I'm not super well knowledged in Aroids, as they're a group I just started working with earlier this year. So wanted to get some opinions.

I have a Rhapidophora tetrasperma that's over 6 feet tall, measuring where it seems comfortable sitting (so not including the way it curves). It was 4 or 5 feet tall when I purchased it, and is now over 6 feet. The nursery had it wrapped around some tiny sticks, which I removed and replaced with a 6 foot tall bamboo pole and gently tied the plant to it for some basic support till I found proper materials for a totem pole. It's quickly trying to climb higher than the bamboo pole, so I'd like to make it a proper totem this week. I purchased a few different lengths of coconut coir mats for the totem. Before I attempt construction:
1. Is a long dowel suitable for wrapping the coir mat around? Or is this at risk of rotting?
2. Does the diameter of the pole matter, or is that mainly personal preference? My plant has two main stems. They're around the same height.
3. Is there a preferred method of attaching the coir mats to the pole? I was going to use a bit of strong glue and fishing line.
4. Recommended height for the pole? This is a bit of a challenge, as I want to make sure it has enough height to continue climbing for a while. However, I might be moving soon, so I can't construct anything too difficult to move around, or anything permanently mounted. The plant is currently growing in a large pot. We're also quickly getting into winter temperatures, so not sure if it's growth might slow down for a while.

I also have a Monstera deliciosa that I'd like to build a totem for. It was a tiny little thing when I purchased it early in the year. It's now approaching 3 feet tall and just recently started growing air roots. They're just knubs at the moment, as they just emerged, but I wanted to have something ready for it to begin climbing. Same questions as above.

Thank you for any advice! I have questions about some other Aroids, but I'll start a separate thread for those.

Well.............
I think its a matter of
#1--how much space you have to devote to these plants
#2--how tall you will allow them to get before you absolutely HAVE to take a top cutting to keep it in check
#3--how esthetically pleasing to the eye you want it

I think you probably know if you looked at any of my posts, I have a big greenhouse. So I am not worried so much about 'how it looks' . I make them as nice as I can, but for me they are a functional piece of GH equipment to give them a chance to grow to their best ability and look as natural as possible. I will tell you how I make mine. (In fact, I did a photo tut about it on the Houseplants forum but no one really cared LOL)

I use PVC pipe in varying sizes. Usually, I use the big 4" diameter pipe that they use for septic drainage fields, in the 10 ft length. But I have also used smaller diameter pipe.

The reason I most often use the larger bore is that I put more than one plant onto a totem. I might have a Monstera dubia, an Epipremnum pinnatum, a variegated Monstera deliciosa, a climbing philodendron, a marcgravia, a Rhaphidophora...I might have as many as 4-5 different plants on a totem, and I may also have orchids, bromeliads and epiphytic anthurium mounted to a totem. So there has to be enough space and it has to be strong enough.

But Monstera deliciosa is a large growing aroid, and will eventually NEED a bigger sturdier support.

I buy the big rolls of coir fiber mat (30+ feet long x 3 ft wide) and I cut pieces are wrap them around the pipe and secure them with zip ties. After the whole thing is covered, I take 14 ga galvanized wire and wrap a diamond pattern over the whole thing. This allow me to have places that I can hang things on the totems using S-hooks or wire plant hangers.

I generally just place the bottom on the ground wherever I want to set it up, it may be freestanding, or it may be attached to a metal support pole in the greenhouse frame. But a really good way to do it for a houseplant is to place the support into a large planter and securing it by setting it in sand or concrete, then setting your nursery pot in and filling in around it with soil. This way you canals plant things on at the bottom of the planter to dress it up.

There are a lot of ways to do it.

Here are photos of a few of mine with their plant residents

If the move ends up happening, the intention is to have a greenhouse built on the one side, as it has a nice piece of land that would be perfect for a greenhouse. In which case, I can set up something larger and more permanent for them. Especially the deliciosa. I want it to get huge!
If it doesn't happen, then I still have some bright rooms with tall ceilings here that I can do some taller poles for. They mainly just need to be able to be moved relatively easily if they're staying here. Which will likely be hefty pots and rolling carts.

I actually saw your tutorial a while ago. I was looking for it to refer back to it, but I couldn't find it. I think I checked the Tropicals and this forum, but not the Houseplants. That explains it.

I like the galvanized wire idea. I have a lot of bromeliads and tillandsias that might be nice to mount on there. A bunch of my Tillandsias are actually just hanging out tucked in various places among my Rhapidophora's roots.

Thanks for the reply! Hopefully I can put something together this week for them. Also, that's a gorgeous greenhouse. I hope I can have something like that someday.

Thank you! I have had it since 2003. I am thinking about making a modification to it to put big vents on each side (like the big back vent) that can be opened and closed, and have screening put in the openings. Here in FL, its much harder to cool a greenhouse in summer than it is to heat a greenhouse in winter. With the number of 90+F days we have here, I need more cool airflow!!!!!

I'd definitely have the opposite problem. I mainly want a greenhouse for warmth and humidity. It's terribly cold here most of the year, which also makes the air incredibly dry. My house also has terrible air circulation.
Though I also need a way to keep the cactus/succulent collection warm, and find enough winter light for them, without putting them in too high of humidity.

It'll be a challenge to put together something suitable for everyone. But I'll figure that out when it comes. Going to have a lot of research to do!

Whenever I hear a Canadian talk about how cold it is I always think of that Neil Young song...'Think I'll go out to Alberta, weather's good there in the spring...' I can;t really imagine a Northern winter even in the US. I have been to Seattle and Vancouver, it was cold at Whistler and had snow, I have been to Colorado when there was snow, and I have been to NYC when it was fall not real cold yet. And I have been to Scotland and Wales and the Outer Hebrides where it was colder than hell. But I can't imagine living in any of those places. Lean to's are good in climates like yours. If you do it a certain way you can heat it off of the heater from your house

The cold honestly gets tiring. And snow. I've unfortunately experienced -40F (with wind chill) a few times. Which is just awful... Cars struggle to start, every breath feels crisp and painful deep in your chest, your skin hurts if exposed.
As for snow, I get tired of trying to shovel it all the time. Thankfully the last couple winters were relatively mild with a small amount of snow. I'm getting to the point where it's difficult to shovel it and walk in it. I'm quite short, and I have permanent damage in one knee that makes it difficult to walk sometimes as it is. Add a heap of snow, and both of those things know how to work against me.
And then there's ice storms... where everything gets completely caked in ice for a while. Which also tends to cause a lot of damage. Which is one worry I have about greenhouses. I can see an ice storm just demolishing it...

I hope I can move away one day and not have to deal with it anymore. A family friend of ours actually lived in North Ontario for a while. I don't know how he did it. It looked so dark and cold up there. And that's only ON. We still have people living in the northern territories!

I was actually thinking of doing something like that. Rather than a fully free standing structure, maybe build something right off the side of the house, hooked up to the heat. Probably the best option.