What is wrong with my plant? Tips from an expert to revive a tattered monstera | Home & Garden
The trendy and rare houseplant monstera obliqua has more holes than leaves. Monstera alba has leaves splattered with white. And monstera minima is a tiny version that doesn’t require its own greenhouse.
Not as rare but just as loved, Gillian McGoldrick bought a Monstera deliciosa for her home office a few months ago.
McGoldrick, a reporter at LNP | LancasterOnline, already has a split leaf philodendron, which is in the same plant family. She was jealous of the flourishing monsteras shared by members of the Plants of Lancaster County Facebook group. So when she saw a monstera at a big box hardware store at a good price, she couldn’t help but bring it home, she says.
At home, McGoldrick noticed some of the plant’s leaves were torn. Some leaves had black spots. The plant also had bugs.
McGoldrick treated the gnats but the plant’s new growth showed warning signs. Some of the shoots are yellow. Some are green and unroll but then turn black.
“What should I do?” she asks. “Is it worth keeping the tattered leaves? Should I just propagate the new growth?”
Jody Davey, manager of conservatory habitats at Hershey Gardens, answered her questions in a new occasional series to solve your plant problems. Davey’s suggestions have been edited for length and clarity.
Insects
Congratulations on solving your insect pest problem. That’s not always easy. The gnats you describe were probably fungus gnats and they can be tenacious. My go-to remedy for these tiny flying pests is to apply “mosquito bits” (Bacillus thuringiensis) to the soil and water. Since fungus gnats originate in the soil, this is a very effective treatment.”
Tattered Leaves
Overall, your plant looks healthy, like it wants to push new growth, which is a good sign. The shredded, brown and yellow leaf looks physically damaged. I have seen plants displayed near a store’s doors and cold air can cause browning/yellowing. Other damage to leaves is likely due to rough handling while the plant was on display. I would remove the one torn yellow and brown leaf, flush to the base of the stem.
The other damaged/torn leaf looks green and healthy enough to leave in place. It doesn’t look the best cosmetically, but this green healthy leaf will photosynthesize well. It will provide nourishment to the plant so it’s best not to remove it.
New growth
There appear to be several aborted new shoots and a young leaf that is yellow. Very often a plant in a new environment will take a while to adapt to its surroundings and conditions. Something that can cause transplant shock. The plant will live, but not thrive, especially in the beginning. New shoots may not complete their growth and will abort right after they sprout. It’s best to prune these shoots and leaves to the soil to avoid rot and possible disease.
Encouragingly, I do see a tightly-coiled emerging leaf and a larger, newly opened leaf that’s still fragile with a nice light green color. Because this leaf is so new, it’s not as stiff and straight as the more mature leaves or as dark in color. This is normal.
I see some slight yellowing and maybe browning on one edge. This is something to keep an eye on as the leaf matures and hardens up.
Propogate?
I don’t think there’s any reason to try to propagate this new growth. You need a node to propagate a cutting of this plant and this stem does not have one. Also, the parent plant would benefit greatly from keeping all of its new growth to help it get stronger and thrive.
Treatment
The best thing to do in a case like this, where there are different potentially issues with the plant, is to evaluate its living conditions:
Lighting: I see that your plant is receiving indirect light from a nearby window. Monsteras appreciate bright but gentle light. They will produce the characteristic fenestrations (holes or slots), in their leaves under bright light. The new leaf has enough light to produce slots, but it’s stretching to find brighter light.
I would put it in a slightly sunnier spot, maybe an east-facing or filtered south-facing window. Houseplants can generally adapt to differing light conditions. If it’s struggling with translocation shock, pest infestation or other issues, keeping a plant in its preferred light will best help it adapt.
Watering: Proper watering is not only a matter of when and how much, but also a matter of soil type. Your monstera appears to be planted in a typical potting mix with perlite that is probably fluffy and well-draining. This type of soil makes watering much easier than a compacted, poor-draining mix that holds water and causes root rot.
The key to effective watering is to drench the plant thoroughly on watering day. In the sink, flood the pot until water runs out of the drainage holes. Allow the plant to drain in the sink and move it back to its home, preferably on a saucer or inside a larger pot.
The next watering day depends on how the soil feels to your fingers. It should feel dry about an inch below the surface before you water again. It’s always better to under-water than to over-water! Over-watering could be a factor in the yellowing and aborting of new shoots and leaves. Yellowing can also occur if the plant is under-watered but it would have to be seriously dry for this to happen. You’ll see wilting or leaf curl from under-watering before you see yellowing.
Fertilizing: Apply a water-soluble general purpose fertilizer (full strength according to package directions) every other watering, April through September, the season of active growth. This will provide your plant with nutrients, helping it with new growth and overcome translocation shock. During the off-season, plants aren’t actively growing. It’s best to decrease or even stop fertilizing. Fertilizer salts can build up in potted plants. Flushing them from the soil with plain water many times can help your plant’s health.
Humidity: Monsteras love humidity. Indoors, even in the summer months, most probably don’t get enough. A pebble tray filled with water is a good way to provide humidity to any houseplant. Take a tray that is twice the diameter of your pot. Fill it with pebbles, set it under the plant and add water. The water evaporating in the tray will raise the humidity of the air directly around the plant. Humidity can also be increased by placing plants in groups. Another option is to run a small cool mist humidifier near your plant.
Greener times ahead
“Evaluating and modifying each of these conditions should get this plant on the path to stronger growth,” Davey says to McGoldrick. “Good luck!”
McGoldrick’s moved her plant to a different window and it’s already perking up.
