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Before your Monstera’s growing season, in the spring and early summer, pruning should be done. By doing so, you can guarantee that it will have the energy to quickly mend any wounds that have been produced, thereby reducing the risk of infection or pest invasion.
Gather your tools and materials before pruning your Monstera. You will require a pair of sterilizing tools and clean, sharp shears. There are other alternatives to the bleach mixture I advise, though.
The procedure is easy once you’re prepared: Determine which areas of the Monstera require trimming. It is safe to remove any scant or damaged growth. Make a plan before you begin to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
After selecting the stems that require trimming, follow them back to the primary stem or node. Cutting it at a little angle can prevent infection from spreading to the main stem, which could kill the plant.
Although a serious response is unlikely, you might want to wear gloves when working with the Monstera. Due to a substance called calcium oxalate that Monsteras manufacture, the sap has the potential to irritate the skin. If you are handling something without gloves, make sure to thoroughly wash your hands.
How can I make my lanky Monstera plant better?
Like all plants, a Monstera deliciosa can become sparse and lanky from a lack of sunshine. The issue itself is simple to identify, but how can you put a stop to it? How do you mend a Monstera that is “leggy” and what does that mean?
When a Monstera doesn’t receive enough light, it becomes leggy and becomes elongated and sparse. Once a leggy Monstera has been identified, it can be treated by cutting back the leggy growth and making sure the plant continues to receive enough sunshine going ahead.
It can be frightening whenever your plant starts to appear less than healthy. Leggy, fortunately, is a simple problem to resolve. So don’t be afraid! Continue reading to learn what the issue is, how to resolve it, what kind of light a Monstera requires, and how to accommodate Monsteras in low-light conditions.
How do I get my Monstera to grow more bushes?
As long as it’s actively developing, monstera deliciosa can be easily propagated at any time of the year. They make excellent propagation candidates because of how quickly they develop, making it possible to give them to friends or add more plants to your home. There are various ways to spread monstera. This is how:
How to Propagate Your Monstera Plant via Leaf Bud Cuttings
Step 1: Fill a container with fresh all-purpose potting soil large enough to handle three or four cuttings.
Step 2: Take a healthy monstera stem from the mother plant and cut a piece off with a clean, sharp blade. Pick a section of the stem with several leaves.
Step 3: Separate that stem into a number of leaf-containing pieces. Aerial roots may also be affixed to segments.
Step 4: Insert three or four stem segments into a single pot. In the new container, this will produce a bushy, full appearance. Before planting, the stem segments can also be propagated in water for a few weeks. The junction between the leaf and stem is where new growth will appear.
How can I make my Monstera stem thicker?
Although your Monstera is in good health, pruning is necessary to keep it in check. This is a vining plant that resists growing erect, as you have learned as well as Lin has noted. The best and only way to keep a Monstera fuller and more compact is to prune lengthy stems.
Any point on a stem can be trimmed. At that point, new growth will start to appear. Therefore, it is usually advisable to cut back part of the stems to a few inches or less from the pot.
The cuttings that have been clipped off will take root relatively easily when placed in water or another pot.
Can the top of my Monstera be cut off?
Fortunately, trimming a monstera is not too difficult. Since they are a hardy plant, they don’t need to be meticulously pruned. In other words, even if you don’t perform a great job, your plant will probably be alright.
You’ll want to remember a few things, though:
1. Put on gloves. When pruning or propagating your monstera, be sure to use protective gloves because the sap is poisonous and can cause severe skin irritation.
2. Use a tidy, sharp instrument. You can avoid crushing or damaging the stem by using sharp pruning shears or a knife to make the cut. Your plant is also shielded from hazardous microorganisms by clean tools. Bacterial diseases can even spread to your other plants and are difficult to treat. (Protect your monstera from insects, fungi, and bacteria with our Houseplant Leaf Armor!)
Instead of slicing the stem off, just give it a good snip or chop while cutting. The cleanest cut will be made as a result.
3. If you can, prune in the spring, especially if you want to promote growth. Growth spurts occur in the spring and summer for the majority of plants, including monstera. Pruning in the spring will yield the best benefits and hasten the recovery of your plant. You should prune in the spring because that is when your cuttings will grow the fastest if you intend to propagate them.
4. Arrange the slices. Starting at the base of the stem, remove any outdated or diseased leaves.
Cut where you want the plant to grow if you are pruning to promote growth. Make a top cut if you want it to grow higher.
When the time comes to actually trim your monstera, keep in mind that pruning promotes growth so choose where to make your cuts. You can safely reduce the plant’s size if you’re pruning to manage your monstera’s size. Just remember that it will eventually need to be done again because it will grow back.
5. Be sure to cut below a node if you’re propagating. Don’t be concerned if you’re only trimming to reduce the size of your plant or get rid of dead leaves. However, if you want to grow your cuttings from them, make sure that they have a node, which is a tiny knob that develops on the stem opposite a leaf. When your cutting begins to grow, these will subsequently develop into aerial roots!
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6. Prevent unintentional proliferation. When you’re done pruning, be careful to dispose of your cuttings in the trash if you’re not going to propagate them because if you place them in a compost pile or somewhere else where they can root in the earth, they’ll start to grow roots.
I’m done now! Don’t be afraid to prune your monstera; it’s an essential yet easy component of care for this plant. This plant develops rapidly and bounces back quickly from pruning. Good fortune!
What causes my Monstera to topple over?
Due mostly to its spectacular leaves, the Monstera deliciosa (Swiss Cheese Plant) is a common houseplant. Although they are simple to care for, these fellas do have one drawback: if they feel neglected, they have a tendency to pout, which may cause your Monstera leaves to droop. Don’t panic too much. They can quickly be persuaded to recover with a little loving attention.
