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 Starting at the base of the stem, remove any outdated or diseased leaves.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!
Should I prune my Monstera’s golden leaves?
Getting Rid of Yellow Leaves While yellowing Monstera plant leaves can be cut off to maintain the plant’s appearance, caution must be exercised when trimming the rest of the plant. To maintain the size and shape of the plant, occasional trimming may be required. It is advisable to avoid taking out more than a third of the entire plant at once.
Yellow Leaves With Black Spots
Act quickly if the leaves on your monstera plant are turning yellow and getting black patches. Your monstera most certainly has root rot, which, if left untreated, can swiftly kill your plant.
Repot your monstera into new soil and a clean pot to treat root rot. Remove as much soil as you can from the root ball, and then cut off any rotten roots. Make sure the soil and new pot both drain well.
Once your plant has been repotted, put it in a location with plenty of bright, indirect sunshine and water it less frequently than normal. Use our Root Supplement when you water to help the roots heal and stop additional infection.
Yellow Leaves With Brown Spots
What if your leaves are browning and turning yellow? Here, the texture and color both play a significant role.
Your plant is likely underwatered if the areas are light brown, dry, or crispy; check to see if the soil is dry.
You should repot your plant as soon as possible if the areas are mushy and dark brown, as this indicates possible root rot.
You might have a bacterial infection if the spots are dry and more medium brown, however this is uncommon. Yet another thing to think about! Try carefully removing the afflicted leaves using clean hands and tools after ruling out dryness and root rot, then repotting the plant as you would for root rot. That ought to stop the virus from spreading (no pun intended).
Yellow Leaves With Brown Edges
You can have a nutritional shortage if the leaves on your monstera are yellow with crisp, brown edges. Chemical burn from too much fertilizer is another possibility. Finding out when you last fertilized is the best way to tell the difference. A white crust on the soil’s surface may indicate overfertilization and the accumulation of certain minerals in the soil. Here’s how to stop monsteras from overfertilizing.
Check the soil’s moisture content because the plant could also be underwater.
Should I Cut Yellow Leaves Off Monstera?
Yup! When a leaf turns yellow, it no longer benefits your plant and instead becomes a drain, thus your monstera is better off without it. Remove any yellow leaves you spot using clean shears, but first inspect your plant to see whether there’s a problem that needs to be fixed or if this is just a typical, healthy amount of leaf fall.
Where can I find yellow Monstera leaves to cut?
DO NOT CUT OFF THE TOP LEAF OF YOUR MONSTERA AT THE BASE OF THE PETIOLLE IF IT HAS BLACK SPOTS (the stalk that holds the leaf up from the main stem). The top growth point, or terminal bud, is located on the top leaf petiole. The petiole’s side has a bump where the subsequent leaf will develop if you look attentively. Leave the stalk intact and only remove the leaf, allowing your Monstera’s new growth to continue to grow.
It has already generated a new leaf from its petiole for a lower leaf. A lower leaf’s connection to the main stem can be safely severed at the bottom of the leaf. The petiole may eventually die and fall off the stem if you leave some of it connected.
Monsteras with most leaves dead
Cutting off an excessive number of leaves at once can be harmful to a Monstera plant’s ability to recuperate if the bulk of the leaves are damaged. Keep any leaves with healthy green sections since plants require them to photosynthesize. To allow the plant to continue making energy from the remaining green leaves, first only remove the leaves that are the most severely injured or completely dead. If the remaining leaves continue to deteriorate, you can remove them later.
It’s still possible to rescue your plant even if all of its leaves are dead. An axillary bud, also known as a lateral bud, will activate and branch off to create a new leaf as long as the stem and roots stay in good condition. To activate several buds, you can also cut and propagate your Monstera as stem cuttings. This method should only be used as a last resort because it will be extremely slow without leaves.
Do I need to remove the injured Monstera leaves?
Monsteras are vulnerable to mechanical damage, which is physical harm to the leaf that is typically brought on by someone bumping into it, running into it, pinching it when it is being moved, or in my case, something else entirely (when a dog toy was actually thrown into it).
Your plant’s leaves will be a little more sensitive and more prone to damage if it isn’t handled very gently if it isn’t getting quite enough humidity.
Fortunately, this kind of damage is primarily cosmetic and won’t harm your plant’s general health.
Your Monstera leaf will typically have tears or rips from mechanical damage. The wounds will be brown and appear to have “healed” over, and they can happen in the center of the foliage or near the margins.
If the wounds, holes, or marks are similar in appearance and equally spaced out, you may easily detect this type of damage.
Typically, this will show up as a few quite uniform lines or holes.
If the air is excessively dry, especially if it’s adjacent to a drafty area in your home or if a fan is blowing too closely, leaves might also start to crack.
Due to their size, Monstera leaves are frequently brushed against or stepped on by accident.
These brown tears in the leaves could indicate that your Monstera is being eaten. However, this is probably mechanical damage if they are arranged in a square or symmetrical arrangement.
