommendations for where to order one for now? All gardening stores are closed so I'm having to look online which is hard. Thanks!
I have had a monstera deliciosa for a few months it was healthy and sprouted off a new leaf. However in the meantime I got a kitten ??♀️ And it has trashed every single one of the 4 leaves my dear plant has. At the same time it decided the lovely soil was great as a potty. I have since put largish pebbles in the soil which has stopped the toilet-going. However, being new to this home-making story, I’m not sure if the pebbles are a good idea for the plant and I don’t know what to do about the sheared leaves. I have had the pebbles in for a month or 2 now and the plant is still alive ??♀️
Hi Claire, sorry to hear about your plant! There isn't much you can really do for the shredded leaves. Maybe leave them on until the plant grows more leaves, and then you can maybe cut the bad leaves off if it is really unsightly. If they don't bother you too much, leave them on as long as you can. As far as the pebbles go, I would just say that it just becomes a little more difficult to monitor the soil moisture. Just be aware of that. Every so often, make sure you feel the soil underneath the pebbles and check if you need to water. Hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
My question is do monsteras only ever grow one new leaf at a time? Mine is a couple of years old, but only has 5 leaves as every time it grows a new leaf the oldest one turns yellow and dies. I brought it as an established plant.
Hi Krysten! Depending on the number of vines that it has in one pot, it can grow more than one leaf at a time. If you only have one vine, it really only grows one at a time. The oldest leaf turning yellow can be normal, but if it is happening every single time, it indicates to me to check your cultural conditions. Light, watering methods, dryness of soil, etc.
Hey Raffaello! Thank you for the great blog. Cheers from Finland 🙂
I just got a new monstera plant just to notice it had a very bad root rot. So I needed to cut all the leaves off one by one and placed them in water. None of them had aerial roots. Soon they started to turn yellow and the cutting point went brown and mushy. I think I lost them all. Is there a chance to succesfully propagate without an aerial root?
I also have the same issue in my figus tree leaves that have accidentally fallen off. I tried to propagate them in water but all of the turned yellow and died. What do I do wrong? Can you help me, please?
Hi Janita! For Monstera, you will need to make sure that you have at least one node. This is where the leaf and petiole (the long "stem" that the leaf is attached too) attach onto the vine itself. The roots will grow from this spot. And this is where you'll also see the aerial roots growing. If you don't have a node, a new plant will not grow. Same thing with the Ficus. You need to have a node. You can't just cut off the leaf. It may even root but won't produce a viable plant unless you have a node. If you send me photos I will be able to tell you if your Monstera has a chance.
Ah I’m so grateful for this post, thanks for sharing !
I just brought one off a lady and the plant is already 4 years old and around 1.2 meters tall, but no support pole. I wanted to put a support pole in but do I have to wait until re-potting to put it in? Or is there a way to insert it without damaging the roots?
If I need to wait for re-potting, when do you know a good time to do the re-potting?
And also do you recommend doing a moss pole, or does bamboo poles work just as well?
Hi Cassidy! I'm glad you enjoyed the post! You can really do either way...if you put in a post now and it breaks a couple roots, it's no big deal. However, if the plant needs to be repotted, I would wait until later winter/early Spring. This is a great time to repot because the plant should be starting to wake up and grow more. You can use a variety of posts. The important part is to have one that is stable and not wobbling around. That's why I like my bamboo tripod. Just make sure you get really sturdy ones. Hope this helps.
Hello! My friend gave me a cutting with roots and successfully pot it. But as it grows, I noticed that I only have one main stem and its almost 3ft tall now. Most of the pictures that I see online have several branches stemming out from the soil/ground. I 'm wondering what I am doing wrong. 🙁
Hi Joanna. First of all, nice job in being able to grow it to 3ft tall! Secondly, you are not doing anything wrong at all. In the pictures that you see online, the vast majority of those plants were probably purchased that way. When they propagated those plants, they placed several vines in one pot. If you want a fuller plant in general (this goes for many plants), you have to put several cuttings together in one pot instead of just one and letting it grow. You will be waiting a very long time otherwise. Hope this helps!
