Hi!! Relatively experienced gardener here but newbie houseplant owner. I'm propagating some cuttings from a super old and ugly monstera plant that has been neglected and I have a ton of cuttings that have air roots, stem, and nodes, but no leaves. I read online that it's possible to grow new leaves/plants with a cutting with roots and node but no leaf, but it takes a long time and should be done in water. HONESTLY though, I could barely find anything on this specific situation online so I'm asking for advice here! I sort of just plopped it into this reused boba cup with tap water I change about once every 3 days. They sit indoors in a south facing window, so they get a lot of direct light.


I have been doing this for about 3 weeks now, and there is some growth, which makes me overjoyed. There's these little bright green nubs, one on each cutting. Is it a root, an air root, or a new leaf? (Please say new leaf!!!)



Please let me know if there's anything I should change to make the growth as efficient as possible! Should I remove the air roots? Submerge or not submerge the air roots? Submerge the nubs??

Another question: I am planning on putting monstera cuttings in my aquarium as well because I read that they do an excellent job of cleaning the water. My aquarium is in a different room and gets some indirect sun, but not direct sun like it's in right now. Would it be okay to use these leafless stem cuttings for that, or should I wait for there to be actual leaf growth?

Thanks garden experts!

Those look like leaves forming to me.
I root my Monstera in soil, and have the impression that it is far superior to rooting in water because it's not so prone to rot. In the end, they aren't water plants. Transferring them to soil I think would be a good idea. Although, I've never heard about using them in aquariums before so I can't speak for that. The idea of floating islands (I've read some about), where a lot of land plants are suspended at the surface and end up rooting into the water, seems to be very good about cleaning up the water and keeping the plants happy. So maybe just keeping the tops/crown out of the water is important? It's an interesting idea.
Best wishes to you!