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Best way to grow/support monstera deliciosa?

So I have this monstera that I can already tell it's going to get out of control and quite large. It's a beautiful plant and one of my favorites. I have it on a wooden trellis in a pot now, thought I can tell the trellis won't support it through the summer. I believe it will need re-potted also. Not sure how I will do that. It's quite large and I filled the pot last summer with several cuttings...all of which are growing together in this pot.

My question is what's the best way of supporting this monster? I've seen moss poles suggested, but I just think that will cut it for this plant. It's going to get top-heavy I'm sure. I need a heavy pot also I suppose. Would a metal support work. It's already quite heavy...the plant. How tall should the support be. I know this vine can get rather tall. I'll have to prune it I know. Kyle

P.S. I just bought a variegated monstera that should be here next week. What was I thinking?!

Comments (20)

  • drvongirl
    12 years ago

    Hey Kyle, How about a pic of your monstera??? I would love to see it! Ellen

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  • plantsaremylife_grow
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Toni- I meant to say that a moss pole probably wouldn't cut it as a way of growing it on securely. Sorry about that. I'm afraid a "pole" just wouldn't do a big plant justice! Not to mention the fact that I know it will be top heavy. I'm looking for a support with good sturdy support for the base. Do you think a tripod of some sort would work? It's not an evenly growing plant either. It's lop sided at the moment trying to get to the sun light coming through the window. A summer outside should correct that! Do you have a monstera?

    Ellen- I intend to post a picture of it when I get batteries for our camera. Might you have one to post a picture of? ;) Kyle

  • dellis326 (Danny)
    12 years ago

    M. deliciosa will climb 40 or 50 feet or more if you let them. The leaves can grow larger than a meter long but they probably will not get quite that big in your house. I have one that is only about three feet tall but the largest leaf is 16 - 18 inches long.

    I have an Rhaphidophora (Similar to monstera but asian as opposed to american) climbing a bamboo pole. You could try three (tallest that is practical for you to use) 3/4 to 1 inch bamboo poles and set them in the pot as a tripod, lashed together at the top. You will need to train the plant to climb it because they often won't climb anything that isn't constantly damp by themselves, they can, but not usually. As it grows, also train the aerial roots down towards the soil and they'll take root and provide nutrients to the upper portions of the plant. Don't bend them too sharp or they'll break and die.

    The moss poles aren't going to be strong enough once the plant gets big although mosser lee does have them up the 42" and you can get extensions to make them longer. You could probably get three and use them the same way as the bamboo but as they get old they get crusty, then they look like crap.

    Danny

  • gravyboots
    12 years ago

    I've seen them trained via wire/cable along room perimeters or ceilings (= commitment!).... currently trying to decide whether to get that going post-repot or just whack it down some.

    GB

  • birdsnblooms
    12 years ago

    Kyle, 'duh,' I get it. lol. 'Cut it' has more than one meaning. Verb vs. slang.

    Actually Dellis/Danny's idea about bamboo would work.
    The stores here no longer sell bamboo, 'which I used to use.' It's been so long, I forgot they existed.

    I'd like to see a pic, too. Toni

  • plantsaremylife_grow
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Well I think I'm gonna go to Lowes tomorrow and see what they got. The plant is still manageable at this point, but by end of summer it won't be I know. I'm excited now. The tripod thing I think will work well. Hopefully I can find some bamboo and make this work! Kyle

  • dellis326 (Danny)
    12 years ago

    Toni, The home depot near me often has bamboo in the garden department. I would think they have it at others in the area.

    Kyle,
    Here's a pic of my Rhaphidophora bound to a 2 inch diameter bamboo post, it's from last year and has filled in a bit since this photo was taken but you can see how it's tied with nylon to the post. It's about six feet tall. The post is sunk about ten inches into the soil, I have not had any issues with it rotting. Don't let it grow up the wall or window frame, the problem with that is it may attach itself to the wall for support.

    {{gwi:88319}}

  • plantsaremylife_grow
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    dellis326- Wow that's beautiful. I wasn't all that familiar with Rhapidophoras. Thanks to your post I been researching them all morning;). Might I enquire to where you aquired yours? Do you know much about Rhaphs? I have many aroids myself and this could be a new family I would like to try. This family it truly beautiful! Have you ever seen Rhap. decursiva or Rhap. foraminifera? Yikes... I'm on the prowl now. Lol! I really like that set-up! That pole displays it well. Is it just one plant?

