I mean't leaf splits, not leave....I think tiredness has taken over....better go kiss the plants goodnight & off to bed LOL

Hugs,
mad Mandy! (UK)

It is not the age of the leaf that matters, but the age of the plant. In other words, when the plant itself is mature, the new leaves will come in with splits. Older leaves already on the plant will not split.

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In my experience with Monstera, older solid leaves have split long after they were born.

This happens with my plants that grow in low light through the winter, then live outdoors in very high light conditions.

I've watched a leaf go from completely solid, to getting slightly puckered in a line, then to splitting ever so slightly, then the slit grows daily over a period of weeks until it reaches the edge and cuts the leaf into distinct wedges.

About your plant --- in *very high light* conditions with good fertilization, a very young plant will show a few split leaves upon unfurling. I imagine the nursery grower for your plant had conditions that were optimal for this to happen.

Watch it grow and you will see just about every possibility.
:)

Wow, plant babies, that's neat! I've never seen mine do that, the leaves have just been "born" with splits, and even though mine's been outside in direct morning sunlight all summer, I still have some that are straight heart-leaved and are 6+", I'll have to keep an eye on them and see what happens :) I moved it indoors b/c it got kinda beat up in a storm, but it still receives pretty direct sunlight. Thanks for the info!
Ellen

I have several types of split leaf philos/monsteras..I notice some split at a very young age while others split when older. Sorry, don't know the botnaical names of my philos/monsteras..Is this unusual? Toni

If the humidity is low, Monstera leaves (& other aroid leaves) can pucker and tear, but that won't leave smooth leaves with neat-edged holes and splits. The normal splits and perforations on smooth, well-formed leaves happen before the leaf unfurls, as Karen said. I said pretty much the same thing in the other thread; it's the maturity of the plant, not the maturity of the individual leaf that makes for split leaves.
Anybody who doubs that & wants more input-- good for you! The Aroid forum has lots of other folks who have also grown Monsteras and the like for years. You can see what they have to say.

Mandy-- I think you did the right thing repotting right away if your plant was in an unsuitable pot. When you repot and give the roots lots of new space, the plant will usually concentrate its efforts on root growth for a while, and the top growth is likely to slow down. That's probably why that one leaf won't unfurl. Rest assured, it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong! Once the root system has expanded, the top growth will come, and it will be all the more vigorous and healthy because of the good root system.

Perhaps my zone's low humidity is what does, indeed, create "smooth leaves with neat-edged holes and splits" out of older unsplit leaves. I see no jagged holes or edges in these leaves.

After a few months, one cannot really distinguish between an old new-split leaf and a born-split leaf.

Leaves will split even faster should a half-hour of direct sun fall on the leaf by accident, although too long and it will burn.

Next time you see a fully formed leaf starting to split, it'd be most educational if you would take (and post) a photo compendium of the splitting, start to finish, on a single, identifiable leaf. It would, of course, need well-focused close shots that show the natural edges of the splits, slightly thickened and rolled under, (the way they naturally form) rather than cut. I would, indeed, like to see it.

I just bought a swiss cheese plant - it had one leaf with one "window" and the other leaves were not split. I put it in a sunny spot and a new leaf just unfurled that has splits all over it! I've heard/read that young swiss cheese plants don't have split leaves until they mature.

Eileen, my one Swiss Cheese is older, but even when young, when a new leaf unfurled it had holes. So, I guess it depends on the type of split leaves we have..I have others that don't open until plant grows..Toni

If the plant is grown from a cutting rather than seed grown, it can exhibit the maturity of the plant from which it was cut, even when it's still small.

That may actually be the key to the discussion - thanks ooojen!

Sorry to be away from this thread (was poorly yet again)

Wow, doesn't it all get confusing, or is it that my brain has gone to bed (where I should be)?!! I think it's all the conflicting things you read that makes it even more confusing!

Oh, thank you for telling me about the top growth slowing down, while the plant concentrates on the roots...phew, i wondered why nothing much was happening!!

This leaf splitting is so interesting! I have no idea how the plant was grown, my partner bought it from Lidl (supermarket type place) It came to me in poor condition, split (not properly, torn) & scarred leaves :(

It has small/baby dark green leaves at the base which have no splits at all. then it has a couple of leaves that are split, and this one that is light green, totally split & mostly still curled up!
That's why I could not work out how some were growing whole, splitless...yet others were growing totally split. plus after reading books that said the leaf has to be mature to split, made me even more confused that ever!!

