Staking Monstera Deliciosa For Beginners

Staking Monstera deliciosa is a contentious issue in the houseplant community. There are several options and they all have pros and cons.

There is no right way to provide support to a Monstera UNLESS you grow a tree in your living room and let it climb, as nature intended.

Consider your budget, how much time you’re willing to spend maintaining it, and your preferences with regards to aesthetics.

I promise you now, for every person growing a beautiful deliciosa up a perfect, homemade moss pole, there are ten others growing just as well up a $5 coir pole.

Do Monstera need to be staked?

No, they’re more than capable of supporting themselves by rooting their aerial roots.

However, sometimes they refuse to grow aerial roots, and they do NOT have any sense of style when they grow, so staking with a moss pole is the easiest way to get a Monstera that fits your decor, rather than looking like something your dog dragged home.

Benefits of staking Monstera

They look tidier
They grow bigger
Their leaves mature more quickly
They’re less likely to get top heavy and snap their stem.

There are also various different benefits to using certain staking methods

A proper moss pole

You can make or buy moss poles. Amazon sell plastic tubes you can fill with moss that work quite well. I have a flexible plastic one on my big Monstera atm.

Benefits of proper moss poles

They can be budget-friendly, especially if you’re making them in bulk
The aerial roots grow into the moss, creating multiple root systems. This is a great way to both increase the water and nutrients that your plant is getting, and increase turgor pressure, stopping Monstera from getting droopy when they get tall
Because the nodes root in the moss, your Monstera will air layer as it grows. When you want to propagate, each node is already rooted.
You can extend them, depending on whether you, er, buy an extendable one. Usually the bought ones click together, and if you DIY one you can ziptie an extension onto the top

Disadvantages to proper moss poles

Sphagnum moss isn’t great for the environment
You have to keep them consistently moist – if they get to dry they become hydrophobic and you have to soak them
Repotting Monstera when you can’t easily remove the moss pole is…tricky. Not impossible, but tricky

Tips for keeping your Monstera’s moss pole moist

Make it wide enough so you can sit a plastic cup in the top. Poke a few tiny holes in the bottom of the cup, and just fill the cup with water to hydrate the pole
If you’re using ready-made pole and it’s not wide enough for a cup, try using an upside-down bottle with holes drilled in the lid
Alternatively, get a pressure sprayer and water the moss pole with that.
Water with nutrient water to boost aerial root growth

Can you fill the pole with something else?

People have experimented with filling moss poles with coir, leca, and perlite. It can work but tend to dry out much quicker than moss, so you have to spray them down daily.

What about self-watering moss poles?

They either don’t work very well OR will end up saturating the substrate your plant’s in. If I find a good one, I’ll update, but it’s a pipe dream atm.

Why is my Monstera droopy?

Trofolia moss pole

A trofolia moss pole is a great idea – an extendable pole that looks like a coir pole but is made of moss. You can buy them here. They’re extremely popular on Reddit.

Benefits of trofolia moss pole

They have a little watering system so you can easily keep the moss hydrated without soaking the soil
The aerial roots can attach by themselves
They’re extendable
You can adjust the length of the base pipe, so if you have a massive pot you can get a super long (mossless) base pipe to ensure the pole is secure
Go to the website and read the reviews. Everyones obsessed.

Disadvantages of a trofolia moss pole

They’re based in Canada, and expensive to buy elsewhere, though they do ship worldwide
Pricier than other products, but I can 100% see why
The roots can’t develop like they could in a regular moss pole, though they can develop much more than they could on a coir pole

A coir pole

Coir poles get bad press, but they’re a perfectly fine, budget option.

Advantages of coir poles

They’re cheap
They sell them all over – Amazon, garden centres
They work perfectly fine
You don’t need to keep them wet – you can try, but they dry out incredibly quickly, and can go mouldy
The aerial roots rarely attach, so when you come to repot it’s easy to remove the pot and then add it again when you’re ready

Disadvantages of coir poles

The aerial roots won’t attach to the coir unless you have really high humidity, or a particularly clingy Monstera
I think they look fine, but loads of people hate them
They’re quite heavy, and can fall over, dragging your Monstera with it if the Monstera doesn’t have a strong root system.
They’re not usually extendable, though I think you can get extendable ones now

A wooden plank

Loads of people swear by using wooden planks for Monstera. I use them for Dubia, but find them too heavy for deliciosa.

