Monstera Has light brown spots
Plant: Monstera deliciosa
How long have you had the plant? 1 to 6 months
Concerns:
Leaves don’t have an overall bright green color, but they present some lighter/brownish spots; I thought it was for a previous (to my purchase) infection of some sort, but I got those marks on new leaves as well, like the one in the pic.
Overall plant:
Light Situation:
How do you determine WHEN to water: I follow the schedule I was told/researched for this plant, which is about once a week, but I check the soil before doing the weekly watering.
Describe HOW you water: Fully soak the soil, letting excess drain away
Other notes on watering: After I water the monstera, I get guttation for a few days. I sometimes spray the leaves with water, but only in the evening.
What fertilizer do you use? I have never used fertilizer.
When was the last time you repotted? Less than 6 months ago.
Soil Situation:
Darryl
Thanks! Here’s my assessment and recommendations:
- You have a pretty severe thrips infestation – based on the extent of the leaf damage, I’d say the thrips have been eating away at the leaf for months. You need to treat it consistently if you want to get the infestation under control – more details HERE
- Guttation is completely fine – no need to worry about it
- Don’t waste your time with misting (spraying water on the leaves) – instead, you should focus on spraying insecticidal soap to treat your thrips problem
- In the long-run, your plant will benefit from using fertilizer – my recommendations HERE
If you can get the thrips under control, your Monstera will still grow well, but just to set your expectations, the damaged parts of the plant will never be green again. Cut them off if you find them unsightly – actually, cutting them off will have double benefit of getting rid of any potential thrips eggs that were injected into that leaf.
Monstera deliciosa is a great long-term plant – you can get past the thrips! Good luck!
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