Comments on: How to Get Fenestrations (Splits & Holes) In Monstera Deliciosa Leaves

By: Caroline

Caroline — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 08:17:34 +0000

In reply to Simone. Oh, it’s so exciting that you grew them from seed! I need to try that. It sounds like they’re growing quickly, so the over feeding must be working. I guess all the factors (rain + humidity +light + nutrients) are balanced really well. You’ll have a group of monster monstera in no time!

By: Simone

Simone — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 14:21:03 +0000

I came across your post trying to read up on encouraging fenestrations on monstera deliciosas. I grew mine from seed. When I ordered the seeds, they germinated in transit so all I had to so was to plant them. I planted them on February 1 this year and just yesterday, the largest of the bunch opened up a leaf with a split. I was so happy! I wasn’t expecting it to be that fast! I was soooo happy I told my family and friends. HAHA!
The plants were just recently repotted because having grown them from seed, they shared a single pot. When I separated them, for the potting mix, I used a seed raising soil-mess medium (because that was the only one I had that time) and added a bit of pumice and rice hull. I placed it outdoors, on the west side, under the shade of large tree. I live in a tropical country and it was heavily raining the past few weeks so I only watered the plants once a week. I used to fertilize once a week too (yes, I’m experimenting on overfeeding them), but since it has been raining a lot recently, I only fertilize every other week. So far, the plants are liking it.
I’m just so happy I’m sharing it with you 🙂 I will continue giving it ample light and water to encourage growth and I will have to try pruning the tiny bottom leaves. Thanks for the advice!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 11:35:56 +0000

In reply to Tiffany Bevan. OOOOO I’m definitely going to give mine a little prune and see if I get the same results! Thanks so much for the tip! Haha yes it’s incredible how much additional water one new leaf requires. Growing veg plants from seed has made me super aware of that.

By: Tiffany Bevan

Tiffany Bevan — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 17:27:22 +0000

Such a great article! Thank you so much. Also trimming the bottom leaves definitely works. My new leaves were about 4-6 centimeters wider each time, so I went and chopped off 2 bottom leaves off and the next new leaf was twice the size. I was blown away. I let that one establish and the new one was only slightly bigger, so I chopped another bottom off and the next one was huge again. Absolutely blew my mind!

I was so unprepared for how much more water it would need with the new leaves and they ended up a bit rippled on the edges due to lack of watering, so do be wary of that!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 15:10:37 +0000

In reply to Kasper.

Definitely – some people claim plants prefer it, but I don’t know how scientific their research is! As long as it’s not too hot, they should be fine.

By: Kasper

Kasper — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 15:49:22 +0000

Hello! Can I use a warm humidifier for humidity? Thank you!

I love your blog! So informative!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 13:46:33 +0000

In reply to Hannah. Thanks for sharing! Often the younger ones with splits are cuttings from older plants - it's a great way to get a smaller plant with splits since the large ones can be quite unruly!

By: Hannah

Hannah — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 19:41:53 +0000

Hi! So I have a monstera that spilt at a very young age its at least 1 foot. It has one current spilt leaf and 2 other’s coming in. I have no idea how its growing so fast lol. I’ve only had him since around september or nevember? (Last year) He was small when I got him. The people at lowes labeled him as philodendron so for 3 months I was taking care of a philo . After reading your post about the three reasons they spilt, I do think it is because of light. I’ve never given him a shower (until today) nor had him outside. He’s always in the sun as much as possible though. And every now and then the really tiny leaves will turn yellow after a watering. (I water him every friday accept for this week due to transplanting and showering him) I don’t know if this will help you with your monstera but here ya go 😀

By: Caroline

Caroline — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 07:05:24 +0000

In reply to Brittany.

When they emerge they’re either split or they’re not (though some people do cut them, but I do NOT recommend doing that)- they won’t split once they’ve unfurled. The younger leaves are lighter in colour and then harden and darken over time – that’s totally natural.

Monstera only develop splits if they need to – some people shake them to emulate wind (I have no idea if that works), but increasing the amount of light will encourage larger leaves with splits in.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 21:49:29 +0000

Hi, how do I know when my Monstera leaves are going to split? Do they start to go brown in places or do they curl up? There is quite a lot of leaves and is growing well, I got it in august with 2 of the biggest leaves already split and then a few weeks ago a curled up leaf appeared from nowhere and started to unfurl with the holes over the next few weeks and is a lot lighter in colour than the rest but starting to get darker in colour. I have read through a lot of your article but can’t seem to find anything about it (I may just be blind). Any help or advice would be appreciated as this is my first proper plant and really want to look after it, thanks