The fruits of Monstera deliciosa are supposed to be edible only when they are very ripe. Supposedly when the 'scales' lift up off the fruit. Does anyone have experience with this?

I want to try it when ripe but am a little intimidated because if one eats it before fully ripe it can be very irritating due to the potassium oxylate??

~Sjn

Yep someone posted their fruit on FB...must be fruiting time of year. This whole "eating" thing is new to me. good luck.

http://www.eattheweeds.com/ceriman-delicious-monster/

Thank you for that link, writersblock :) The whole thought of edible and toxic in one sentence is scary lol. I believe they have to be very very ripe to the point the scales are falling off not to be irritating to the mouth. I plan to try it whenever that may be. Right now it still looks the same. It is at the very front of the gh and I can't move it. It gets colder near the front because thats where the 'door' is. I am sure the plant will be fine but the fruit, who knows,lol.

Look at the fruit and you can see it's covered in those green scales. The edible part is under those scales, but only edible when those scales are lifting off. The flesh becomes a bit soft like the flesh of a ripening banana. It starts at one end of the fruit so you can say it's a "progressive meal". You need to eat it as it ripens and not all at once. The taste is a bit like a mix of pineapple, bananas, sort of a tropical fruit salad, which is where it gets one of its common names from: Fruit Salad Plant. I've eaten plenty of them but the novelty tends to wear off and the tedium of dealing with the way they ripen makes them less interesting. It's not really all that toxic, more of an irritant, unless you force the green scales off and start eating the hard flesh before it's softened.

It needs to ripen on the plant. Meaning you have to go out every day, take a knee and nibble on just the ripe part of the fruit. Lmao just kidding. that would be funny though.

I have eaten them they are great. Tropicbreezent is right that is exactly how you do it. Give it a try you will not be disappointed with flavor.

So Sultry did you ever try the fruit?

I had no idea that you could eat the fruit from a philodendron ... I learn something new every day. Beautiful fruit and interesting article from Green Deane. So are all Monstera fruit edible or just the Monstera deliciosa.

Keep in mind it's not a Philodendron, there's no Philo fruit that I've heard you can eat.

All I had to go by was a brief internet search and all the references I saw list Monstera deliciosa's common name as split leaf philodendron. Another good example of why I try to teach people to learn the botanical names of plants rather than just the common.

No I haven't tried it yet. It doesn't look ripe yet. It is right by my Starfruit tree in the front of the greenhouse and upon inspecting the monstera fruit the other day, I looked up and saw 6 starfruit. Yeah! The Starfruits sure do blend in with the leaves!

So it's been over a month ... I wonder how long it will take to ripen. Congratulations on your star fruit! :) Post a picture if you get a chance. I've always wanted to try to grow those.

I checked it again the other day and it hasn't done much. I wonder if its because its winter. Even though its in the gh I only heat it minimally and its by the front door area.

For me, every heat-loving plant/vegetable is going slower than usual this winter. I presume because of the weather. I have pepper seedlings that should be two or three inches high by now and they're just getting the first real leaves, for example.