The Monstera Deliciosa is one of our favorite indoor plants to grow in water! These beautiful houseplants are native to the Central and South Americas and will happily vine up large trees, even climbing up over 50ft. We have Monsteras that have been growing in water for over a year now, and they are doing great. We also have some friends who own Monsteras that have been growing in water for more than a decade!
In our homes and when grown in water, available space for root growth and climbing influences the development of these beautiful plants. We've put together a few tips and tricks we've learned along the way to grow a happy, healthy monstera in water. Keep reading to learn more!
The Monstera Deliciosa is one of our most popular plants to grow in water. Within the first few months, you can generally expect impressive root development and even a new leaf or two during the summer months! You'll even see large aerial roots on many healthy plants.
They are a very beautiful plant that stand out with their distinct broad monstera leaves and robust root systems. Found in almost every U.S. plant store, these easy and vigorous growers are usually the first plant that many people propagate. The Monstera Deliciosa is fun to watch grow in water because their tropical origins make them well acclimated to growing in a wet environment.
Replace the water regularly. Ideally, you should refill the water every week and replace the water every 2 weeks. But, if the 2-week schedule is difficult to maintain, you can go as long as a month (4 weeks) without changing it as long as there is no algae growth.
Replacing water is done to replenish oxygen levels in the water which your monstera deliciosa uses to grow. Lean to a more frequent water replacement schedule if your intent is to promote faster leaf and root growth!
The Monstera Deliciosa can live comfortably in a huge range of lighting conditions, which is why many people gravitate towards Monsteras as their first plant. They tend to grow their best in bright, indirect sunlight but can generally do okay in lower lighting levels if needed. Natural light is ideal, however grow lights are great as well.
You'll know that your monstera is getting insufficient light if you start seeing yellowing leaves.
Since monsteras love to grow, supporting them with additional nutrients in the water can make a really positive impact on plant health and quality of the new heart shaped leaves. Finding the right nutrients is a topic of its own, but we'd recommend finding a nutrient solution intended for hydroponic growth. We have a great nutrient solution to support plant health in our shop that you can check out here.
It's important to regularly check on your Monstera's leaves for clues on how it's doing. Here's a quick checklist we put together to make sure your top plant parents, never missing a step and preventing issues like root rot!
Fun fact, did you know the monstera deliciosa can actually produce edible fruit?
A happy Monstera plant is going to shoot out new leaves quickly, so don't be afraid to remove any damaged or discolored leaves. This will allow your plant to focus its energy on growing healthy roots and leaves. As a rule of thumb, it is generally good to have at least 2 healthy leaves on your Monstera at any given time.
Wiping down your Monstera plants leaves with a damp or dry towel will help it retrieve more light and photosynthesize better.
We like to use a slightly damp microfiber cloth for this process, but there are plant gloves and cleaning sprays that can be purchased if you want to get fancy!
The monstera plant is notorious for sprouting thick and fast-growing roots. Depending on the size of your glass vase, your Monstera may eventually fill out most of the available space with its roots. You may even see an aerial root shoot outside the glass. But, that’s okay! This isn’t a threat to the plant’s well-being as it will just slow its root growth. As long as you give it the necessary care (that stuff we mentioned earlier), it will be happy and healthy.
If you’d like your Monstera to continue to grow, we recommend upgrading to a larger vase.
As we said from the beginning, split leaf philodendron monstera plants will make an excellent first choice for growing plants in water. If you don't have one already growing at home and think you're ready to take the first step, check out our frames and wall hangers. We bundle these with baby monsteras because we really believe everyone should have one as a place to start in their growing-in-water plant journey. Other varieties such as the Monstera Adonsonii, or swiss cheese plant also grow great in water, so have fun experimenting.