Hello, i have had the same issue and tried what you suggested. Is it possible that the main plant gets all the water and nutrients? My (already rooted) cuttings didn't get to settle in with in the main pot... maybe I'm just paranoid... can you give me any feedback? thanks!!!
Hi Laura, I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you said that you tried what I said. Can you tell me exactly what you tried?
I have a question for you! An entire, massive branch broke off of my monsters plant in my backyard. Is it salvageable?? It’s at least 6’ tall with 7 or 8 huge leaves.
Oh my! That's quite a large "cutting" 🙂 It will probably grow if you plant it. Expect some shock though, but I'm sure it will probably grow! Can you plant it somewhere? I assume it has some aerial roots?
Hello,
I have had a monstera for a anumber of years and it was doing very well. Just in the last few weeks it has developed some crispy brown spots around the edges of some of the biggest leaves and some funny texture on a few of the leaves. I don't think I changed anything but wonder if it's having trouble adjusting to less light in the fall. It is a few feet from a western window in Victoria, Bc (or about the same latitude as Seattle). It is not in a pot with a drainage hole....I know this your #1 rule....but it has been in this pot for a while (over a year), I am very careful about watering only when top 1-2 inches are dry. Perhaps I should repot it to a pot with a hole and fresh soil? I fertilize diluted all summer. I can't figure out what has gone wrong. Would love your help!
Hi Amy. I would need to see pictures and ask a lot more questions to be able to help more. I'm sure your days are short and dark now in BC. I'm wondering if your plant is now pretty root bound as well, depending on how much it has grown and how big the pot is. Watering practices have a lot to do with houseplant health, and it is difficult when you don't have a drainage hole. I have a blog post on brown, crispy leaves that might interest you and you might gain some insight from: https://www.ohiotropics.com/2019/03/31/plant-leaves-brown-and-crispy/
Hi Raffaele, great site, a lot of information. Please help me with a piece of advise... I have purchased 2 Monstera few weeks back and I have also place them in new pots soon after. I used standard soil from shop. Soon after, leaves have started to became black around the edges and continue to turn like this one by one. I water them once a week with water from fish tank, only if the top soil is a bit dry. I own a lot of plants, black leaves never happen to my plants, so I do not know what is wrong with these 2 new ones. Thank you.
It sure does! I have a fairly large monstera, and it's growing beautifully. I'm going to order the bamboo stakes. So, I should just loosely tie it? Thanks for the great info!
Hi, the images above where you show the solid leaf and the leaf with fenestrations is the same leaf?? If so, how long do you think it took for that transition to happen?
No, these are different leaves, but I wanted to show what the progression looks like. It's hard to say how long it will take. It really depends on the age of your plant.
Hello
Do leaves with no fenestrations eventually get them? Most of my leaves have none.
Thanks
Hi Jennifer! No they won't. Whatever the leaf looks like when it first opens, that's how it will be. You'll just have to wait it out for your plant to grow and you will eventually get the fenestrations!
If I cut my plant at the node (with an aerial root) will the stem below the cut then produce more leaves?
I have an Albo that I got as a cutting and I want to make a bushier plant with it.
Yes, your plant should still continue to grow with good care!
Hello! Thank you for this. I have a beautiful healthy montserra that I am trying to propigate (total newbie here). I placed it in water and the aerial room is growing like mad, but there are no little roots coming out of it. Can you advise me what to do? Thanks!
Hi Chelsea. Just to make sure I'm understand you correctly...the aerial root is in water and you're seeing growth from that root in the water? If that's the case, it's fine! The roots are very thick and you won't see any fine roots. Feel free to email me a photo if you'd like and I will take a look!
