Darryl

Thanks for the photos and care details. Here are several problems I’ve noticed:

1. Your soil looks way too dense. It needs to be “indoor soil” or “potting soil”, which is fluffier and contains perlite (looks like white gravel). Get yourself a bag of potting soil and repot this plant – gently shake off most of this old soil. You can use the same pot.
2. This is the wrong way to tie up a Monstera against a moss pole. Only the main vine (technically called the stem) should be tied to the pole, not the petiole (the stalk that attaches the leaf to the main vine). See below for an example – note, this plant is more mature.
3. The plant is much too far from your window. The plant needs to be right in front – it needs to be able to “see the sky” as much as possible. You only need to diffuse direct sun if it will shine on the plant longer than 3 hours (you can use a white sheer curtain for this) – but if the sun shines directly on the plant for less than 3 hours, you don’t need to block it.
4. Spraying water into the soil everyday is the wrong way to water. Once the plant is getting good light (see previous note), then the time to water is when the soil is about halfway dry (that is, dry at the top two inches of soil but still somewhat moist near the very bottom). You have to observe the soil dryness rather than adhere to an arbitrary schedule. In terms of HOW to water: pour water into the soil (from a watering can or the tap) until every part of the soil is soaked and the extra water is draining out of the drainage hole.

It’s important to note that even if you correct all of the above things, the lowest leaves will still turn yellow and die off because that’s the normal progression of leaves – the oldest leaves on a plant will turn yellow and die off as new ones grow. Once they turn fully yellow, just cut them off. Leaves have a limited lifespan.

In your case, the leaves are dying sooner than expected because of the combination of poor soil and light.

Good luck!

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