Hi everyone! Welcome to Monstera Hut!
Well, it is very frequent to see questions about how to root new monstera cuttings, especially for Monstera Albo and Thai Constellation, which is not easily available at local shops or nurseries.
So, most of us will buy our Monstera Albo or Thai Constellation online. But, please be careful as there are many scammers out there. Regardless of where you buy them, they will normally come in the form of cuttings with tiny roots on them, which is very fragile! Please remember that.
My advice here is, NEVER introduce this baby plant with its fragile roots into the soil immediately. If you do so, there is a high chance you will kill it. So, please be careful as these Monstera Albos or Thai Constellations are not cheap.
So, let's begin. First, you need to have;
Leca balls (clay pebbles)
A tall glass jar
A bowl
Clean tap water.
Note: I have also attached a picture of leca balls here in case some might not know what it is.
So, in the bowl, you must clean the leca balls thoroughly, then soak them in water for about 2 hours. This is to get all the leca balls to absorb water to its core. In the meantime, you can put the newly arrived baby plant in the water while getting the leca balls ready.
Then, layer 1-2 inches of your glass jar with the leca balls that have been soaked in water and followed by putting your plant in the jar and keep adding the leca balls to fill up the glass jar. Once it's done, fill the jar with water reaching the most top leca balls. Optionally, you can mix the water with "MiracleGro Quick Start" before pouring it into the jar to speed up the process. After that, keep both plant and leca balls soaked in water for two days.
After two days, pour out the water but leave about 1-2 inches from the bottom. At this point, the plant is no longer in the water. Do not worry about the plant not getting water because the remaining water will slowly evaporate and keep the leca balls, the plant stem and roots moist. This mimics the real soil environment, and roots grown in it are much stronger than water. You can tell by the colour of the roots where it is more toward the darker colour than just clean whitish roots.
See my drawing below. I really hope it illustrates the whole process clearly.
Remember to always put your plant in a bright area from the beginning of the process. After a couple of weeks, you should start seeing new roots appearing closer to the glass jar wall. During the process, please keep monitoring the water level and the leaves of your plant. Always have water available at the bottom of the jar, and the leaves should stay healthy and green without any change to their colour.
So, the next question is when the plant is ready for the soil? There is no right or wrong answer to this. For me, whenever I see a lot of roots appearing, and it looks thick with dirty whitish colour, then I would say it is ready for the soil. Then you can slowly remove the plant from the jar, and please do this slowly and carefully. NEVER pull the plant out. I normally try to pour them all out together with the leca balls. Once it is out, I will slowly remove the leca balls that are stuck to the root, but I will not force it too hard. It's ok to leave some if you don't feel comfortable removing them.
Voila, now you have successfully rooted your baby monstera! However, the next step is crucial too, where you need to choose the right soil type for your new baby plant. Go with soil with excellent drainage but have the capability to hold moisture. For me, I use "MiracleGro Potting Mix" as I personally like it not just because of excellent drainage and ability to hold moisture, it is also because it is very light. It makes it very easy for me to move my plant whenever required.
Based on my experience, this is the best way to root your newly arrived baby monstera cuttings. And this method had saved one of my plants when I was a newbie. Unfortunately, I made a mistake that caused the roots of my Monstera Thai Constellation to be severely rotten and affected the stem too. So I had to cut out the stem, and at that point, there was no "root nod" on the stem. I was sad as most articles said that without the nod, the plant would just die. But I didn't give up, and I tried this method and kept telling myself that as long as this single leaf stays green, I will keep it. So, after three months, yes, guys... three months! Finally, I saw a small tiny root appear on the glass jar wall. I was so happy!
See the picture here of the Baby Monstera Plant that I managed to save through this method. This is its most recent picture, and this plant is about 1.5 years from the day I cut the rotten stem. Slow but surely, it is growing.
So, that's its, guys! I hope this article helps everyone who is still finding ways to root their new monstera cuttings. There are more methods out there, but this works best for me, and it never fails me. I hope everyone can benefit from this article.
Next, I will share some tips on how to water your monstera without causing any risks of damaging the roots of your precious Monstera Plants. So, thank you guys for reading my blog and stay tuned.
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