Hi raffaele,
I just bought a 4 feet long monstera vine and had to cut it up into order to fit the big beauty into some pots. I have just plants them in soil and the vine had aerial roots all along it which were trimmed by the previous owner. Unfortunately the tips of the leaves are beginning to brown despite the soil not being too wet or dry and I only bought it a few days ago. Is it possible it's just recovering from me hacking it up into smaller more manageable sized plants?
Hi Tomas! I assume you made cuttings that only had aerial roots and no roots that were previously in soil? If so, yes, it can very well be from that. You'll have to expect some shock with large cuttings. I would try and increase the humidity if possible to help the transition!
Hey!
Thank you so much for all this information! So helpful! I am in the midst of needing to repot my plant to add bamboo sticks and give it some more room. My monstera is about the same size as the one you show in the picture above in the black pot. What size pot is that and do you have any recommendations for where to order one for now? All gardening stores are closed so I'm having to look online which is hard. Thanks!
Hi Margaret! You can purchase from many places. I just added Monstera deliciosa to my Amazon shop if you'd like to purchase it through there: https://www.amazon.com/shop/ohiotropics?listId=1L1W4C6FNCNV2&ref=cm_sw_em_r_inf_list_own_ohiotropics_dp_0yjOnbcDy8QlR
Otherwise, you can also google it! Hope this helps.
I have had a monstera deliciosa for a few months it was healthy and sprouted off a new leaf. However in the meantime I got a kitten ??♀️ And it has trashed every single one of the 4 leaves my dear plant has. At the same time it decided the lovely soil was great as a potty. I have since put largish pebbles in the soil which has stopped the toilet-going. However, being new to this home-making story, I’m not sure if the pebbles are a good idea for the plant and I don’t know what to do about the sheared leaves. I have had the pebbles in for a month or 2 now and the plant is still alive ??♀️
Hi Claire, sorry to hear about your plant! There isn't much you can really do for the shredded leaves. Maybe leave them on until the plant grows more leaves, and then you can maybe cut the bad leaves off if it is really unsightly. If they don't bother you too much, leave them on as long as you can. As far as the pebbles go, I would just say that it just becomes a little more difficult to monitor the soil moisture. Just be aware of that. Every so often, make sure you feel the soil underneath the pebbles and check if you need to water. Hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
My question is do monsteras only ever grow one new leaf at a time? Mine is a couple of years old, but only has 5 leaves as every time it grows a new leaf the oldest one turns yellow and dies. I brought it as an established plant.
Hi Krysten! Depending on the number of vines that it has in one pot, it can grow more than one leaf at a time. If you only have one vine, it really only grows one at a time. The oldest leaf turning yellow can be normal, but if it is happening every single time, it indicates to me to check your cultural conditions. Light, watering methods, dryness of soil, etc.
Hey Raffaello! Thank you for the great blog. Cheers from Finland 🙂
I just got a new monstera plant just to notice it had a very bad root rot. So I needed to cut all the leaves off one by one and placed them in water. None of them had aerial roots. Soon they started to turn yellow and the cutting point went brown and mushy. I think I lost them all. Is there a chance to succesfully propagate without an aerial root?
I also have the same issue in my figus tree leaves that have accidentally fallen off. I tried to propagate them in water but all of the turned yellow and died. What do I do wrong? Can you help me, please?
Hi Janita! For Monstera, you will need to make sure that you have at least one node. This is where the leaf and petiole (the long "stem" that the leaf is attached too) attach onto the vine itself. The roots will grow from this spot. And this is where you'll also see the aerial roots growing. If you don't have a node, a new plant will not grow. Same thing with the Ficus. You need to have a node. You can't just cut off the leaf. It may even root but won't produce a viable plant unless you have a node. If you send me photos I will be able to tell you if your Monstera has a chance.
Ah I’m so grateful for this post, thanks for sharing !
I just brought one off a lady and the plant is already 4 years old and around 1.2 meters tall, but no support pole. I wanted to put a support pole in but do I have to wait until re-potting to put it in? Or is there a way to insert it without damaging the roots?