The most frequent cause of drooping monstera leaves is dehydration. They prefer their soil to always be just moist enough. Other contributing factors include overwatering, poor lighting, issues with fertilizer, pests, or transplant stress. The most crucial step in restoring your plant to health is figuring out what the issue is.
How is Monstera reshaped?
- snips for gardening or wire cutters for ties If you try to cut wire with normal scissors, they will become quite blunt very quickly.)
- green ties
- wooden chopstick or peg (optional)
*Depending on the plant, I have a few options in my plant care kit, including: soft ties, which are thicker with a wire core for flexibility; regular (thin) plant wire; these elasticated bands with “arrows” that I bought at a stationery store; and a velcro roll, which is adjustable and can be cut to size.
Because my grandparents often used old tights (pantyhose) cut into strips for their tomatoes and runner beans, I frequently use them for my outside plants. My nan’s old “pop socks,” which had been replaced or laddered, were chopped up, and I clearly recall putting them in an old (empty) ice cream tub in the greenhouse. These can also be used to indoor plants.
Remember that every plant has a unique “personality” and growth pattern, thus no two monsteras will ever appear the same growing around a support. Working with each plant individually and giving it the best assistance possible will ensure its growth and success.
To begin with, you should determine whether your monstera’s pot has enough space for a support to be added without repotting. Get a trowel and dig a small hole for the support to go into if you aren’t planning to re-pot the plant (if you are using a sphagnum or coir pole). The cane supports can be easily put into the potting mixture if you’re utilizing them.
When repotting a plant, start by removing the soil from around the roots. Next, look for any dry or shriveled roots and trim them off. If your monstera is actually composed of several smaller plants, separate them and arrange them around the coir pole in the pot. This will enable the plant to naturally mould itself around the support.
My large monstera plant is shown in photographs taken from the side, demonstrating how the plant ‘leans up’ on the support, which is placed just off the center of the planter. My plant was trained from a somewhat little specimen, and as a result, it has really begun to encircle the coir pole, making it less noticeable from the front. If you add a support, keep in mind that the shape of your monstera will effect how your plant looks, however they do adjust. I have three monstera plants, and I think this one is the most attractive because the support is so completely hidden by the leaves. This was done on purpose because my plant is next to a wall and over the past few years, all of the leaves had oriented themselves toward the window. Choose a support that will allow your plant to be seen from all sides if it is the focal point of the room. In this case, I would recommend using two U-shaped canes crossed over like an X (each cane at 90 degrees from the other, crossing over in the center of the curve).
Here are some close-ups of the placement of the coir poles from when I repotted my monstera plants last summer, as well as instructions on how to wedge the pole into place using a chopstick or a dolly peg to make it stable.
If you want to learn more about the general repotting procedure, follow the blog post link I provided here.
*I recently repotted all three of these lovely plants, so I’ll put together a post in the upcoming weeks to illustrate how they currently appear.
Make sure the support is inserted deeply enough! With my plants at their current size, I set the coir pole exactly at the base of my pot and then start to re-pot, adding potting soil all around it. Maximum stability will result from this. If required, I use a knife to cut away part of the extra coir to reduce how much of the wooden central pole is covered. I added the extensible sections to the top of the pole while I’m using it, so I shouldn’t have to entirely separate the stems from the coir for a very long time.
Before leaving your monstera unattended, be aware that the support may move somewhat when you water it. The soil naturally moves when the plant is watered, therefore even though the pole is buried deep in the pot, it is inevitable that it too will move slightly. Additionally, as new leaves expand, they can occasionally slightly pull on the coir, causing it to move. It may be held much more securely with the aid of the pegs. I only occasionally correct my plant because it has a tendency to lean.
In the image below, you can observe that not all plants pleasantly cluster around a support. My tiniest monstera plant, it hasn’t really developed into itself yet. I have an idea for what you could do if your plant sprawls out and simply doesn’t seem like it will take to a pole—what that’s I intend to do with mine!
Of course, you could just let it grow naturally, but if you want to give it some support over the long haul, you could train all new stems—which are much more malleable—around the pole as they develop. Although this is a lengthier procedure, some of the older stems that may be growing at an odd angle can be clipped in pairs of leaves+ propagated as the new growth forms around the support.
The stem of my plant, which is visible above, is at such an angle that it would shatter if I attempted to move it. If your plant has this type of development, you might want to cut these stems off in pairs (they tend to root more readily this way; see photo below) and water propagate them (let the cutting grow roots in water). If you’d like your monstera to be fuller, you can replant this cutting around its stem. As an alternative, you might begin to develop a new plant from this cutting and expand your collection of monstera.
Although this monstera adansonii vine is not a monstera deliciosa, I thought I would show you how I used the U support, as you can see below.
I wrapped the stems around the cane without using any ties after untangling them. I want to grow a complete, column-shaped plant for my vanity and will train the middle stems to wrap around the structure as they become bigger. It provides this area of the space a nice sense of height.
Even though I adore my large monstera at its current size, I dug up some earlier pictures of it from 23 years ago to show you how it changed over that period. To see it expand even further, you can look over my Instagram account in the past.
The support for my large monstera is noticeably uneven in these two close-up photos of it in its current location. You can also see that I utilized a variety of ties to hold it in place. I have no plans to move this pole; it has been there for two years. Even my grandfather’s ancient wooden ruler is inside for stability. Even if it appears a little disorganized from the rear, the front view reveals that most of this is hidden.
Maintaining plants is a continuous process of learning for me, in addition to being a patience practice. The process of learning how to take care of plants involves experimentation, trial, and occasionally error. I am aware that many novice houseplant enthusiasts are reluctant to repot their plants or to consider giving their cherished monstera a support. I hope this blog will give you some confidence in how to take care of your plants, and I’m incredibly appreciative of your “support” (pun intended).
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