Monstera care
Hello plant people! I just got this beauty as a gift.. how do I care for her in order to make her thrive? 🪴 I'll tag some people down below as they've helped me out before, but all sort of advice is welcome #HappyPlants #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #PlantAddict #NewGrowth #Monstera @SuperbRaspfern @stephongreg @MariansOasis @Idplantthat @DreamMachine @Ponytailmom
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Hi El @EatMoreVeggies Congratulations! I am running off to work at the moment, but I’ll share my tips when I get back. I do not use any expensive or fancy ingredients or supplies and I feel like mine are pretty happy. I’ll try to give you a quick run down!
Substrate is:
1/3 coco coir
1/3 perlite
1/3 orchid bark
And I fertilize weakly for most waterings with Superthrive Foliage Pro, except during winter rest.
That’s it. I do not add anything else to the mix because otherwise it can get quite complicated.
Monstera’s have a front and a back side so you don’t want to rotate them, otherwise you’ll have wonky growth. My monsteras spend all day peeping out the window, while I look at their backsides 😅 If you see the internodal space (the space on the stem between each petiole) lengthening more than a few finger widths, they are looking for more light.
Ack, okay, I gotta go but be back later ✌️
Substrate is:
1/3 coco coir
1/3 perlite
1/3 orchid bark
And I fertilize weakly for most waterings with Superthrive Foliage Pro, except during winter rest.
That’s it. I do not add anything else to the mix because otherwise it can get quite complicated.
Monstera’s have a front and a back side so you don’t want to rotate them, otherwise you’ll have wonky growth. My monsteras spend all day peeping out the window, while I look at their backsides 😅 If you see the internodal space (the space on the stem between each petiole) lengthening more than a few finger widths, they are looking for more light.
Ack, okay, I gotta go but be back later ✌️
@Idplantthat dont forget i am Brand Ambassador for Mollys soilless Aroid plant mixes!! Text me for discount code!! This is exactly the soil shes speaking of & i not only use it for my Monsteras (i have every type--except Burle Marx, not a fan) lol & it is perfect for all otger than propping (that takes moss & perlite) but we do have Orchid & Succulent/Cacti mix as well. I wouldnt use any other! Feel free to check out all my Monsteras in my Oasis if u like (even my Dubia shingle plant!!) btw, shes a beauty so u r off to a good start!!!
Well-draining soil. Let it dry out between waterings; the leaves will start to lose turgor pressure when it gets super thirsty and it will start to look a bit limp (so that is a sign that it needs water ASAP). The WORST thing you can do here is overwater it, because it will rot easily from overwatering (hence the need for well-draining soil). Do not spray the leaves with stuff, they use them to do things like regulate gas exchange and exude excess water (and any sort of water/liquid on a newly emerging leaf that hasn’t hardened yet will rot it). Do not cut leaves unless they are totally yellow / indicate that it’s finished reabsorbing all the nutrients from the leaf, it’s normal for it to once in a while discard its oldest/bottom-most leaf; cutting green/healthy leaves will generally cause it to revert its growth for a while because it has to rebuild the nutrient stores and photosynthesizing tissues it lost when its leaf was cut.
When repotting, try to not go more than 1-2” larger than the root ball, because the more soil in the pot, the slower it dries out (which increases the likelihood of it rotting).
You *do not* need a moss pole (they are an expensive maintenance burden and can get pretty gross), a monstera will grow straighter as long as it feels itself resting against literally anything and is getting enough light (if it doesn’t have enough light it will stretch hard to grow toward better light sources)… I use circular garden garden stakes that interlock, and they cost me like $11
These are not difficult to grow, just don’t overwater.
When repotting, try to not go more than 1-2” larger than the root ball, because the more soil in the pot, the slower it dries out (which increases the likelihood of it rotting).
You *do not* need a moss pole (they are an expensive maintenance burden and can get pretty gross), a monstera will grow straighter as long as it feels itself resting against literally anything and is getting enough light (if it doesn’t have enough light it will stretch hard to grow toward better light sources)… I use circular garden garden stakes that interlock, and they cost me like $11
These are not difficult to grow, just don’t overwater.
Not much to add, Nadia @DreamMachine and Aly @smushface pretty much covered everything! But I'd be remiss if I didn't share the finger drawing I made on my iPhone a while back. In case you get sick of looking at those realistic photos Nadia shared and think to yourself, "I'd really prefer the hastily scrawled artwork of a kindergartner" 🤓
@DreamMachine i agree w/Nadia, tho since being Brand Ambassador for Mollys Arpid soilless plant mix, i lean towards mine!! Lol. Contact me for discount code!
@stephongreg 😂😂 oh, but hey! I like yours because you included where to tie on 👍 👌 I see so many petioles tied off to poles everywhere (guaranteed to see on FB marketplace). And that’s actually a good point to mention too, @EatMoreVeggies , the individual leaves can and do move, so if you do go for a pole or support of some kind that you can attach to, you only want to tie the stem to the pole/support.
