Plant Sit Tips: Monstera Deliciosa Propagation

Monstera Deliciosa’s (also known as the Swiss Cheese Plant) can grow particularly fast when in the right environment & get unruly very quickly. You have two choices: embrace the chaos or propagate your Monstera to create some offspring & add to your collection.

Our Monstera was not looking terribly happy; we had had it for years & it was suffering from a bout of mealybug, so we decided to take a cutting to ensure that some of it lived on. There are a few ways you can propagate, but we decided upon the rooting method of adding our cutting to water before transferring it into some compost of its own.

Top tip: It is best to propagate during the spring/summer months when your plant is out of its dormant period & likely to grow. This doesn’t mean you can’t do it in the winter, but for the best results, we have found March onwards to work better.

1. Find the Node

Take a look at your plant, and find the “node”. This looks kind of like a little nubin and is located at an intersection.

2. Take the cutting

Using a sharp, clean knife or some scissors, cut just below the node. A clean cutting is key, and leave this cutting for 24 hours before putting it in water in order to form a callous over the “wound” so that infection is less likely.

3. Add you cutting to water

Take a clean vessel, such as a bottle/glass/jar and add some water along with your cutting. The water will need to be refreshed around once a week.

Top tip: We have found that a darker bottle (brown or green vs clear) seems to work better on some occasions. Let us know what has worked for you!

4. Be patient!

This process is not one to take just a couple of days. We have had cuttings in water for months, although some grow faster than others. Make sure your cutting is positioned in a bright spot, but with indirect light only so that the leaves don’t get scorched - very similar to your mother Monstera plant.

5. Time to repot

Once you have noticed a good amount of root growth it is time to pot into some soil. Make sure you have a suitable nursery pot with drainage holes, and one that is not too big so your cutting won’t get lost. The compost I tend to use is a peat-free multi-purpose comopst, which most garden centres will have.

Add the soil to your pot, create space for your cutting & then top up once you are happy with the positioning.

6. Water & watch flourish

Don’t forget to water your new plant, ensuring the water comes out of the bottom of your pot.

If you have any questions please let us know! We would also love to see your Monstera cuttings, so please tag us in your propagation posts on instagram 🌿