Darryl

Thanks for the photos and care details.

New Monstera leaves don’t typically die like this unless the soil is waterlogged and/or lacking in aeration.

If you are just adding water every week without actually checking if enough of the soil has dried out, then you’re creating the conditions for root rot – this is traditionally called “overwatering” – but just watering less frequently than once per week won’t help because the underlying problem is actually lack of light.

Your plant is much too far from the window. With poor light, the plant will hardly use up any of the soil moisture. Slow water usage combined with scheduled watering is a sure way to rot the roots.

Step 1: put the plant right in front of your largest window. Monsteras can take 3-4 hours of direct sun (through a window) so unless your window is exceptionally large and sunny, put it right in front without any curtains.

Step 2a: Watering

WHEN to water a Monstera – your cue to water should be based on OBSERVING the soil dryness (example: checking the dryness with a chopstick 2-3 inches into the soil or lifting the pot). When it is dry to a depth of 2 or 3 inches, then it’s time to water. This can take more than a week with lower light or it could be sooner than a week with a lot of direct sun. The point is to determine when to water based on soil dryness, not a set schedule.

HOW to water a Monstera – once you’ve determined that it’s time to water, the way you should water is to evenly moisten all parts of the soil. If you have drainage holes and a place for excess water to go (in the sink or bathtub), then just keep pouring water (distributing it around the entire surface) until water keeps draining out. Once the water has stopped draining, you can put the plant back in its location.

You don’t need to mist leaves – do it if you enjoy it but don’t feel obligated because it doesn’t really do anything.  I’ve cared for my Monstera for over 10 years (in Toronto, Canada) and never misted nor used humidifiers – it’s doing great:

Step 2b: Fertilizing

I call this Step 2b because fertilizing is often done at the same time as watering (whether by water soluble fertilizer added to your water or by slow-release pellets in the soil). The best NPK ratio for the majority of houseplants is 3-1-2 (for example: 24-8-16 or 12-4-8) or anything with higher N (example: 8-2-2) will also work.

Check what the NPK numbers are on your MiracleGro product – it should be 3 numbers somewhere on the package.

When your plant has good light, then it will need fertilizer to grow well. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for each specific fertilizer.

Step 3: Cutting off the dead leaf

Cut the dead leaf along the petiole at the red line so that the next leaf can still come out from the previous leaf. If you cut farther down (or if that part dies all the way back to the main stem), then it will take much longer for the next leaf to emerge since it has to create a new growth point – it could take several months or a year.

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