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evrenmiro_forner

Help with my Monstera

3 months ago


Hello there, i was hoping anyone could help me with what’s wrong with my monstera? I water it regularly (although i don’t know how often i’m supposed to water it, i just do it a day or two after the soil is dry), the air quality is good, it has sunlight and the pot is big enough… Help?

Comments (7)

  • 3 months ago

    Take it out of its pot and check the roots.

  • 3 months ago
    last modified: 3 months ago

    All plants like water when they need it, but won't when they don't; and, even plants that live in riparian settings cannot tolerate the cycle from too dry to too wet or from just the right amount of water to too much water. IOW excess water in the pot of virtually any plant grown in a container is courting loss of viability from a fungal infection by any of the several fungi gathered under the umbrella of 'damping off diseases'.

    I notice the pot appears to be resting directly on the carpet, which begs the question, does it have a drain hole/ drain holes through the pot's bottom? If 'no', look there first for whatever ailment you might suspect. You don't mention what signs the plant presents that cause your concern. What you see in a hands-on setting doesn't necessarily we will catch a problem via an uploaded image. If you describe just exactly what your concerns are, if help us winnow away what it's not, which usually leads to a more considered and accurate diagnosis.

    Do check the roots. You'll be looking for 2 things. 1) If the pot really is large enough, the soil will readily fall away from the roots when you lift it from the pot. If the pot is too small, the soil/root mass will come out of the pot as a single mass. When your plant gets to that point, root congestion is already limiting your plant's growth rate and vitality level and needs to be addressed by potting up, or much better, performing a full repot which includes bare-rooting (to the degree possible with a monstera), root pruning, and a change of soil. 2) Smell the roots. They should smell earthly, like the smell of a shovel full of moist garden soil. If they smell sour, especially if their odor is slightly to significantly like rotten eggs (hydrogen sulfide) suspect root rot.

    What have you been doing about fertilizing? With what? when last? Include the product's NPK %s please.

    We still need to know what your concerns are. Slow or no growth? Plant's color? Evidence of insect herbivory? Suspected disease? What are the symptoms that have caused the alarm?

    Al

    Evren Miro Forner thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
  • 3 months ago

    The pot is big enough, i changed about a month ago and it has enough space for the roots to grow. Regarding drainage; there’s a second pot in the ceramic pot made out of plastic which has holes in the bottom for the excess water to “escape”. I don’t actually fertilize it, maybe that’s the problem? I just thought it looked exhausted or so since all the leaves are hanging down and don’t seem to have much strength, but i’ve heard that i just need to stake it.

  • 3 months ago
    last modified: 3 months ago

    bare-rooting (to the degree possible with a monstera)

    @tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a), a curiosity of mine (I don't have a monstera): why is bare-rooting more complicated with monstera?

  • 2 months ago

    Hey! It sounds like you’re doing a lot right with your monstera, but if it’s still not happy, there might be a couple of things to check. First, make sure it’s not getting too much direct sunlight—these plants like bright, indirect light best. Also, watering just after the soil dries out might be a bit too frequent, depending on the humidity in your place. Try letting the top inch of the soil dry out before you water again. Too much water can lead to root rot, which is a common issue. Lastly, even if the pot is big enough, make sure the drainage is good so the water isn’t sitting at the bottom. Hope this helps your monstera perk up!

  • 2 months ago

    The suggestion to water just after the soil dries out is too vague, misleading and will result in severe drought stress. The plant refers copious watering at every watering (so the soil is being flushed to rid it of increasing levels of dissolved solids (salts), which should occur when moisture levels at the bottom of the pot are low but never dry. Watering when the top inch or two of the soil is dry is a recipe for over-watering. Most container media hold from 4-6" of perched water at the bottom of the pot; so, if the top inch or two of the soil feels dry, the bottom 4-6" of the soil column could still be 100% saturated.

    How well a conventional pot drains depends on soil choice, but is significantly affected by pot depth. If a soil holds 4" of perched water at container capacity, after a thorough saturation of the soil the entire soil column will be 100% saturated whenever the pot is 4" deep or less unless the gardener uses watering tricks to reduce the level of saturation - another topic for another time. Over-potting (a pot too large) is cause for concern primarily until roots have colonized the entire column, this, because roots are reluctant to grow into hypoxic (waterlogged or compacted) areas in containers. After that point of full soil colonization by roots the concern re over-potting diminishes as long as watering practices are sound.

    Al