Thank you all so much for your help.
How much we are still yet to learn ;)
Hugs,
mandy (UK)

Hello Knowledgable and learning gardeners!
Does anyone know why my BEAUTIFUL 3' swiss-cheese Monstera cries at night?
It is in all of its glory, (and yes I bought it that way from Safeway Grocery Store.)all of the explanations given apply, regarding the splitting process, yet every day when I wake up each leaf has dew drops on it.(or tears as I tell my 2 year old) the only thing that I have done since I brought it home is mix miracle gro in its watering can 20 drops per litre as per label instructions. Now that I've started I don't want to stop and do shocking damage. I don't normally do well with houseplants and I LOVE my monster PLEASE HELP!!! Sybil

Sybil, your plant's "tears" are called guttation. This is a normal occurence in some plants after watering. YOu can google "guttation in plants" for more info.

GH

Sybil, I notice the 'tears' when the house is humid and I mist plants..Water actually drip off the leaves onto the floor..It's never been a problem because the plants are doing fine,in fact 2 are flowering.
Check guttation, like GH stated..Toni

Thanks "GH" and "Toni" I thoroughly appreciate your quick responses and am so relieved to hear that my monster is ok!
You are a wealth of encyclopedic information so here I go again....REPOTTING......everything seems fine however the pot that it came in is really flimsy (unsightly) black plastic, repot or just put ugly pot inside a nice pot?? I have no understanding of seasons, rootbound,etc
Sybil

Sybil, ironically, those ugly, black, plastic pots are best suited, but if you want to set your plant in someting more decorative, buy a larger pot and place a sheet of styrofoam or rocks on the bottom..Or if you find a pot w/drainage repot plant in that.
Rootbound is when roots creep out of drainage holes and atop soil. And when the soil drys out too fast so you find yourself watering every other day.
What size pot is the plant in now? If you repot, don't go any larger than 1-2 sizes up..So say your plants in a 6" pot, don't go any higher than a 10".
Seasons..it's best to repot in spring so roots and growth can grow out..In winter, most plants slow down in growth, so they don't need a lot of room to grow. Feb/Mar is best time to repot..It aldo depends where you live..In you're in a hot area, repotting can be done most of the yr..Toni

I have a swiss cheese plant that I need to transplant into another pot. I have had it for about 3 yrs.-- it is about 4 feet tall. In my home i had it up in a loft and it leaned over a railing and got light from the windows(that are about 24 feet from the family home down below) It gets good light and has grown well. My problem is I never put a trellis in the pot--it has all these climber "things" on it now--I mean a lot of them---when I transplant it should I tie those climber "things"on the trellis. Anyone know how to handle this--it is a healthy plant

You're talking about aerial roots. The plant won't really mind, whatever you do with them, though if you can somehow guide them towards the soil, they'll pull some water and nutrients out of the soil as they work their way down. Often, Monsteras are grown on a moss pole that is kept moist, in which case the aerial roots can be pushed into the moss and will help to keep the plant upright, but if you're planning on just using a trellis, it's not a huge deal -- ignore them, work them toward the soil, tie them to the trellis, whatever.

i have a variegated cheese plant since 1996... at the start it had split leaves unfurling... it was a small cutting when i got it... and i was thinking the same as someone here pointed out... that they were still splitting because they were part of an original mature plant... for a long time this plant did nothing... it merely survived... and barely a new leaf in 6 years or more... then this year i decided i needed to do something... so i repotted into good loamy compost... and bigger pot... bought larger moss pole and unravalled the plant... and tied it up to the new pole... then i bought some good biological plant food... with dropper which was a liquid feed when added to water(i prefer rainwater) that will cancel out problems with toxic water...the plant has now doubled in size over the summer and variegation is stronger... leaves are coming out fast...yet... not split :( i feel like its more of a simple philodendron and or the age of the plant this is very disappointing... any advice? i do keep it in bright light though not sun..

After repotting it once I got it home, I've not done much to it except leaving it alone for the most part in front of a west facing window... It tripled in size and most of the leaves have the "holes".. I have read that it's the way it allows light shine thru the big leaves onto the rest of the plant... Correct me if I'm wrong please, but mine is really doing well...

After repotting it once I got it home, I've not done much to it except leaving it alone for the most part in front of a west facing window... It tripled in size and most of the leaves have the "holes".. I have read that it's the way it allows light shine thru the big leaves onto the rest of the plant... Correct me if I'm wrong please, but mine is really doing well...

{{!gwi}}

The "holes" also keep the plant from uprooting in strong winds, and allow water to drip to the base of the plant