Got this monstera today and when looking up plant care guides I've seen over and over again it be recommended to spilt the plants into separate pots. Is this something that really needs to be done? If so, why do the sellers grow them like this? Just so they look better on the store shelves before the problems become apparent?
by gyngerbread
3 Comments
Great question! Following
it’s not necessary to split the plants. monsteras like being root bound. when they get more mature or when the roots grow out of the pot you can seperate and repot the or choose to keep them together. I personally like to keep them together and have them climb on a stake, you get more foliage with them together but it’s your choice!
Yes. You definitely should split them. They will thank you later. If you don’t split them, They will have problems as they mature. They’ll be fighting for light, resources, and their roots will become a tangled, mangled, mess. They probably already are as big as they are, but they’ll become harder and harder to untangle the longer you wait.
Expect to lose a couple of the smaller leaves. Expect to lose some roots. Monstera roots are super tough, and they can handle some root loss. They may be grumpy for a little while after, but I promise they’ll thank you later.
Sometimes, it’s easiest to soak the root ball, then take a skewer or chopstick to help stick in there and untangle the roots. Spray with a kitchen sprayer or water hose sprayer, repeat until you’ve got them all separated, then pot them up separately. You don’t want the pot to be more than 2 inches bigger than the root ball (the root ball when it’s completely relaxed after the untangle, not when you first unpot it.
You’ll want a support stake for the main stem of each plant, but you don’t want to tie any of your leabes to a stake because they need to be able to turn at will and search for light.