Cecelia
- Feb 20, 2021
- 7 min read

How To: Monstera Deliciosa Care

When talking about plant care, I always like to look to the natural habitat of the plant for a basic understanding of what it likes. They grow natively in southern Mexico, Panama, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala. They have been introduced to Hawaii, Seychelles, Ascension Island and the Society Islands and grow there as a semi-invasive species. It's a beautiful plant with dramatic looks, but the chill personality of a golden retriever.

Their life cycle starts as a seed, which grows towards the darkest area (this is a phenomenon called negative phototropism) it can find until it finds a tree, which it then climbs. Monstera is actually an epiphytic vine, which is why it grows aerial roots. They anchor onto trees and support the plant as it grows its way up, reaching for the light dappling through the forest canopy. They start off with small, heart-shaped leaves that lack fenestrations (the "rips" and holes in the leaves). At the seedling stage of their lives, they are often confused for the heartleaf philodendron. As they grow older and larger, they gradually begin producing leaves with more and more fenestrations - the older the plant, the bigger and more fenestrated the leaves are. For monsteras grown indoors, it's good to know that a monstera that isn't given enough light won't grow leaves with fenestrations.

The name Monstera deliciosa can be broken down into two parts. "Monstera", meaning monstrous, refers to just how big this plant can grow. The "deliciosa"

translates to delicious, because of the edible fruit it can produce. The fruit can get up to 25 centimetres (that's 10 inches) long and takes more than a year to ripen. It apparently tastes something like coconut/banana/pineapple. I've never tasted one, but if you have, let me know!

Unfortunately, monstera is unlikely to fruit when grown as a houseplant as conditions are rarely ideal for it. I'll never say never, because it does happen, and it's a great reward when it does.

INDOOR GROWING

So now that we've talked about nature, let's talk about what it tells us - what does a monstera that's grown indoors like?

Light Requirements - Monstera is often marketed as being "low light tolerant" which is a fancy way of saying that it won't die immediately in low light, it suffers prettily. Monsteras prefer bright, indirect light. The same type that it would get if bright sunlight were to be

filtered through the canopy of a tree. In our homes, that means that it wants to be fairly close to a window. You'll know if your monstera needs more light if new leaves come out very very pale, almost white (keep in mind that new growth will be lighter than older leaves, what I'm talking about is even lighter than that). Another signal it gives to tell you that it needs brighter light is if it stops producing fenestrations, or doesn't produce fenestrated leaves at all in its adolescent stage. It may even produce leggy growth.

So where should you place it? Generally, a couple of feet back from south, west, or eastern facing window is ideal. If all you have are north-facing windows, that's ok, just get your monstera right up in your window's personal space. If you do nothing else for your plants, make sure they have the right lighting.

Environment - Monsteras prefer a warm, humid place to grow. Again, they are native to tropical regions and though they won't die in normal household humidity, if you live in an arid climate it might be wise to get a humidifier. I live on the west coast of Canada, and my regular household temperature and humidity have been just fine for it.

Soil - Deliciosa tends to like a well-draining soil mix. My favourite soil concoction is Two parts soil, one part orchid bark mix, and one part perlite. You could absolutely throw some cactus mix in there in place of the orchid bark if that's more accessible to you. They aren't super picky, but we want to give our plants the best possible conditions for growth. This soil mixture can be used for many of your tropical plants.

Watering Needs - Monsteras like soil that is lightly moist. As epiphytes, they are sensitive to overwatering and prefer to dry out slightly in between waterings. Always check your soil to see if it needs watering before doing so - remember, root rot is the #1 killer of plants. Watering frequency will depend on the size of the pot, soil composition, environmental factors, and the size of the plant itself. I let mine dry out a little between waterings, and then give them a good, deep soak. Generally speaking, once the top 1-4 inches (depending on the size of the pot/plant. If you have a 4' pot, 1' of dry soil is enough. If it's in a 10' pot you may want to wait until the top 2 or 3 inches are dry) of soil is dry, it's time to water.