    Oh btw... That fish tail Hoya is beautiful! Nice growing! What window it that... West? Kyle

  • dellis326 (Danny)
    12 years ago

    It's a south facing window but due to a large maple outside and a building next door I only get sun through the early afternoon. The sunlight hardly touches these plants.

    I think there are five vines maybe six, I've loped off a few over the years to trade away. I bought the plant about 5 or 6 years ago thinking it was a monstera. My friend Steve Lucus, who past away last january talked me through IDing it as a Rhapidophoras, Maybe tetrasperma, maybe a hybrid. If you like Aroids you should look up his website, it's still up. Hopefully the IAS or MOBOT will adopt it before it expires.

    I found that hoya mostly dead sitting in the gutter near my job a couple of years ago, just a few bare stems and dead leaves. I gave it away last fall, I kept a single cutting from it but I wish I had kept it. Also in that photo are a Philodendron subgenus Meconostigma, possibly a bipinnatifidum, I've never tried to verify it. An Anthurium barbadoese (at the base of the Rhapidophoras, growing in the same pot),One leaf of a philodendron 69686 which may or may not be a 69686, which is an unidentified species or hybrid, no one really seems to know. Another unID'ed philo and a Schefflera cutting Also there are a few Dracaena leaves of some sort and dieffenbachia hiding in the background. The window you can see there is completely blocked by a terrarium but there is another just to the left that doesn't show in that photo.

  • birdsnblooms
    12 years ago

    Danny..your plants are beautiful. So very green, vibrant and healthy.
    I see your Hoya..Is it a Fish Tail?

    Steve L was a wonderful, decent person who loved his greens.
    He helped me ID a plant, started from a cutting in 1994. He asked around until he 'got an answer.' A real sweetheart.

    Danny, I see you're in z5, but can't recall which state you live...

    There are two HD's near my house. One used to sell Bamboo, but it wasn't a big seller, so they no longer have any. Neither store sells large stakes..In or outside.
    Let me rephrase that..one HD sometimes has 'small' moss poles or 1-4' plastic stakes.
    We drove to a nursery, Jamacan Gardens..an hour drive. That's how I happened to find humongous stakes.

    I used to work in HD's green house, but shopped there since the day it opened..Early 90's.
    They stopped ordering stakes before I was an employee.
    Another thing I learned, some HD's carries items other HD's don't, and one can't count on their sales paper.

    Wow, finding Hoyas in the gutter..lol..

    Kyle, after reading your thread, I share your excitement. lol.
    You probably have a gleam in your eyes, contemplating-- where can I get this and that plant/s? lol.

    I'd like to get two Variegated Monsteras. One yellow and green, a second, white and green.
    Last summer, I won both on Ebay. They weren't as described, and died less than two wks after purchase. One had two leaves, the other had three. The third leaf was dead. What a disappointment!

    Every so often, 'green' Monsteras/Split Leaf are available..Although they're beautiful, at the time I'm into variegated plants..Toni

  • plantsaremylife_grow
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Ok... I looked today for supports. I found a 60" metal obelisk. It's extremely heavy duty and should take the weight of the monstera very well. Do you all think his will work? 60" is that enough height to maintain a monstera happily?

    Toni- yep I've been thinking about those Rhaps all night long! Oy! I'm bound and determined to find them...those two I mention in particular. J know what you mean about the variegated ones. I bough the white and green one from Logees. I'm no too hip on the price but........we'll see what I get. It's scheduled to come next week. I've seen those yellow and green variegated ones and they are EXPENSIVE !!!!!! I looked on glasshouseworks site and yikes! They are truly beautiful! The monstera was the first tropical I ever fell in love with. I know my variegated monstera will flourish (sarcasm) and I will happily send you a cutting as it grows and grows. I keep telling myself that I paid that money for a mature plant.... eventually. Hopefully it does well and I will be able to propagate it and get many! A summer outdoors should give it a great start here in Michigan. I'm not expecting too much from that nursery. I got my H. lauterbachii and was disappointed buy it's size. It had four leaves and lost two since being here at my house. It is starting to grow though. My lily of the valley tree however... WOW. I love it. It's about 8 inches tall and already blooming. It's fragrance is reminiscent of a Shasta daisy I think. When's it's buds open I will take a picture! Kyle

  • scsva
    12 years ago

    I think the solid green monsteras are easy to raise; never had a variegated one but I've seen them at at Garden Center close to DC and they are gorgeous and EXPENSIVE. But they are also fairly large plants already.

