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Help please Monstera

h.dora85h.dora85 Posts: 4
in Problem solving
Hello, 
I am wondering if anyone could helo. I have this Monstera for 4 years now. Couple of months ago started to have problems, havent changed anything (place, watering) . Replanted I was not sure what's wrong. It is getting worse. Could you advise please? Thanks

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Posts

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    edited February 2023
    It certainly does look a bit sad!
    I'm no expert but I've had mine now for 20 years and have learned how to keep it happy.
    Not too hot or cold, out of direct sunlight, but with plenty of indirect light. Best away from a radiator as it reduces humidity, but mine is next to a small one and doesn't seem to mind.
    Watering for me is a bit haphazard, but I never let it get very dry or very wet. I don't feed it much, but it gets some seaweed feed occasionally or some nettle tea for nitrogen.
    It is now a very large plant in a very large tub and could do with re-potting. I may need a forklift!
    I can't say for certain what the problem is with yours, but here are some  things to think about. Sorry for all the questions, but they may lead you to a solution.
    You say you haven't changed the watering or the position. The soil does look a bit dry, but that may be a trick of the light. Is it dry or is it sitting in water inside that outer pot? If you re-potted it, any possibillity the roots may have got damaged? Is the pot actually big enough? What compost did you use, it will need more than just MPC, more likely with John Innes 2 or 3 as well.
    Have you given it a strong feed, could it have got too hot?
    Hope you find some answers. :)

  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    It looks possibly over watered. I had a huge one and barely watered it - even in summer it only got a soak every couple of months. Might that be it, maybe the new soil is good at retaining moisture? 

  • h.dora85h.dora85 Posts: 4
    Can't figure it out, I always check the soil before watering it. 
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited February 2023
    Cache-pots can be a problem.  Always check that it is empty of water within 1 hour of watering.

    But it obviously isn't loved.  If it were mine all the dead leaves would habe been removed, and the half-dead one would have had the dead parts trimmed off.  (apologies if you left it like it is for the photo.)

    It doesn't need a big pot; it's an epiphyte, it does have aerial roots.  Or rather it should have, but I can't see any.  Maybe it is not kept humid enough.  It's been a hard winter and your room might have had the heater working harder, maintaining the usual temperature, but reducing the humidity.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Is it in a conservatory?  Or somewhere where the overnight temperatures might drop quite low ... especially in the very cold snap a couple of months ago?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Maybe you turned the heating down (as I'm sure many of us have) to save a bit on the gas/electricity bill? Do you now what the overnight low temperatures were like in that room when we had the cold snap in early December that more-or-less coincided with the start of your Monstera problem?
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I was thinking that it looks very like Monsteras I've seen that have been in student homes, when the students have all gone home for the Christmas holiday and the house has been left unheated ... the students return in mid Jan and the Monstera looks like yours ... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • h.dora85h.dora85 Posts: 4
    JennyJ said:
    Maybe you turned the heating down (as I'm sure many of us have) to save a bit on the gas/electricity bill? Do you now what the overnight low temperatures were like in that room when we had the cold snap in early December that more-or-less coincided with the start of your Monstera problem?
    Hello JennyJ, thanks for your comment. I haven't changed the settings for heating from the previous years (it was never on proper high). I think it's started earlier then that - but slowly. I repotted two weeks ago and this is the 2 weeks result :( 
  • h.dora85h.dora85 Posts: 4
    Dovefromabove said:
    I was thinking that it looks very like Monsteras I've seen that have been in student homes, when the students have all gone home for the Christmas holiday and the house has been left unheated ... the students return in mid Jan and the Monstera looks like yours ... 
    Hi, thanks for your message. 
     I was thinking the same first but haven't changed the the teperature and literally every day getting worst. 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Um ... stick your finger down into the compost as far as it will go ... is it dry or damp down there?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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