And while I do sometimes recommend what Aly @smushface said, upping the pot size only an inch or two for some plants, I’ve actually found my monsteras *need* more than that, unless I want to up-pot every 6 months (I don’t 😅). I think it will depend on your conditions. If you find very vigorous root growth, like mine, I’d say; go bigger and see. If not, stay with that 1-2in/2.5-5cm recommendation.
For example, this is my Thai con. I believe I repotted him this February and I went for a pot 2 in/5 cm bigger, and now repotting him again is not immanent, but sooner than I’d like.
EDIT: I had to check, I repotted him Feb 24 😵💫 So it has taken him roughly four months to get to this state. Holy moly
And while I do sometimes recommend what Aly @smushface said, upping the pot size only an inch or two for some plants, I’ve actually found my monsteras *need* more than that, unless I want to up-pot every 6 months (I don’t 😅). I think it will depend on your conditions. If you find very vigorous root growth, like mine, I’d say; go bigger and see. If not, stay with that 1-2in/2.5-5cm recommendation.
For example, this is my Thai con. I believe I repotted him this February and I went for a pot 2 in/5 cm bigger, and now repotting him again is not immanent, but sooner than I’d like.
EDIT: I had to check, I repotted him Feb 24 😵💫 So it has taken him roughly four months to get to this state. Holy moly
@DreamMachine your criticism is fair, and I did recently repot my BMF in a much larger pot but I have been monitoring its moisture levels closely so it stays in the moist-to-dry range but not wet (my deliciosa, on the other hand, is probably rootbound AF, but I also want to keep it smaller/fuller because of my space limitations). So I definitely agree they can be potted in a larger pot, the reason I recommend potting them smaller is that people asking these types of questions (or reading them for information) are at higher risk of overwatering their monstera so it’s safer to tell them to repot small so they can dry out quicker. When there is a ton of room for root growth they might also slow the cadence of their leaf growth, and a lot of people get really anxious thinking it’s doing poorly after its repot when it’s just focusing on expanding its root network for a bit
@DreamMachine haha, I love that screenshot and keep it as a reminder that this stuff has grown in imperfect conditions in nature for time immemorial (and been stronger for it), and in our desire to be good plant parents it’s easy to overcomplicate things… I also try to be cognizant of that not everybody has a lot of expendable income to invest in plants, and I think there are a lot of voices making people feel like their plant will die if they don’t spend $100-200 buying 17 must-have things and devoting an hour of their time they probably don’t have treating their plant in a specific way (and I get the desire to want to share the thing that one thinks is the best way to do something, but a lot of the advice that gets repeated is rooted in someone who is selling something or has some other financial incentive to constantly churn out new content). When plant ownership is made to feel difficult, more often than not people become more likely to just give up on their plant as soon as they feel like something is not right.
@smushface
Dang it, Greg just ate my response to you. Well if you get two slightly varied ones, you’ll know why 🤷♀️
oh yes, I quite understand and your reasoning is sound 😄 It wasn’t meant to be criticism though! Only what I have found, anecdotally, with my own plants, because I remember getting hung up on what I thought were rules, when really I should have taken them as guidelines. Especially since we have such varying conditions! e.g. I was stumped for a while when all of my plants were unhappy in a substrate I made, following a plant person from Texas’ recipe, when I live in the wet, cool PNW 🙄 So, yes, your advice is solid and good advice, so maybe you can just picture me, if you will, the annoying person in the back whispering, “but you can always test it too!” 🤫
I don’t know if that makes any sense. I am up late, on Greg, because of all the freedom explosions in my neighborhood. 😵💫🎆🥱 It’s wonderful. Who needs sleep?
And I 💯 agree with not overcomplicating plant care. I forgot what I said here before. But they can grow in a shoe filled with garbage for goodness sake.
Dang it, Greg just ate my response to you. Well if you get two slightly varied ones, you’ll know why 🤷♀️
oh yes, I quite understand and your reasoning is sound 😄 It wasn’t meant to be criticism though! Only what I have found, anecdotally, with my own plants, because I remember getting hung up on what I thought were rules, when really I should have taken them as guidelines. Especially since we have such varying conditions! e.g. I was stumped for a while when all of my plants were unhappy in a substrate I made, following a plant person from Texas’ recipe, when I live in the wet, cool PNW 🙄 So, yes, your advice is solid and good advice, so maybe you can just picture me, if you will, the annoying person in the back whispering, “but you can always test it too!” 🤫
I don’t know if that makes any sense. I am up late, on Greg, because of all the freedom explosions in my neighborhood. 😵💫🎆🥱 It’s wonderful. Who needs sleep?
And I 💯 agree with not overcomplicating plant care. I forgot what I said here before. But they can grow in a shoe filled with garbage for goodness sake.
@DreamMachine @Idplantthat @smushface @stephongreg @BuffCaperspurge @MariansOasis well, I’m amazed by the amount of responses I got! Thank you all very much for all the infos and congrats to those whose monsteras look fab 🪴 i’ll note down your tips and try to let her thrive! Updates will follow if everything goes well!
@EatMoreVeggies please do it. Keep posted! We are a supportive community here and love to see the progress 🥰
@EatMoreVeggies No advice to add 🙂 Enjoy your beautiful new plant, and please tag us all in your updates!