    Going back to hoyas, I would love to find hoyas in a ditch or gutter.

    Dan, the most beautiful plants one and all! I really enjoyed your picture.

    Susan

  • dellis326 (Danny)
    12 years ago

    Kyle; That metal thing you found should be strong enough, At five feet it should be a nice display but it might not get big enough to fully mature but you might get some pretty big leaves on it. They really want to climb upwards. I've seen mature ones in conservatories at around 20 - 25 feet and in the wild in Costa Rica maybe 50 feet up in the trees (still rooted in the ground) with leaves 4 to 6 feet long.

    I just gave away a monstera adansonii that grew from foot long stems to over fourteen feet in a year but my M. deliciosa grows very slowly three feet away in the same conditions so you can never be sure how things are going to go.

    Toni; I live in Chicago, About a ten minute drive down Milwaukee ave from downtown. Anyways I went to get some more bamboo this morning and all they had were 1/4" & 3/8", no bigger sizes. I never looked into what kind of hoya that is and yeah, I found it. I'm a bit of a garbage picker, That 2" stick of bamboo in that photo I found in the alley, My girlfriend argued with me for two years to toss it out before I found a use for it and during the last winter I found a Jade plant more than three feet tall and several sansaveria all in various alleys.

    Danny

  • plantsaremylife_grow
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Alright then I'm going to get that obelisk next week and hope it works. Can't wait to get this project done. I've started feeding my monstera and I can feel a burst of growth coming on. I already have some rather large leaves and hope to see more.

    Danny- how lucky you are to find plants like that in alleys. The best I can ever find are people throwing out there 'Plastico artificialis' ;). No interest in those! Monstera adansonii is a beautiful plant. I lost the last of mine this winter due to neglect. Shame on me :(. I'm now hoping to find a good size pot of one this summer. The nursery I got it at now doesn't even know what plant I'm even talking about. Hmmmmm.... O well. Kyle

  • birdsnblooms
    12 years ago

    Kyle..about your Obelisk..it depends where you bought it.
    I can't tell you the number of 'arbors and bird feeder/hanging basket poles' I bought, hoping they were strong enough to hold an outdoor vine, feeder, plant.. stand erect.
    They sent thin metal that wouldn't hold a flea. lol
    I finally bought a decent arbor that's held a number of years. More expensive, but if I added what I paid and would have continued paying for cheaper versions, I could have purchased three expensive types. lol

    Pics online/catalogs look strong. What a farce! lol

    Logees. I won't express my opinion, since you have plants on the way.
    However, I will say, in the mid-90's, Logee's was my favorite, non-local nursery.

    That's awful about your H. Lauterbachii. I was given one as a gift, purchased from Logees. It wasn't bad. Expensive--stood about 9" tall, several leaves and well-rooted. It's still around, but very slow-growing.
    Don't know if I'll be on earth when/if it blooms, lol.

    I hope your Monstera is nice..LMK, okay? I checked Ebay..only green.
    The seller I bought from with both variegated types, usually sends healthy plants. I was so disappointed when the two variegatas arrived. Think I have a pic, but would have to look for it. Thankfully, prices weren't too bad, each under 15.00. Still, that's more than I prefer to pay, unless a plant is in great health.

    Many of GlassHouseWorks prices increased. I once phoned, asking for a certain variegated Schefflera..he said, he might have some the following spring..cuttings..175.00..Sure, I'll take a dozen. lol.
    But GHW's sends healthy plants, or they did..it's been a while since I ordered from them.

    Kyle, are you growing Lily of the Valley in a container or garden??

    Danny, I'd like to walk down your alley, Free plants..The price is right. lol.
    Seriously, I don't browse through alleys..When we first moved here, walked our dog down alleys, people tossed Azaleas and other flowering plants that could have been grown indoors. I was too embarrassed to grab them though, lol.
    Someone discarded a brand new plant shelf..They assembled it backwards..so it fell foreward. I got that shelf, re-assembled..it's fantastic..Bet it cost 50.00-75.00 nowadays.