Advantages of planks

Cheap and easy to get hold off
The aerial roots attach pretty easily
You can get whatever size you need
Fits a certain aesthetic
Sustainable

Disadvantages of planks

They can rot if you don’t treat them
They’re not sturdy and tend to fall over
The plank bisects the pot, so you need a pot twice the size then what is *should* be. This isn’t an issue – you can just pack the area behind the plank with leca – but it can look a bit weird
Repotting is a pain when you have a plant attached to a plank though you can remove the roots by sliding a knife between the roots and the plank
Not really extendable

syngonium aerial roots attaching to kratiste pole

A Kratiste pole

I have a full review of Kratiste poles here. I love them

Advantages of Kratiste poles

Sustainable – made from elephant grass and potato peels
The aerial roots attach by themselves
You don’t need to water them
They’re lightweight
They’re extendable
Reasonably priced (£8.99 for 90cm at my local garden centre)

Disadvantages of Kratiste poles

The root system doesn’t develop much
They’re not that widely available (yet)
It’s tricky to remove the roots when repotting but they’re so light it doesn’t matter if you accidentally hit yourself on the head

Bamboo canes

Advantages of bamboo canes

Cheap
Available in loads of places
Really long
You can make them into a trellis
Easy to remove when repotting

Disadvantages of bamboo canes

You need a lot to support a Monstera
They can look messy
The roots won’t attach
They’re quite slick – you’ll need to use garden ties to secure

A trellis

I don’t recommend trellis for Monstera deliciosa. I think it’s just a personal thing. They’re great for smaller vining plants like adansonii, but Monstera deliciosa are too…monstrous.

I would only use them if I had several plants in a long rectangular pot – having them all grow up a trellis would look pretty cool.

Advantages of trellis

Cheap (sometimes)
Easy to get hold of
You can combine them to extend
Good for multiple Monstera
Good for if you havea lot of droopy petioles – you shouldn’t really tie up petioles, but if you’re after a certain look, using a trellis with loads of different places to attach the petioles is one way to control errant plants

Disadvantages of trellis

Can be flimsy – fine for young Monstera
You need a wide pot to fit them in
Not suitable for most single-stem Monstera

It’s own aerial roots

This is my preferred method for keeping Monstera upright. It’s easy, free, and it works well.

Advantages of using aerial roots for support

The aerial roots form secondary root systems
Easy and free

Disadvantages of using aerial roots for support

You have to repot more often, because the root system grows much faster than if you don’t root aerial roots.
If the aerial roots don’t grow long enough, you…can’t do it
Plants can grow lopsided

variegated monstera deliciosa growing up jute pole — *jute poles have the same pros and cons as coir, but the aerial roots are more likely to attach. Jute can go mouldy though so I don’t use it*

When should you stake a Monstera

Now, before it’s any bigger and more unruly.

I’m joking, but I’m also not. The earlier you stake your Monstera, the neater it’ll grow.

If you have a large, messy Monstera, you can add a stake and do your best to make it look good, but chances are, you’ll need to chop bits off.

Monstera seedlings are skototropic, which means then grow towards the shade. They want to climb as early as possible, because the sooner they climb, the faster and bigger they can grow.

When Monstera are growing vertically, a hormone triggers, telling them they can grow bigger and faster because there’s more light. It’s the vertical direction that tells them to grow faster, NOT the fact there’s more light (though increasing the light will encourage them to speed up and grow fenestrated leaves).

You can read more about this here:

How to stake a Monstera

It’s easy to stake young Monstera:

Take the plants and soil out of the pot
Fill the pot 1/4 of the way with Monstera potting soil
Add your pole
Add a bit more soil
Add your plants

That’s it! Over time, they should grow so that the aerial roots face the pole and the leaves face out. If you need to, secure the stem (not the petioles) to the stake with greening pins or garden ties.

When it comes to mature Monstera, it gets a bit complicated.

If you’re new to Monstera, and you have several Monstera in one pot, separate them – it’ll make it easier to see what you’re doing. If the stems are straight you can try lining up around the moss pole, but it’s easier to just do one at a time.

You need the aerial roots to face the pole because they’ll attach better. The leaves will just do their own thing, as evidenced by my beast:

You know they say Monstera have a back and front? Not really true unless you stake them. The leaves and aerial roots are all facing the same way here. That’s why I put the pole on the inside of the stem, when it would look…less weird… on the outside.

You can see the stem is starting to bend to the right slightly, which is why I decided to get him on a pole before he bent a weird way. Also, he stopped growing and I’m ready to try anything.

Ok, I hope that was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.

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