Houseplants: Monstera

By shauna dobbie

Sometimes a plant captures the collective imagination. Right now, that plant is Monstera deliciosa, sometimes called Swiss cheese plant. It’s sometimes called Swiss cheese plant because the leaves on an older plant have holes in them. (They don’t develop holes but leaves on an older plant will grow with holes; don’t worry, it means it’s healthy.)

Although it has a reputation for being difficult to grow, monstera is an easy plant as long as you fulfill a couple of basic requirements: bright but not direct light and above average humidity.

Bright light means it should be in a room with a big window. If the window is south facing, keep the plant out of direct sunlight. You can do this by placing it away from the window or using sheer curtains. This plant’s natural home is at the bottom of the jungle and direct sunlight will burn its leaves.

At the same time, they are climbers and put out aerial roots, looking for a tree or rock to hook onto. Your monstera will be happiest having a trellis to climb up, but it will not be unhappy with nothing to climb. They grow quite husky without climbing and if you have room, go for it. Now, husky means five feet wide, so plan accordingly. When climbing, a healthy plant will get to be about three feet wide.

The aerial roots on a monstera aren’t cute little tendrils; they grow into big fat cords. In fact, the aerial roots have been used as ropes. The roots are for use in the jungle if the plant becomes an epiphyte, or an air plant. It grows up a tree, raising the plant out of the soil. At this point, the aerial roots will take in water and nourishment from the air rather than the ground, though the roots can easily grow all the way to the ground to suck water and nutrients out of it again. Don’t worry about this happening in your house, though. There isn’t enough heat and moisture.

The amount of humidity required is always a problem for indoor plants from Alberta through Quebec. Our houses in winter will never provide enough. A pot of water near the plant

The Mosterera plant is known for it’s “Swiss cheese” leaves. will help. Spritz your big beautiful brute a few times a week for a treat.

Your monstera will require cleaning periodically to keep dust off the leaves. Use a soft, damp cloth and gently wipe. Keeping the plant dust-free will enable it to take in more light.

In the jungle, monsteras will flower and fruit, but that isn’t likely to happen indoors. The fruit is Mexican breadfruit (not the kind of breadfruit available in the Philippines) and tastes like fruit salad. In the jungle it takes over a year to go from flower to ripe fruit and monsteras don’t fruit very often. In your living room, the plant probably won’t even bloom.

On the topic of fruit, beware: except for the ripe fruit, the plant is poisonous to humans and pets.

This plant grows fast, so you’ll need to repot it every two or three years, though it does like to grow in a small pot for its size. When you repot, use a rich, loose mixture. You can add extra peat moss or perlite if you’re feeling crafty.

You can divide your monstera if you like. Cut the stems apart at the bottom, making sure each piece has root on it, and replant. You can also propagate from cuttings of the leaves. Cut a leaf with an aerial root just below a node and put it in water. After a few weeks, more roots should appear. A couple of varieties of monstera have come to market: Monstera variegata has leaves splashed with ivory and green. Monstera adansonii is smaller, with more pronounced holes. Monstera obliqua, very difficult to find, is about the size of M. adansonii, but the holes are extremely large and the leaves paper-thin. Monstera pinnatipartitia is like M. deliciosa, but the leaves have slits that go to the edge rather than holes. Monstera dubia doesn’t look like other monsteras. As a young plant, it has small heart-shaped leaves of emerald green along the veining but lighter colour elsewhere. The leaves “shingle” against a post, growing flat against it. In the jungle, mature leaves can grow to four feet! d