If I need to wait for re-potting, when do you know a good time to do the re-potting?
And also do you recommend doing a moss pole, or does bamboo poles work just as well?
Hi Cassidy! I'm glad you enjoyed the post! You can really do either way...if you put in a post now and it breaks a couple roots, it's no big deal. However, if the plant needs to be repotted, I would wait until later winter/early Spring. This is a great time to repot because the plant should be starting to wake up and grow more. You can use a variety of posts. The important part is to have one that is stable and not wobbling around. That's why I like my bamboo tripod. Just make sure you get really sturdy ones. Hope this helps.
Hello! My friend gave me a cutting with roots and successfully pot it. But as it grows, I noticed that I only have one main stem and its almost 3ft tall now. Most of the pictures that I see online have several branches stemming out from the soil/ground. I 'm wondering what I am doing wrong. 🙁
Hi Joanna. First of all, nice job in being able to grow it to 3ft tall! Secondly, you are not doing anything wrong at all. In the pictures that you see online, the vast majority of those plants were probably purchased that way. When they propagated those plants, they placed several vines in one pot. If you want a fuller plant in general (this goes for many plants), you have to put several cuttings together in one pot instead of just one and letting it grow. You will be waiting a very long time otherwise. Hope this helps!
Hello, i have had the same issue and tried what you suggested. Is it possible that the main plant gets all the water and nutrients? My (already rooted) cuttings didn't get to settle in with in the main pot... maybe I'm just paranoid... can you give me any feedback? thanks!!!
Hi Laura, I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you said that you tried what I said. Can you tell me exactly what you tried?
I have a question for you! An entire, massive branch broke off of my monsters plant in my backyard. Is it salvageable?? It’s at least 6’ tall with 7 or 8 huge leaves.
Oh my! That's quite a large "cutting" 🙂 It will probably grow if you plant it. Expect some shock though, but I'm sure it will probably grow! Can you plant it somewhere? I assume it has some aerial roots?
Hello,
I have had a monstera for a anumber of years and it was doing very well. Just in the last few weeks it has developed some crispy brown spots around the edges of some of the biggest leaves and some funny texture on a few of the leaves. I don't think I changed anything but wonder if it's having trouble adjusting to less light in the fall. It is a few feet from a western window in Victoria, Bc (or about the same latitude as Seattle). It is not in a pot with a drainage hole....I know this your #1 rule....but it has been in this pot for a while (over a year), I am very careful about watering only when top 1-2 inches are dry. Perhaps I should repot it to a pot with a hole and fresh soil? I fertilize diluted all summer. I can't figure out what has gone wrong. Would love your help!
Hi Amy. I would need to see pictures and ask a lot more questions to be able to help more. I'm sure your days are short and dark now in BC. I'm wondering if your plant is now pretty root bound as well, depending on how much it has grown and how big the pot is. Watering practices have a lot to do with houseplant health, and it is difficult when you don't have a drainage hole. I have a blog post on brown, crispy leaves that might interest you and you might gain some insight from: https://www.ohiotropics.com/2019/03/31/plant-leaves-brown-and-crispy/
Hi Raffaele, great site, a lot of information. Please help me with a piece of advise... I have purchased 2 Monstera few weeks back and I have also place them in new pots soon after. I used standard soil from shop. Soon after, leaves have started to became black around the edges and continue to turn like this one by one. I water them once a week with water from fish tank, only if the top soil is a bit dry. I own a lot of plants, black leaves never happen to my plants, so I do not know what is wrong with these 2 new ones. Thank you.
Hi Andreea! Can you please email me some photos? theohiotropics@gmail.com
Thanks for this! Been wanting a Monstera for a while now and this will be a great help xx
Hi Shaun! I'm glad you enjoyed the blog post! I hope you find your very own Monstera deliciosa soon. They're amazing plants!
It sure does! I have a fairly large monstera, and it's growing beautifully. I'm going to order the bamboo stakes. So, I should just loosely tie it? Thanks for the great info!