Monstera deliciosa

It has two fruits this year. Last year it had only one.

This is a variegated (left) one I got from a local nursery several years ago. I dont know the name. The leaves can get quite large but not the 33 inches that my larger solid green one does so I dont know if its a true Monstera or a philodendron or something but I have about 4 now because I keep propagating them lol.

The solid green on the right is just a smaller leaf of the same large Monstera deliciosa.

kitty parasol?

Larger leaf

The smaller solid green monstera looking leaves on the bottom of this pic are of the dwarf monstera ginny (common name) which is reportably not a true monstera but Rhaphidophora tetrasperma. It climbs and has thinner leaves than a typical monstera.

Your post prompted me to go out and check my monsters in the garden. I have a few Monstera deliciosa, this is the largest which I had cut into 4 pieces. They have never flowered or fruited for me, even after 25 years of growth.

I've quite a lot of M. adansonii, it has no problems flowering (which it's currently doing). Spent flower/fruit on the left and new flower to right of it.

They like to climb more than the deliciosa.

And the other Monstera is siltepecana, behaves very much like adansonii.

Ants damage the foliage, they sew some leaves together to make nests which kills the leaves. Then the ants sew more fresh green leaves together and abandon the "dried nest". They keep killing off a lot of leaves like that. They'll only nest in green leaves and pick the largest, which unfortunately are more often climbing aroids.

Those M. adansonii & M.siltepecana are really cool!! You have the best plants! So those crazy ants have nests up in the air? That's so wild.

Are the ants an aggressive type? Do they drop down and bite/sting people walking under them like the evil elogated twig ants do here in FL?

Sultry I think what you have is Monstera borsigiana. What I have today-

Oohhh yours is so pretty! Thank you for the identification! I need to get something for mine to climb. I have to move mine in the winter so it will have to be something I can stick into a large pot.

I like your whole setup around the tree!

Sultry, check this link for a discussion about "borsigiana". It'll help you on the ID of yours.

[Where can I find TRUE MONSTERA DELICIOSA?[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/where-can-i-find-true-monstera-deliciosa-dsvw-vd~5191407)

I am going to check all mine later for the wavy geniculum lol.

Okay here are some photos of the geniculums of what I have (wow, I didnt realize how dirty they are under there- a few looks like they might have scale grrr)....they kinda remind me of lasagna noodles lol.

Large green leaf Monstera

A few different Variegated Monstera leaves from different plants

My monstera deliciosa I bought about 15 years ago, set on the ground in it's black plastic pot in light shade next to chain link fence and near the water hose, and there it has remained. Asiatic jasmine and detritus soon covered the pot and the plant climbed the fence but has never tried to grow taller. The stem is 5 inches around. The plant has always hugged the fence (with the help of ties), had several leaves at a time and sometimes a fruit of sorts and even rarer, a flower. It has not tried to grow higher.

Six months ago, the fence gate was removed by an HVAC installer; so, cute as it was, I left it off as it had always interfered with the monstera and with my own passage. The plant responded to this new freedom with larger-than-ever new leaves and, springing from it's base and growing rapidly, a new monstero (hidden behind the fence post in the top photo).

Because the new leaves on the fence appear at my eye level, I can enjoy the fresh new leaves, the tender-looking geniculum, the wonder of it all!

irma, very beautiful and healthy looking Monstera!

Have you ever eaten the ripe fruit? My green one made a fruit for the first time last year. I was waiting for it to get very ripe and the 'scales' to loosen so it would be okay to taste. About soon as it was ripe something came overnight and ate it all. I think it was either a raccoon or possum because we have issues with both of them.

This year mine has 2 fruits

I dont know if I will get to try one or not lol.

Saw one today on Ebay..$39. Hurry!

Sultry..you have M.deliciosa. Larger and harder to find. Not that I have any complaints about M. borsigiana..I like that it vines faster. I also have big brother green Monstera in my backyard. It fruits and all the rest. Slow to climb..but is now 3' up a Podocarpus tree after being a big ground cover from 2 or 3 ' away. So,it's got big leaves and stems.

M.borsigiana is for California the " Variegated Pothos" thats hardy.

Sultry, don't wait for them to ripen on the plant. I used to pick them when one end was close to ripe and put them in the fridge. They don't ripen all at once, the ripeness moves slowly from one end to the other. You eat them progressively as they ripen. Their alternate name "Fruit Salad Plant" is very appropriate and gives them a bit of a novelty value. But the novelty soon wears off because of the tedious ripening process.

I think I would like to get a borsigiana some time. I like vines and grow a ton of them. The deliciosa is very slow growing and just kinda slowly clammer around and up.

