The roots seem to have rotted and the leaves are starting to turn yellow. I bought the monstera and put in water just over a week ago. I literally have no clue what I could be doing wrong.
-Its been put a north facing window (I don’t think this this is an issue as I have another monstera (in soil) there that is perfectly fine)
-I have put fertiliser/plant food pellets inside the water
-Many of the roots are super fragile, I gently tugged on some and they instantly came off
Im unsure if I should place it in soil as the roots are very weak and I fear the rot will still occur in the soil.
Any advice or tips would be appreciated! 🥲
by waterl0tus
11 Comments
Change the water daily, or better yet add an air stone to add oxygen!
First, use an enzyme cleaner. Leave it for 24 hours in a mixture of the enzyme cleaner and distilled water. Then, snip off the black roots with a sterilized pair of scissors and do your best to leave the rest intact. Put it in a new solution of the same mixture for another 24 hours. Then place it into a medium of coco coir and perlite, and nothing else. Water it with a mixture of a cup of distilled water and a cap of hydrogen peroxide to introduce more oxygen.
If the stem starts turning black, forget it. Its very difficult to save a plant at that point.
I would take off any rotted roots (dead leaves too) and spray them with hydrogen peroxide and put them in new fresh water. Don’t constantly change the water, just add more as it gets low.
It’s acclimating. A lot of the land roots will melt back and new water roots will grow back just change water every week/other week. It might even melt back some leaves tbh
Also use a rooting hormone and not fertilizer, which should only be introduced gradually once the roots are established.
I would just clean and take off the rotted roots as they come. Eventually, aquatic roots will grow that can stand to live in water. Monstera can be fully aquatic to my knowledge- I’ve had cuttings kept in a jar for years that did well
When you bought it was it in soil? Or why did you put put it in water in the first place
It was in soil and you took it out to put it in water?? Why?
Roots that were in soil won’t do well in water, you can actually just trim them off so they don’t rot your water. It needs to grow new roots which will allow it to sit in water.
It also doesn’t look like it’s getting enough light, which means less energy to grow new roots.
So… something similar happens in the aquatic plant world.
Changing a plant’s environment shocks them and it causes “melt” or die-off of leaves and/or roots.
In this case, you took a plant whose roots were acclimated to being in soil/potting mix, and then putting it in 100% water.
The roots aren’t used to that, so they’re dying. And since they’re dying, they can’t support the leaves and so now the leaves are dying, too.
Gently remove and trim away the rotting roots. Then dip what’s left in a rooting hormone and place back I. The water.
Leave the wilting/dying leaves alone until they are well and truly dead. Then trim them away. You might lose a few more along the way. But eventually, the plant will re-acclimate itself and spring back.
You can’t use normal fertilizer on watee..
It’s best to use hydroponic fertilizer