I’ve always loved plants and for years I had the brown thumb that seemed to kill them all. I learned the hard way to buy the plants for the environment I have not just the plants I think are pretty. In Florida that means tropical plants that love LOTS of humidity. Thankfully, monstera deliciosa plants love it here.

We purchased our 2 - 3 foot monstera deliciosa from Costa Farms in August of 2023 through Amazon. It arrived with a few damaged leaves, but we didn’t trim them because there weren’t many leaves total. Instead, we waited for three new leaves to arrive before trimming just as many off.

Meet Atticus

I’m not certain the boys know where the name comes from but they asked Alexa for some popular plant names and they liked the sound of Atticus. Personally, I think they like that it makes the plant a boy since some of the names I liked were girl names. Either way, Atticus is the name we all like.

This picture was taken March 21, 2024 (7 months after we got it). You can still see damage from being shipped on two of the lower leaves in front.

Finding the Right Inspiration and Support

Here are a few plant accounts I like following on TikTok. Each posts videos with helpful tips for watering, repotting, and finding the right location in your house for your plant.

Plants with Krystal - She lives in Arizona and has two large monstera deliciosa plants in her living room. She shares how she propagates her plants, including snake plants, succulents, and cacti.
Tanner the Planter - He and his wife life in Oregon and run a plant shop.
The Kristen Kronicles - She lives in Ohio and documents her giant monstera, Gina.

Is there anything better than finding a new leaf coming in?

The Basics

All three accounts above recommend keeping their plants in nursery pots and using a decorative pot with the nursery pot placed gently inside. Drainage holes are important. Here is the decorative pot we purchased for our 2 - 3 foot plant. Also, understanding which times of the year your plant needs more and less water is important. The short answer: the more sun your plant gets, the more often it will need to be watered.

The key here is watering with a decent amount of water more often rather than drowning your plant with each watering. When the days are longer (spring/summer), your plant will need more frequent watering. When the days are shorter (fall/winter), less watering.

Plants should be fed with an appropriate fertilizer once a month during the spring and summer months. Krystal recommends feeding your plants when the mortgage is due. Here is the fertilizer I use for most of my house plants (golden pothos, snake plants, and parlor palms), including my monstera deliciosa.

It also helps to think of the leaves as solar panels. Keeping them clean and helping them not block each other is a great way to support good growth. Also, it’s natural for older leaves to die off. You’ll know these leaves are older by how close they are to the soil on the stem or stalk. When they start to turn yellow or brown, snip them off to allow those nutrients to be used for healthier leaves. Do not make the mistake of watering the plant more.

In the spring/summer months, I water weekly with 28 - 36 ounces, depending on how dry the medium looks and coloring of the leaves. In the fall/winter months, I water every other week.

Your plant needs more water when the leaves seem to equally dull from that deep vibrant green color to a light green color, or when the leaves start to droop and aren’t as plump. Again, watering more frequently, rather than just using more water is better. This way, you don’t encourage fungus gnats and/or root rot.

If you do overwater your plant, the key to healing will be lots of sunlight. This is also true for when your plants go into shock when being repotted. It’s why repotting in the fall/winter months is not recommended.

Finding the Perfect Spot

Our front door and entryway faces east and gets lots of morning light. Our back slider faces west and bathes our living room in afternoon sunlight. Since the monstera is a larger plant that sits on the floor rather than a table, we decided to place it near the slider. In the mornings, I make sure to open all the curtains, including the sheer ones, to give the plants the most unfiltered sunlight possible.

Air Roots

After your plant begins sprouting new leaves, it may begin to lean. To help find more support and establish more structure, it will also begin to sprout air roots. I like to redirect these into the soil when they get close enough. I find as soon as the roots realize they’ve reached the soil, they take off and ground themselves quickly.

Propagating

I’m starting to experiment with propagating my monstera. I’ve had success with my smaller monstera and have learned the trick is trimming so that the nodes are encouraged to sprout roots. Here’s the success I’ve had with the smaller monstera. I’m actually on my second round of cuttings. I also removed the any leaves that would be sitting in the water to avoid rotting.

I trimmed my monstera deliciosa before deciding to try propagation. It did take a lot longer to root, but changing out the water weekly and adding fertilizer after a few weeks did eventually work. The leaves aren’t the best because they were the ones that were damaged during shipping, which is why I originally trimmed them. I’m waiting for new growth before I consider potting them.

Monstera Care