Monstera Deliciosa - a quick plant care guide

If there’s one plant that I'd recommend to anyone who wants something simple to look after, it would be the monstera deliciosa. I first came across the monstera deliciosa in the 90s. My parents had a gigantic one which they bought from a garage sale. They kept it indoors and as a kid, I thought the leaves looked soo frightening - it was the weirdest looking plant I’ve ever seen and I totally thought it was a monster! The plant eventually outgrew its pot and was planted in our front garden, much to my delight - I was honestly quite confused by its appeal and wondered often why people even wanted to keep plants indoors to begin with. Its leaves now stretch more than 50cm in size and its totally overgrown and as luscious as ever. It’s humungous, really!A decade later, and I've actually taken quite a liking to this plant and also, totally get the appeal of plants inside! In fact, my first indoor plant was actually a cutting from this very overgrown monstera that my parents picked up all those years ago. My dad helped me cut off an off shoot and carefully planted it into a pot to bring it back indoors again. Everything I hated about the plant became something I loved - the leaves and little holes in them were so beautiful - I loved the plant so much that I decided to get another baby one a few months later. Both plants have been doing great, despite inconsistent care. I'd say this plant packs in great value in that for little effort, you can raise a beautiful large plant. Monstera deliciosas are such statement plants as well - they really brighten up any corner and gives your interior an instant tropical kind of feel. So for someone who would lovea plant that looks the part but doesn’t require much work, I’d definitely recommend a monstera deliciosa.

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Here's a quick plant care guide, for those not already acquainted! PS I'm not a plant expert, I just love plants, these are just some notes I've kept based on my experience with the plant.LIGHTLike most indoor plants, the monstera deliciosa is a tropical plant and requires bright, indirect light. As mentioned before, this would be best described as somewhere you can read a book comfortable during the day, that doesn’t receive direct sun rays. If a certain corner looks too dark to grow a plant, it probably is. WATERI water my monstera deliciosa plants when the top layer of the soil has dried out, however it has also gone long periods without water at times and also been watered a bit more frequently when I forget when I last watered it. I would say this plant generally bounces back and is a tough fighter. It seems to do fine despite my inconsistent watering schedules.BUGSA lot of my plants have had bug infestations come and go, but the monstera deliciosa has always seemed to keep out of trouble and doesn't seem to attract any bugs. This alone makes this plant perfect for a beginner.POTSThe monstera deliciosa has thick roots and a pretty big root system. I’d recommend repotting your plant every couple of years - mine is definitely due for a repotting soon - it's lived in the same pot since I got it at half the size. A repotting is good as often the soil runs out of nutrients or breaks down and compresses too much, so it's good to get in some fresh soil to help the plant grow. The monstera deliciosa often shoots out aerial roots, which you can try to direct back into the soil. If they really bother you, you can often cut them off without much harm - the plant depends on its soil roots more than the aerial ones.STAKINGIt’s very common that you will need to eventually stake your monstera deliciosa, as it does grow in a vine like fashion and can start to get unruly. You can stake with anything, the most common option is a totem pole but you can also use a bamboo stake and little wire ties etc. as well. Staking is great because you can train it to grow a certain direction or look a certain way. As you can see, I've trained my monstera to have all its leaves face the same direction.I hope this helps with any beginner plant mamas and plant papas looking to adopt a monstera deliciosa into their home!