Fertilizing - Houseplants, in general, thrive when fertilized in the growing season which is spring through fall. With monsteras, once a month with a balanced fertilizer is usually adequate. If your plant is freshly repotted, you may not need to fertilize for a few months as most commercially available soils have fertilizer built into them. Check the bag you use for directions. If you fertilize too much or too often, there is a risk of fertilizer burn. To avoid this, follow the directions that come with your products, and make sure that when you water the plant, you see water coming out of the bottom drainage holes in your pot. If you bottom water, I recommend top watering once a month or so to flush out any buildup of salts in the soil.

Maintenance - Monsteras, like all plants, grow toward the light, remember to rotate them periodically if you want even growth on all sides. I usually do this once a month, when I go to wipe them down. They have big dust-collecting leaves and will need to be dusted off so they can photosynthesize properly. This practice also gives us the chance to give the plant a good once-over. I like to check for pests. Though monstera is fairly pest resistant, they can be prone to mealybugs and thrips).

Repotting - There is no hard and fast rule for repotting, it is dependant on how quickly your plant is growing. Generally, every 18 - 24 months in spring or summer is a good rule of thumb, but it could be sooner. If you see roots coming out of the bottom of the pot, that's a pretty good indicator that the plant needs to be potted up. Don't choose a pot too much larger than the one the plant is currently in, a 2-4 inch difference is enough. A pot that is too large will have more potting medium in it and will retain too much moisture, potentially leading to root rot.

If you want to keep it in the same pot, but the root ball is too large, you can always (if there are multiple plants in one pot) separate the plants into separate pots. If it's just the one plant, you could trim back the root system a little bit, and take off some of the leaves. Remember that the root system needs to be adequate to support the amount of foliage that the plant has, so make your cuts count.

Lastly, make sure to give your monstera a drink after it's in its new home. A good watering will help to settle the soil a little bit and help with transplant shock.

How Big Will It Get? - In nature, monsters grow to be absolutely huge. Grown indoors their size is dependant on how much light we give them, how much space they have to grow, and how big a pot we are eventually able to put them in. We've all seen big monsteras on Instagram, they seem to max out their growth at around 9 feet. That may be due to the fact that most of us don't have a large chunk of our homes to dedicate to one single plant.

Support - We know that monster is a climbing vine. When it gets big enough, you may want to support it with a stake or a moss pole. Moss poles are fairly easy to DIY, but are also sold online everywhere from Amazon to Etsy.

Aerial Roots - As your plant matures, you'll notice ropey brown growths coming off it. Those are aerial roots, and they're a good thing. In nature, they anchor the plant to the tree it's growing up. You can cut them off if you really want to

but they are there for a reason. When they're long enough, I recommend tucking them into the soil so that they can support growth like they're meant to.

Yellow Leaves - yellow leaves typically happen for one of three reasons: under watering, overwatering or age. You may have a good sense of what is going on with your plant already, but if you don't, here are some visual cues that may help.

The leaf is fully yellow, and there is some brown crispiness on other leaves. Your plant may be underwatered. That yellowing could be the plant pulling nutrients from a leaf to redistribute to the rest of the plant. The crispiness could be dehydration.

The leaf has brown/black spots, is yellowing around the edges, and is droopy or flaccid. This is overwatering, and very probably root rot. If the soil is wet or completely saturated it is a good idea to change the soil. Plants that are left in wet soil for too long almost always develop root rot.

If you notice that the soil smells bad or that the roots are mushy when you go to repot it, it's root rot. Time to propagate that plant back to health! Remember to sanitize your shears before making any cuts to the plant. 70% isopropyl alcohol is perfect. Luckily, monstera propagates easily in water, and your plant should be looking great again in a couple of months.

Lastly, that leaf could just be done for. It happens, and it's normal. If it's just one leaf that is slowly yellowing then turning brown and dying off, it's likely just the natural life cycle of a leaf. Leaves don't last forever, and that's ok. The oldest leaves will die off first, so if it's one of those don't worry about it.

You can either cut it off with a pair of sanitized shears if the look of it bothers you, or you can let the plant reabsorb the nutrients from the leaf, and cut it off when it's fully dead.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment, or reach out to me directly through the contact form. Happy growing!