Monster was brought to us from the tropical forests of India, Central and South America. Under natural conditions, there are more than 50 species, but only four of them grow as a houseplant, most often to a delicacy monster and its varieties.
Monstera is a perennial evergreen climbing plant that grows up to 6 m and therefore needs support. The stem of the monster is quite thick, dense with aerial roots. Young leaves are intact, they are perforated with age, and then completely become cut. The monster has an interesting feature: after copious watering or in cloudy weather, droplets of water appear on the leaves. Thus, she gets rid of excess moisture, squeezing her through a special stomata.
For successful breeding at home monsters, you should know the basic rules of care, transplantation and reproduction.
Monsters: Care
- Location . Monstera prefers dim lighting, so it can be grown even in the shade. Choosing a place for it, you need to consider that the monster leaves always turn themselves to the light source, so it is better to put it in a corner near the window. The temperature in the room should be in the summer of 20 - 25 ° C, and in winter - not lower than 16 ° C.
- Watering . There is no clear timetable for how often to water a monster, it depends on when the top layer of earth in the pot dry. Watering is carried out very abundantly with constant water at room temperature. In winter, the soil should be slightly moist, and in the summer the monster needs to be sprayed 1-2 times a day and wipe the leaves with a damp sponge. If the room is dry, then airy roots should be wrapped in moistened moss sphagnum.
- The soil . For planting monsters you need to take a fertile and loose ground, suitable ready-made substrate for arid or ornamental plants.
- Transplantation . Transplanting monsters at home should be done quite often: in the first three years - 2 times a year, from 3 to 5 years - annually, and then - once in 2-3 years. When planting and transplanting into the pot, a layer of drainage should be put.
- Top dressing . Feed the monster with fertilizer for ornamental plants, Humisol and Epin according to the system: in the summer - once a week, and in winter - 2-3 times a month. Foliar dressing should be carried out in the summer with Mochevin K-6.
Monstera - reproduction
There are several ways how you can multiply a monster:
- cuttings (the most common);
- air roots;
- seeds.
Monster - Diseases and Problems
Most often, stem fungus is susceptible to fungal disease, it can be determined by decay of the stalk of a monster. Usually this disease appears in winter, with excess moisture and low temperature. Control measures are to transplant a plant into another pot, reduce watering and increase the temperature in the room.
The main problem with growing monsters is the yellowing of the leaves. In order to determine what to do with the plant, it is necessary to determine the reason why the leaves turn yellow at the monster.
This can happen for the following reasons:
- When the soil in the pot is too wet, the leaves decay, wilt, and most turn yellow.
- Lack of nutrition - on the yellow leaves there are no signs of wilting and decay.
- Lack of moisture - yellow only the lower leaves, and they have brown spots, and the growing leaves are small and dark.
- Excess sunlight - leaves turn pale, yellow spots appear.
- Lack of light - the monster is exposed from below the trunk, there are small pale yellow leaves, and on the adult leaves there are no holes.
- The air temperature is too high - several yellow leaves turn yellow and become dry and brown.
To solve this problem it is enough just to eliminate those mistakes in the care of the monster, because of which they appeared, and your beauty will please you with new healthy juicy-green leaves.