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Cheese plant monster!!

robmurphy.me24405robmurphy.me24405 Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hello there, I need some help please with our beautiful monstera deliciosa, she is growing out of control!! I re-potted her in lockdown as she had outgrown her pot  and she has been thriving ever since. This plant is very dear to my family and is over 50 years old so I can't mess this up!! Ideally we want to trim her back and re-pot her again but I'm unsure of what to do without damaging her. Can we simply cut the node where it comes out of the soil and re-pot or would this be catastrophic?!? Any help on this would be much appreciated as she is taking over our whole kitchen with the most gigantic beautiful leaves xxxx

Posts

  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    edited November 2023
    I too have an enormous MD and have pruned it HARD over the past two years.

    If it were me, I would cut midway between the first and second leaf (i.e. remove two leaves).

    Pot up the two leaves that you have removed, carefully burying the aerial roots and cut end of the stem. Then, remove the leaf nearest to your cut end so you now have a new plant in a new pot with ONE leaf. Place somewhere well lit but out of the sun. Water it well initially and then leave it. All being well the aerial roots will expand and start to root outwards into the new soil.

    Additionally to this you will still have the original plant but with one large leaf remaining. Firstly i would tie the stem up against your moss pole so it grows upright and not out into your room (these are a climbers in the wild like our ivy here - i've seen them all over the tropics up enormous trees!). Care for this plant as you have previously. All being well it should branch out from the stem which will result in a more filled out plant.

    Either keep or give away the new heirloom cutting to a family member. 
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    If that plant is over 50 years old, then far from being a monster it is a bonsai! 
    About 20 years ago, when the school where I worked closed, I acquired a plant about the same size that had been languishing in my classroom and began to take care of it.
    This year I re-potted it into a 45cm tub with a refurbished moss pole and tied up trailing stems. It now has 20 leaves with new ones on the way and gives one corner of the room a real jungle feeling. I love it :)
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I was going to say the same as @Buttercupdays - that looks pretty small for a mature Monstera! I think @McRazz 's approach is probably the way to go if you don't want to move it into an even bigger pot, but just giving it a bigger moss pole and tying it in would help to keep it more upright.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    Buttercupdays said:
    If that plant is over 50 years old, then far from being a monster it is a bonsai! 
    About 20 years ago, when the school where I worked closed, I acquired a plant about the same size that had been languishing in my classroom and began to take care of it.
    This year I re-potted it into a 45cm tub with a refurbished moss pole and tied up trailing stems. It now has 20 leaves with new ones on the way and gives one corner of the room a real jungle feeling. I love it :)
    Yeah, mine is just over a decade old and I've probably cut away 5x the growth as photographed above. Perhaps Robmurphy's is an heirloom cutting from an original plant? 

    As you say when these things are happy they go nuts. When these were really popular 30 odd years ago it seemed like every municipal building reception was a jungle!
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    Agree that the way to go is to take off some cuttings to start new plants. I started my cuttings in water, they started producing roots very quickly and from two plants, I’ve ended up with well over a dozen. I’ve been donating them to friends and family, and anyone else I can get to take them! And the original plants are doing very well, and threatening to take the house over again!
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    Those are some beautiful mature leaves, the fenestrations are impressive. As it's a special family plant I would get another pot of compost and put some of the aerial roots in that to root and once they have you can feel safer dividing the plant. We have one in our family that isn't quite as old but it's in its fifth decade.
  • robmurphy.me24405robmurphy.me24405 Posts: 2
    McRazz said:
    I too have an enormous MD and have pruned it HARD over the past two years.

    If it were me, I would cut midway between the first and second leaf (i.e. remove two leaves).

    Pot up the two leaves that you have removed, carefully burying the aerial roots and cut end of the stem. Then, remove the leaf nearest to your cut end so you now have a new plant in a new pot with ONE leaf. Place somewhere well lit but out of the sun. Water it well initially and then leave it. All being well the aerial roots will expand and start to root outwards into the new soil.

    Additionally to this you will still have the original plant but with one large leaf remaining. Firstly i would tie the stem up against your moss pole so it grows upright and not out into your room (these are a climbers in the wild like our ivy here - i've seen them all over the tropics up enormous trees!). Care for this plant as you have previously. All being well it should branch out from the stem which will result in a more filled out plant.

    Either keep or give away the new heirloom cutting to a family member. 
    Thank you for your response, its given confidence on how to approach the situation!! Such a lovely plant, everytime a new leaf appears I'm like wow :)
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