One of the best parts of growing the Monstera Deliciosa indoors is it can grow into a big cornerstone to create a jungle-like interior. This plant, however, tends to grow outward instead of upward when grown indoors. That said, training a Monstera Deliciosa to grow upwards is a must.
To train a Monstera Deliciosa, you need to use a moss pole or a totem pole, or you can use a stake or trellis or anything its aerial roots can cling to so it can pull itself up to as greater height as it possibly can. It needs ‘training’ to grow upwards – vertically – as opposed to taking up a lot of space and growing in a mess, horizontally.
How to Train Monstera Deliciosa to Grow Upward
Some people like to have their Monstera trailing on the floor. This, however, can have your floor covered with giant leaves. Your plant can also take up a lot of space.
If you do not provide support for your Monstera, chances are, it will find its own. It may start climbing up your nearby bookshelves or walls.
Removing the aerial roots of your plant from the wall or bookshelf may damage the paint job. So, keep your plant away from things it could climb.
Surely, you prefer a nice-looking Monstera Deliciosa. However, staking or training Monstera Deliciosa is critical.
Use a Moss Pole
A moss pole is the most popular vertical support for your Monstera. It can take the place of a tree.
It does not mean that your plant will not grow without the help of a moss pole. It will, but it will grow better if it has something to climb such as a moss pole.
The role of the moss pole is to train your Monstera to grow upright. A moss pole is an upright pole that is covered in sphagnum moss. It stakes directly on the pot and with your plant.
When you stick a moss pole onto your pot with Monstera Deliciosa, its natural surface gives the roots of the plant something to grab onto and extract moisture from. The moss pole functions as a surrogate tree.
A moss pole not only supports the heavy leaves and stems of your Monstera, but also allows your plant to behave in the same manner it would in the wild.
This Is How Training Monstera Deliciosa Goes:
• Prepare The Following:
• Potted Monstera Deliciosa
• Soft plant ties, cotton string, or yarn.
• Moss totem (tube-like support filled with moisture-absorbing sphagnum moss)
• Place your moss totem in a shallow container filled with water. Soak the moss totem until thoroughly moistened.
• Stick the strong metal tubes at the bottom of the moss pole deep down into the soil. Make sure to keep the pole uptight.
• Slightly nestle it behind the plant. Press the soil gently at the base of the totem to stabilize it.
• Introduce your Monstera to its new “tree.”
• Encourage a stem to attach to the totem by bringing the stem up against the moss.
• Secure the stem to the stem gently but firmly with the use of a piece of yarn, plant tie, or cotton string.
• Tie long stems in different places of the totem to secure them.
• Repeat the above step with all the large stems.
• Look at how you secure the stems to the totem. Make sure the shape of your Monstera is how you like it.
Over time, your Monstera Deliciosa will naturally attach itself to the moss totem with its aerial roots.
It will then grow upwards on its new “tree.” You have now been successful in training Monstera Deliciosa to grow upright.
How to Care for a Monstera Deliciosa on a Totem
Taking care of your Monstera on a totem is like how you would care for it if you did not stake it – with one additional step.
The additional step is to make sure you occasionally mist the moss. Moistened moss will encourage your Monstera to cling to its support.
Finding moisture in the moss will allow its aerial roots to keep on growing into it.
Continue with your usual care of the plant when it was still without its moss totem.
• Make sure your Monstera Deliciosa is planted in a well-draining pot.
• Allow the top one or two-inch of the soil to be completely dry before watering.
• Place your plant in an area where it will get sufficient bright, indirect light.
• Make sure to occasionally turn around your Monstera to keep it from leaning one way or another because it is searching for the best source of light.
Your Monstera will benefit a lot with a moss totem. It will not only grow healthier, but it will look so much better, too.
Reasons to Train and Provide Support to Your Monsteras Deliciosa
There are three major reasons to provide support and training Monstera Deliciosa to grow upright is a must:
To Replicate its Natural Habitat
In the wild, a Monstera Deliciosa is attached to a tree. It uses its aerial or anchor roots as support so it can climb the tree to get better sunlight.
The Monstera’s roots function to support it rather than to absorb nutrients.
Providing anything that acts as a tree can support your Monsteras as if it was in the wild.
To Grow Taller and with Bigger Leaves and Encourage Fenestrations
The aerial roots of your Monsteras wrap around a tree to absorb nutrients and water for an extra boost.
In the wild, Monsteras can grow tall, and the extra water allows the upper leaves to be hydrated so they can grow bigger.
The support given to the Monsteras Deliciosa encourages it to focus its energy on growing heavy and big fenestrated leaves so it will not flip over.
To Avoid a Messy-Looking Monstera Deliciosa
With proper vertical support, your Monstera will grow outward instead of upright when it grows bigger. Its aerial roots will tend to search for support and will, therefore, grow sideward toward the ground.
If it does not get enough sunlight, your Monsteras will be searching for a tree to climb so they can reach more sunlight.
How to Make Monstera Deliciosa Grow Upright
The best way is to make your Monstera Deliciosa grow upright is to make it climb something, so it can grow upward instead of trailing. In short, to grow upright, you may need to provide a vertical support or a stake for your plant
When you provide a support structure for your Monstera Deliciosa, you are training it to follow its natural tendency for climbing. This may make your plant have larger leaves and grow into a healthier plant.
Supporting the posture of your Monstera with a moss pole or a stake provides many benefits. Being epiphytes, your Monstera, by nature, grows vertically by climbing on plants around them, mostly trees.
It can be difficult for the epiphytic behavior of your Monstera Deliciosa when it is potted and grown indoors. All it wants to do is to climb and grow upwards.
You can tie and train this natural climber to grow up with a vertical support or in short, you can stake it.
Your Monstera Deliciosa will cling to its stake, hold it stems straight, and reach upward to give it a good posture and make it look its best.
A stake will support the heavy base of your Monstera and take the load off its roots. This will allow you to tuck the Monstera’s roots under the soil, so they are unseen.
More Interesting Facts about your Monstera Deliciosa
Monstera Deliciosa is a popular and cool houseplant for many reasons.
The wide, dark-green, and glossy leaves provide a tropical look for your home when grown with the right conditions. This plant grows quickly, too.
Monstera Deliciosa. Being epiphytic, is a type of plant that grows vertically through the support of other plants like orchids and bromeliads. The difference, though between these plants is orchids and bromeliads do not fall off because they are compact.
Monsteras grow to be large plants and with their climbing growth habit, they will lose their balance if they do not have any support.
While still small, Monsteras are light, thus, they can stand up and carry their own weight. However, as they get larger, and they have nothing to hold on to.
Their weight of their stems and leaves will make them grow towards the floor because they are searching for support.
If it is planted in a small pot, there is a tendency for your Monstera to become unbalanced and knock over the pot.
Final Thoughts
If you are a new grower of Monstera Deliciosa, don’t be surprised to find your once vertically growing house plant to be growing outwards or sideways and consume more horizontal space.
Inserting a totem moss pole on the pot is the best training Monstera Deliciosa to help it to grow upright.
Aside from a totem moss, a coco coir pole, or stakes, a trellis can also be used as support for your Monstera. You can also have other options because the Monstera Deliciosa can adapt to climbing different sorts of supports you train it to climb.
Once you get used to these ‘Delicious Monsters’ (common name) they will delight you and be a constant source of pleasure. Training them will then seem easy to you.
Jenny Marie
Tribal Writer
Edited by
Patricia Godwin
