Monstera adansonii Care

Monstera adansonii (sometimes known as “swiss cheese vine” or “monkey mask”) enjoying a lot of popularity right now, and it’s well deserved! M. adansonii is an eye-catcher and a conversation piece with its delicate, fenestrated foliage — but better yet, its care isn’t difficult at all.

Potting

Choose a chunky, porous potting mix that allows for good drainage but retains some moisture. Mine is in a mix of potting soil, orchid bark, horticultural charcoal, and perlite, but you may also want to mix in some peat. (You can read more about different soil amendments here!) These plants look lovely in hanging baskets or trailing from the top of a bookcase, but they can also be climbers if you’d rather train yours to grow up a totem.

Fertilizer

If you use a potting soil with fertiliser already in, you shouldn’t need to fertilise for about six months after potting. Beyond that, you can give it a well-balanced indoor plant fertiliser during the growing season. If you would like to understand fertilizer a bit more, click here.

Light

Find a spot with bright indirect light — mine lives near a southern/south-western exposure window. Since M. adansonii would naturally live in the shade of larger plants and trees, it doesn’t want direct sunlight.

Watering/Humidity

M. adansonii likes to stay moist, but not soggy or water-logged. Your potting mix will have a great deal to do with this, and so will a pot with adequate drainage. Water when the top inch or so of soil is dry. About once a week works for mine, but it will depend on your home’s environmental factors.

If your home is very dry, consider setting up a humidifier to be sure there is adequate humidity; M. adansonii hails from the tropical jungle regions and loves a lot of humidity.

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