    I agree, Adansonii is a super fast-grower..Mine is a few yrs old, growing up a swerved, metal stake, but it needs something stronger. The metal tilts. It's leaning on plant shelves before a window. Toni

  • plantsaremylife_grow
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Finally the one good part of my day! The GW!!!!! This has been quite a Friday the 13th. My car broke down downtown which is approximatly 5 mins if your going 30 mph in the car but almost 45 mins if your going 2mph walking. Oh did I mention it's humid and almost 85 degrees today. I melt in the heat! I never used to be superstitious but now hmmmmmmmm.......

    Any who... Toni- I'm growing the lily of the valley tree in a container. I cant wait till it blooms again. It's a lovely plant. I would highly recommend this plant so far. I don't want to jynx anything, being the 13th ;).

    Yes I am waiting anxiously for my monstera. I'm trying not to get over anxious because I'm touch and go with Logees. I know what I'm expecting for a 4 inch pot, but......... I hope I'm pleasantly surprised with it. I got an order from Gardino yesterday and OMG. The plants are gorgeous! I want to take pictures and post them so I can tal up this company. I've ordered once before and was happy but this order blew me away with the size and lushness of everything. It's too bad they don't carry Monsteras or Rhaps! Kyle

  • birdsnblooms
    12 years ago

    Kyle, I used to think, Fri the 13th, was my good luck day..although I'm not exactly supertitious either..lol
    But, there's still 8 hours left till the 14th..lol

    Your car broke down? Terrible. You're the second person today who 1. got in a car accident, 2. car broke down.
    Maybe it is bad luck for some..boooo

    Yep, walking can be time consuming..a 5 min drive could end up being a 45 min walk..we have a few train tracks nearby..I am very very cautious when crossing them..on foot or car. Too many accidents..fatal accidents.
    There were times I walked to a store, a 7 min car drive, and 20-30 min walk back..especially when a freight happened by.

    I wish you had a picture of your Lily of the Valley. I've seen pictures of these mature, outdoor trees, but not bonsais. Coolll.
    How often do they bloom? Are they deciduous or evergreen?

    At least your Monstera is in a 4" pot, opposed to Logee's 2.25 sizes..In the 90's, all their plants were in 4" pots. That changed, late 1990's to early 2000's. Pot size decreased, cost increased. Shipping was always high.
    I hate talking down on Logee's, but their gh was one of my favorites.
    Ironically, they still send catalogs and emails. The last order I personally placed with Logee's was 2000 or 2001.
    It's too bad, the plants they send don't look like they do in the catalog. lol.

    Gardinos, has fantastic plants..I love that place. Last year, they had a fall sale..I bought a Clerodenron, about 3' tall, for 5.00..They have beautiful Hoyas, when in stock, and some really interesting succulents.
    They've been on my list about 10 yrs, Kyle. lol.

    Have you ever shopped at accentsforhomeandgarden or almostedenplants? Check them out when you have time.

    What did you get from Gardinos? Do you have pics? I'd love to see what you got...Toni

  • cmwren
    12 years ago

    I'm planning some kind of copper pipe/2x4 framework to hold Momma M. I figure I have the whole summer to come up with something... *lol*

    {{gwi:88320}}

    Trouble is, she's growing more sideways instead of up. This could be interesting!

  • Mark Conte
    6 years ago

    I have 2 monsters both started from cuttings, had planned originally to place one on each side of a bay window and allow them to grow as living curtain. Have done this with pothos vines. Monsteras grow very fast and given good light they do split. For support to keep the roots from growing into the woodwork I used redwood stakes. By making cross peices ( shaped almost like an H) that fit the bottom of the pots with the stakes coming straight up. Also can put braces between the stakes like a ladder. The cross pieces r buried the in the the soil, thus supporting the tops. Then I gradually wrapped the oles with handfuls of spagnum moss securing it with chicken wire. By keeping the moss damp it not only helps with humidity but also allows the air roots someplace to attach giving the large plants ample support and making it possible to place them outside framing my front door ( double doors) during the summer. In the spring when they go out on the porch protected from direct sun, I take cutting and give them to neighbors or anyone that is interested. They always come back in twice as big and still well supported by the supports. They currently are bout 9 ft tall and 6 ft wide and about 4 ft deep. Very full plants.

    As far a rooting I either cut them leaving air roots placing in water, changed everyday, or just push air roots into other pots and waiting for them to take hold before cutting loose from parent plants.

    For added interest with the monsteras I grow pathos vines in the pots with them, with proper care they also grow rather large leaf and can also grow a split leaf pattern, in nature as they grow up the host tree or plant the split leaves allows the wind to blow around without pulling them down.