My Big Monstera Plant

Years ago, about 25 give or take, I drove to a nursery in Maryland to purchase a Monstera deliciosa, also known as the Swiss Cheese Plant because of the fenestrations (openings) in the leaves. I believe the location was Bell Nursery. I can still remember how hard it was to find at the time, even though I had one as a teenager.

When I was about 14 years old and living in Western New York, I used to travel on my bicycle to a place called Muchow's Nursery. That is where I purchased my first Monstera. Oh, it was SO beautiful. It was lush and full with symmetrical leaves, and the stem was mounted onto a large bark wood stake. I discovered it in a group plant section of the store that felt like a jungle oasis. I don't remember how I got it home, but it would be my first big plant purchase.

Well, this is when I learned about the importance of acclimation. I decided to place the plant on our balcony porch, which received some sun but nothing too harsh (so I thought) during the day. By evening all the leaves on the plant were scorched, and it would die soon after. I was devastated.

Fast forward over two decades later and that is when I purchased my current Monstera, and boy does it have a long history. For years I had it either indoors under moderate light, or outside hanging under a tree to protect it from direct sun. It didn't really grow that much, and the leaves were probably about 10"-12" long max.

The size the plant remained for many years. This is circa 1999-2000.

At one time, a bird built a nest and raised babies in the pot. I could view them through my bedroom window.

Baby birds nesting in the pot in 2005.

Then one day I decided to separate the plant, which had grown a bit straggly, into two pots. And that's when it triggered something miraculous. One of the two cuttings started putting out giant leaves. And by giant, I mean up to 30" in length! And this was even under moderate indoor lighting. The other half maintained leaves about the size of the original plant, and I would call it the sister plant.

I would affectionately call the big one "Monster" from then on. I wondered what had manifested for the plant to grow such showy leaves. In my mind I attributed it to the bird poop that may have entered into the soil during the early years. Who knows. But then I had a problem on my hands.

Monster would soon grow too large for the space it was in, and I'd have to saw off the top stem with two or three leaves and re-root it. I did this several times over 20 years to keep it balanced and not too unwieldy. Then I finally gave in and repotted it in a giant pot and placed it in the middle of the window. This forced me to ditch a chair and move my TV to the other side of the room.

And then...boom! It flowered the following year.

It is very rare for a Monstera to flower indoors, as they are more apt to do so in an outdoor humid environment. But I guess it found all the right parameters indoors to give it a go. It put out two large flowers the first year, and two smaller ones the next. I was amazed. The white spathes were about 10" long. The fruit would take a year to ripen after pollination.

Unfortunately, over the last year I've noticed that the plant has become more than sluggish. New leaves are small and it seems to have stopped growing altogether. A few of the older large leaves gradually turned yellow and I removed them. I had saved the plant from a thrip infestation two years ago, and I think the stress of that and the flowering usurped much of its energy. 

So this week I made the difficult decision to restart the top again, and divide the long stem into several cuttings. I also kept the remaining mother stump in the large pot. With such a large root system already established, it stands a good chance of creating new shoots in the original pot.

Let's hope and pray that, with six possible ways for Monster to regrow itself, I will enjoy the next phase of my treasured plant for many years to come.