When I first bought my variegated Monstera it was in a 6 inch pot and had smaller baby leaves. I think it was marked swiss cheese or something similar. I probably have an old photo somewhere. It was only $14..

Clearly that nursery didn't know what they had or it wouldn't be that cheap lol.

Sultry, you just need a little patience. ;)

That's awesome!! Yes I need more patience AND a warmer climate lol. Unfortunately, we do freeze here, so mine have to be in a gh in the winter.

I dont know if mine can ever be like that. I have a couple trees that stay in the "greenhouse" area ..a starfruit, longan and sausage trees (kigella) I dont want to move the large pots so I leave them and take off the gh roof and sides (12 mil plastic) in the spring.

The big green monstera has kinda been growing under the starfruit but its not climbing it. There is already a dragonfruit climbing the starfruit. They all get cut back to 10 feet or so to get the roof on in the winter (Dec- March 1st).

tropicbreeze, where do you live?

~Sjn

I'm near Darwin Australia, the tall growing Monstera is near Brisbane, a subtropical area.

I have some Starfruit (Carambola) and a Kigelia. Unfortunately the Kigelia hasn't produced any sausages yet, not even a baby frankfurter :(

Its never hot and humid here. I can go a whole summer without needing air con going in the house. The last time my Monstera was hit hard by frost was 2007..and it takes about 3 years of our tepid summers to look good again.

But its part of a metro area that's gotten huge over the decades and urban warming is a sure thing.

Its having the water that's now the challenge as the years go by.

Ahhh you guys are lucky ducks with no real regular frost! We have anywhere between a few light freezes to several 20's F depending on the year One winter since I've lived here, we had a few nights in the upper teens. That was the year a tree limb fell on my gh and I lost a lot of stuff grrr. Our day temps usually bounce back up to 60's to 80'sF in the winter.

tropicbreeze my 3 sausage trees were started from seed 7yrs or so ago now. No 'sausages' here yet either. I have to cut them back to get them in the gh. I started bending the tops over instead of cuttimg last winter to hopefully encourage flowering. They lose the leaves in yhe winter so idk if they will ever flower here.

One year one grew into the ground and broke out the pot. So I tried to dig up the root and there way no way to get it so I just kinda cut it off at the bottom of the pot which was really the bottom tree trunk. Well it grew new roots just fine and even tho it was a cold winter here, with 20'sF temps, the roots left in the ground started growing a new tree in the spring!! I never thought they were that hardy lol.

~Sjn

Hi and welcome stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area. I recognize your variegated Monstera pics. I downloaded the 2nd one many months ago from another board we are on. Your newer pics show less burn spots.

There are Monster Monstera's in Southern California that have climbed at least 35' palms my guess. Plus I was watching a movie..and the whole very large back yard of a wealthy person's Hacienda had a stucco 10' wall and every bit of that wall all around the yard was Monstera..big,deep green.

Sultry? That last set of photos were M. deliciosa "constellation". They get bigger leaves then M.
borsigiana,but not as much white in them.

I talked to somebody on YouTube who bought one for $24. If anybody wants to know where..look up luv sucs (her name on the tube) and its her newest vid.

Thanks for the info on M "constellation". I will look it up. I never knew there were so many different Monsteras. I figured just the green one and the variegated one lol.

My dream home would be a Hacienda style with courtyards filled with fountains, tropical plants, succulents, cacti, cool palms and cycads all around it..kinda like a desert oasis lol.

Her Favorite Variegated vid has been one of my favorites. I've seen it a several times. I like the Florida Beauty Philo, Thai Sunrise Philo, Pink Princess Philo, Painted Lady Philo, and another one I didn't quite get the name of. They seemed to me like lemon-line versions of the Pink Princess. All her plants looks so healthy and they appear to all be indoors. The monstera price was mentioned in this video. Which video is the one you're referring to? The unboxing one or this one?

Also, I'm noticed a lot of Aroids in TV Shows, commercials, and movies. I just noticed some EEs in a Christmas movie. In the spring I noticed some naturalized E. areums on a show. I often see E. areums as hanging plants in lots of media.

can someone post a link to the you tube video? I cant seem to find it lol

Ok, nvm I found it lol.

I should do plant unboxing videos on you tube..oh the stories I could tell lol. I know just who to order from and also great ones to order from as well..to show how it should be done ;)

I miss my swiss cheese vine. I got cuttings before I sold it, but they died. I guess I would probably hate it by now, since it's just another cold-sensitive plant I'd have to take care of.

I used to have Pink Princess philodendron..it was so pretty. I need to get another one but Im not paying those insane ebay prices. When I bought mine a few yrs ago, it was 3 cuttings on ebay for $20 or something like that. Now they are completely crazy priced. I wonder what made these old plants so special all of a sudden?

Pink Princess philo under the ginger flower