I've grown these in the past but I always over water them. Hopefully I'll have better success this time? I had one that survived our zone 8a winter three years in a row. It survived drought, ice and snowstorms. I killed it when I tried to grow it indoors again lol. My current one gets a couple of hours of direct sun in the morning and then bright indirect light the rest of the day.

If you can, Cameron, run a small fan 10-12 hrs. a day. That air movement will help your tropical plant(s) dry out more readily as well as keeping insects/mold at bay.

Thanks Ken. I have a very small fan in my living room so I'll move it near the monstera plant. I saw a couple of drops on the tips of the leaves so I'll let it dry out before I water again. I'm thinking about adding perlite and orchid bark in Spring.

Those will be great additions. I make my own potting soils and coarse perlite is an important part of every mix I make. For my terrestrial orchids, I also add medium to coarse bark as well. Water-retentive yet well-draining is what you want to strive for. That's what Mother Nature furnishes the vast majority of tropical plants and the reason they grow so lush.

I wish I could find coarse perlite locally. All I can find is the fine stuff. Orchid bark is expensive, is there a cheaper alternative?

I have started using cypress mulch as a semi-substitute and it works well. Get the "premium" bagged mulch found at Home Depot and Lowe's. It has less "foreign material" in it and be sure to rinse it well before using it in your potting soil. I do not find that fine or medium grade are worth having. I not only want to increase draining but also open up the potting soil. Only coarse will do both. I have to purchase huge, 4 cf. bags to get the "true" coarse perlite and I go though at least two bags every year. I sell it in 1, 2, and 3 gallon bags, Cameron. Contact me via T-Mail if you have interest.

Thanks again Ken. I may just use the cypress mulch. I'll contact you via T mail.

Popping by to MONitor the progress of your MONstera? How's it going? Has it grabbed you in your sleep yet?

Did you do some experimenting with cypress mulch, @texasplumeria87 (Cameron)?

Tiffany and Drew the monster a is doing great. It's grown at least 7 new leaves, though they're still small. I left it in the same soil for now but I'll probably change it this Spring? I'm really amazed by the number of leaves it's produced since I bought it.

That's totally exciting! I'm always intrigued by these since I want one but (assuming it was happy) would get too big for me to give it a good home, so I must live vicariously through other peoples' plants on this one.

I have it in a tree and shrub potting mix. I think it's made of alfalfa meal, peat moss, coir, and composted bark. I added a little coarse sand too. I need to definitely add cypress mulch when I put it outside in Spring. I'm kind of scared of its growth rate once it's outside.

This is actually what's in the tree and shrub mix.
Calloway’s Tree & Shrub Mix combines aged pine bark, composted rice hulls, coco fiber, Canadian sphagnum peat moss, alfalfa meal, expanded shale and gypsum.

It's been several months and I need to post an updated picture. It spent the Summer outdoors and with nothing to climb on it turned into a sprawling shrub like plant lol. I bought a 5 ft. PVC pipe and wrapped it in some paper mesh to help it climb. Next year I'll repot it in a bigger pot with cypress mulch. It's incredibly heavy and has tons of aerial roots. It's going to be an ordeal trying to repot it.

Here's some pictures. Please pardon the mess. I have it under a small grow light.

Great growing Cameron, your plant is beautiful and it sure has grown a lot! You should add that 2nd photo to the database Split-Leaf Philodendron (Monstera deliciosa)

plantladylin said:Great growing Cameron, your plant is beautiful and it sure has grown a lot! You should add that 2nd photo to the database Split-Leaf Philodendron (Monstera deliciosa)

Thanks Lin! I'm very happy with its progress. Some of the aerial roots are a couple of the feet long. I'll add the second photo to the database.

I had a question about artificial light? I got two plant lights for Christmas and I put both of them above my monstera. Eventually I'll make a stand to tie the lights to make it look nicer and get the whole plant. The lights are LED and they're composed of mostly red lights with a few blue lights. I think the output is 660nm 630nm 460nm, 2700k. I was wondering if they're good plant lights for houseplants? I have my monstera in a dark bedroom and I originally had an old CFL bulb shining on it, but someone told me they have to be replaced every 6-8 months because they'll lose their effectiveness.

2700K is not right. Get some T5 HO, 6500K lights. That's what I use. Gene

Thanks Gene. I used to have an old Sun Blaster bulb on it which was 6400k but they're so expensive and the 2700k plant lights were a present. Since I have both plant lights on it does that double the kelvins? I may eventually get a CFL I saw in Lowe's that was 5000k.