Hey folks,
I'm exploring a long-term project and would love your input.
Monstera deliciosa does produce edible fruit, but it's notoriously unreliable: slow to ripen, full of oxalate crystals if eaten too early, and not very suitable for large-scale harvesting or consumer safety. Despite that, the taste is amazing, like pineapple meets banana, and the plant is wildly popular worldwide.
So here's my question:
Has anyone here experimented with selectively breeding Monstera for better fruit traits?
Or perhaps with speeding up maturity, improving yield, reducing oxalate content, etc.?
I’m considering launching a startup focused on developing and commercializing a new cultivar optimized for fruit production, similar to what happened historically with kiwi or dragon fruit.
I’d love to hear:
- If anyone here has done crosses with Monstera deliciosa or related species
- Any tips for inducing fruiting under controlled conditions
- Thoughts on tissue culture or propagation techniques
- Pitfalls to avoid
Totally open to collaboration or just learning from others who've gone deep into tropicals. Appreciate any advice, even "don’t bother." 🙂
Thanks!
— Lukas (based in Switzerland)
by MordokR
3 Comments
Love this idea, hope you find some success
Hi,
I don’t think reproductive processes can be chemically induced in Monsteras as of yet. AFAIK they are not responsive to GA3. 6-benzylaminopurine does increase biomass accumulation, leaf perforation and leaf initiation, but those are vegetative, not reproductive. For a large scale harvesting technique the plants would ideally need to be synchronized in their flowering, which COULD happen with Ethephon/Ethylene, but I don’t think anybody tried that with Monsteras yet. The long time they take to mature makes all this especially unattractive.
Just some thoughts.
The main reason people grow _M. deliciosa_ is for its ornamental value
Even if you were successful in your goal, you’d have a hard time convincing farmers towould to grow _M. deliciosa_ for their fruits
The ornamental market is more profitable and reliable