Keep it in an area of your home where it won’t be bumped and where the leaves aren’t touching any walls.
What to Do With Ripped Leaves
It is entirely up to you as to what to do with a Monstera leaf that has mechanical damage. Keeping the plant whole will not hurt it because it can still photosynthesize.
But you can clip it off at the stem if it begins to wither or appears unattractive. If there is a node, it would be ideal to make a clean cut beneath the node and attempt to disseminate the injured leaf.
Since Monsteras are among the easiest plants to cultivate, you shouldn’t worry about pruning a stem here and there. In fact, you might see more growth after removing a few stems.
Make sure there isn’t a new leaf emerging on the same stem before you remove a damaged leaf. If so, don’t clip the leaf until it has fully unfolded.
These rips and tears won’t actually mend and disappear; instead, they’ll only turn into scars on the leaves.
You can cut off the ripped portion of the leaf if it has torn but is still holding on, and the remaining portion of the leaf will just scab over and heal.
Can I chop yellow leaves?
Do I need to remove the yellow leaves? It varies. It’s acceptable to remove any yellow leaves that you find unsightly or bothersome. However, it is not required. Finding the issue and repairing it is preferable if you have a lot of yellow leaves, which could be caused by overwatering or inadequate sunshine.
Can leaves heal on their own? No, leaves from broken or split houseplants never heal. If you remove the damaged leaves or wait until they fall off, your plant will produce new ones to replace the ones that were harmed. After receiving enough water or fertilizer (or whatever it is they are lacking that is causing them to droop), drooping leaves may recover.
Can yellow leaves revert to green?
Yellow leaves are beautiful in the autumn on trees like gingko and quaking aspens. However, if you notice a large number of them on your fern, green-leafed pothos, or other indoor plants, it can be a concerning sight. However, it’s not always a terrible thing.
All year long, tropical plants maintain their leaves. But the life cycle of houseplant leaves exists (like all living things). Each leaf ages, gets yellow, and eventually dies. It’s not a problem if one or two leaves are yellow. However, if several leaves start to turn yellow, it’s time to intervene.
The most frequent causes of yellowing leaves are inconsistent watering (either too much or too little) or improper illumination (too much, too little). You must determine the cause of the issue in order to prevent other leaves from becoming yellow. Learn more about additional reasons why leaves could yellow.
Usually, when a leaf on a houseplant turns yellow, it is about to die. A leaf’s green tint is caused by chlorophyll. The plant abandons the leaf after it stops producing chlorophyll and starts utilizing any remaining nutrients in the leaf. Because of this, you usually can’t convert a leaf back to green once it turns yellow. (However, in instances of nutrient deficits, yellow leaf color occasionally becomes green again with therapy.)
There are numerous types of plants that naturally produce leaves with splashes and streaks of yellow. Variegation is what we refer to as when this occurs in healthy plants. When plants are exposed to more light, variegation may appear brighter.
Conclusion: It’s not necessary to panic if a few leaves turn yellow. The yellow leaf is like a warning light, therefore you should pay attention to it. It might be a normal shedding process or it might be an indication that something is wrong.
How can the yellow Monstera be saved?
Inappropriate soil moisture, particularly overwatering, is the most frequent cause of yellowing leaves in Monsteras. Whenever the top 2-3 inches of soil are dry, water your Monstera only then. The soil must be kept moist but not drenched. You can wait a little bit longer between waterings during the winter.
When watering, be sure to use enough water so that liquid runs into the saucer from the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot. It’s crucial to remove any extra water from the saucer since your Monstera won’t do well with “wet feet,” which leads to the rot of the roots and the eventual death of the plant.
In order to properly and consistently care for a Monstera, the soil must be adequately hydrated. Your Monstera may become stressed and become yellow if it alternates between incredibly dry and wet soil as a result of inefficient watering.
Low humidity and dry soil lead leaves to first turn brown on the edges before eventually turning completely yellow. The humidity will rise if you mist your Monstera plant’s leaves frequently.
In general, Monsteras do well in indirect light that ranges from low to bright. The foliage will burn if exposed to direct sunlight for an extended period of time. Monsteras can tolerate low light levels, although their growth will be slower. Yellowing leaves can be a sign of insufficient light. Move in accordance with the amount of light that your Monstera is receiving.
Monstera that are stressed or weaker are more prone to bug infestations. Spider mites and other sap-sucking insects can dehydrate your plant. Leaflets and fronds quickly start to yellow as a result of this issue. In an interior environment, scale, mealybugs, and spider mites are usually present. These tiny pests multiply and travel into nooks and crannies along frond portions if they are not eliminated at an early stage. The insects’ piercing jaws fatigue your plant and hasten yellowing, particularly if your Monstera is already unwell due to inadequate lighting, nutrient inadequacy, or insufficient soil moisture.
Are you seeing fresh growth on your Monstera? This yellowing is normal if your plant is experiencing new development and the yellowing leaves are older, especially near the base of the plant. Old leaves on your plant are shed, and new growth is energized.