Swiss cheese plant

The Monstera arrived in European glasshouses from the forests of southern Mexico and Central America, where it climbs trees with aerial roots and produces a fruit that tastes of pineapple and banana, hence the name deliciosa. Indoors it does the same thing on a smaller scale, which tells you most of what it wants: dappled light, a support to climb, and a root run that never sits in water.

Light

Put it within a metre or two of an east or west window, or a little back from a south window with the direct sun filtered by a sheer curtain. In a dim corner it will survive for a long time on its reserves, but the leaves will come out small and solid. Turn the pot a quarter turn every week or two so it grows evenly rather than leaning at the glass.

Water

The most common way to lose a Monstera is kindness. The mix should dry to a depth of 3 to 5 cm between waterings, which in a warm room in summer is about once a week and in winter closer to once a fortnight. Water thoroughly when you do, until it drains through, and never leave the pot standing in a full saucer.

Feeding and repotting

Feed monthly at half strength while it is growing, roughly spring to early autumn, and stop over winter. Repot every second year in spring, one size up, into a chunky mix that lets air reach the roots. A moss pole or a sturdy stake, tied loosely, gives the aerial roots something to grip and produces larger, better-split leaves.

Propagation

Take a cutting in spring or early summer with at least one node, the raised band where a leaf and an aerial root emerge, and ideally a piece of aerial root as well. A cutting without a node will never root, however many leaves it carries. Stand it in water, changing the water weekly, or push it into damp compost under a clear cover, and expect roots in three to six weeks. Pot it once the roots are five centimetres long.

Air layering is the tidier method for a plant that has grown tall and bare at the bottom. Wrap damp moss around a node on the main stem, hold it there with a bag or a cut plastic bottle, and cut below it once the moss is full of roots.

Ailments

Yellowing lower leaves almost always mean the roots have been wet too long. Brown, crisp edges point the other way, to dry air or a missed watering. A plant that produces only solid leaves is asking for more light. Check the ledger above for the fixes.

Humidity and warmth

It is comfortable in ordinary room humidity and will not complain, but the leaves are larger and the edges stay clean in a room that is a little damp. A bathroom with a window suits it well. Keep it above 10 degrees and away from the draught of a door in winter, because cold air on a large soft leaf leaves dark patches that never fade.

Support and aerial roots

The thick brown cords that come out of the stem are aerial roots, and in the forest they anchor the plant to a trunk and take up water from the bark. A Monstera without something to climb sprawls sideways, keeps its leaves small and eventually cannot hold itself up. A moss pole or a sturdy stake, tied loosely as the plant grows, gives it what it wants: the leaves get larger with every node it climbs, and the splits and holes that people buy the plant for appear sooner. Push the aerial roots into the pole or the compost rather than cutting them off. They can be trimmed if they are in the way, and the plant recovers, but each one removed is a little less of the water and grip it was built to use.

Ailments

Yellow lower leaves are the commonest complaint, and the compost is nearly always damp when you check. Brown crisp edges are the opposite, or dry air. New leaves that come out solid, with no splits at all, are a light problem on a plant that is old enough to know better. Black soft stems at the base are root rot and are the one thing here that will kill the plant. The ledger below has the rest.