VARIEGATED MONSTERA CARE

1. LIGHT

Any variegated plant generally requires a little more light than its non-variegated (all-green) counterpart. In nature, these plants are actually very versatile when it comes to light requirements.

They will certainly tolerate low light, especially the all-green version, but if it’s too dark they will not grow well. In nature, they grow in the understory of the jungle. These conditions are fairly low light, but they will also climb up trees via their plentiful aerial roots to seek out higher light.

For your variegated Monstera, find the brightest window you can but keep direct sunlight to a minimum. A couple hours of sunlight (early morning sun or late afternoon sun) is great.

Avoid long periods of direct sun though, especially mid-day direct sun, or your variegated leaves can potentially burn and turn brown.

If you live in an area with dark winters, with short days, some direct sun in the winter is beneficial for all plants!

If you are lacking a good location in your home with natural light, you can definitely supplement with a good grow light.

2. WATERING

Is it always a good practice to water your plant thoroughly until water escapes the drainage holes. Then simply wait until about the top quarter of the potting soil is dry, and repeat. It’s as simple as that!

These plants are fairly tolerant though of more extreme conditions. Thinking about how they grow in nature, they will go through both a wet season and a dry season, so they are pretty tough plant.

3. FERTILIZING

These plants are not heavy feeders, but they do need to be fed during the growing season for best results. 

Whatever your fertilizer label says, don’t use the full concentration. I like to use the low end of the range and water it with this solution every time I water throughout the growing season.

You should always measure both the fertilizer and the water carefully. I use a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon to measure the fertilizer and use a plastic gallon jug that I reuse.

Remember that if you measure incorrectly and your fertilizer solution is too concentrated, this can actually burn and cause the dreaded crispy, brown edges on your more delicate variegated leaves!

Over time, fertilizer salts can build up in the soil, so it is a good idea to periodically water your plant with plain water to flush out any built up salts in the soil.

Lastly, I withhold all fertilizer during the winter and water only with plain water when my plant isn’t growing much, if any.

4. SOIL

5. REPOTTING and CLIMBING SUPPORTS

When your variegated Monstera’s pot is full of roots and it needs more room, it’s time for a bigger pot.

As far as pot size, my normal recommendation is to go up one pot size. But for this plant, I will say that you can go up two pot sizes without any harm, and it will save you a little work.

For example, if your variegated Monstera is in a 6 inch pot, go ahead and place it into an 8 inch pot, or even a 10 inch pot at the most. Be sure that you use my soil mix and have your plant growing in the light that I recommend, especially if you go with the larger pot size. It will help ensure that your soil will dry out in a reasonable time. It’s all about a balance!

When you move your plant to a larger pot, this is also a great time to give your plant a climbing support. It will save you work and frustration.

6. PROPAGATING

The simplest way to propagate these plants is by stem cuttings. You can do single node cuttings with one leaf.

One thing to note about when you make a cutting (or if you buy a cutting online) is to make sure that it is a proper cutting that will root. You will need to make sure that you are getting a portion of the vine as well, and not just the petiole (the part attached to the leaf.)

Here’s an example of where to cut. You’ll also need to make sure that you get enough of the vine so that you include what is called the “eye.”

In addition, your cutting will likely have some aerial roots already. You can see an aerial root on the right side of the photo right about in the middle.

Place your cutting in water to root, or even straight into soil. Either way will work. Regardless, you can place a clear plastic bag over it to prevent wilting (if you notice wilting) because this helps increase humidity.

Increasing humidity is always a great idea especially while propagating. It will help ensure success and places less stress on the cutting. Once established, although these plants do love higher humidity (given their jungle habitat), they are very tolerant of average indoors conditions.

Lastly, if you choose to place your fresh cutting directly into soil to root, water it and keep it relatively moist as this will encourage rooting.

7. PRUNING TO MANAGE VARIEGATED GROWTH

Owning a variegated plant is a little bit more work than growing the non-variegated counterpart.

You know those all white leaves that people love and adore?

So if you have a variegated Monstera, you will need to do some maintenance and pruning to encourage leaves with more balanced variegation.

If your plant produces all white leaves, or starts producing all green leaves, this is not desirable and you’ll have to prune.

Start scanning your vine visually. Start at the tip of the vine and work your way down. Cut the vine back to a leaf that has good, balanced variegation (not too white and not too green!) When you trim your vine, make sure that you can see the growing eye (like I showed earlier on in this article).

The growing eye of the plant should then produce a vine with more balanced variegation, and will result in a healthier, more beautiful plant!

I hope you’ve found this blog post useful and good luck with your prized plants!