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The monstera came home four years ago in a 6-inch nursery pot and now it takes up the corner between the sofa and the window. This weekend it finally went into a pot it can’t tip over.
How I knew it was time
Roots out of the drainage holes, water running straight through in about four seconds, and the whole thing going over sideways every time a poodle brushed past it. Any one of those is a maybe. All three is a yes.
The mix
Two parts potting soil, one part orchid bark, one part perlite, a handful of charcoal. Monsteras want to be able to breathe — the first two years I had mine in ordinary potting soil and it sulked all the way through every monsoon.
The pole situation
This is the bit I got wrong for years. I used a short fixed pole, the plant reached the top in a season, and then it started leaning off the end like it was trying to escape. Extendable pole this time, and I’ve tied the aerial roots in loosely with garden twine rather than jamming them into the moss.
The difference within a month of the first pole was the thing that convinced me: the new leaves came out noticeably bigger and with proper fenestration. A climbing plant that can’t climb makes small leaves.
Aftercare
No fertiliser for a month. Slightly less water than usual for two weeks — a freshly repotted plant is not drinking much and wet soil with damaged roots is how you get rot. It drooped for four days and I sat on my hands, which is the hardest part of the entire operation.
Before and after
Old pot: 10 inches, roots circling like a rope. New pot: 14 inches, about six litres of fresh mix, and a plant that now stands up on its own. The corner looks emptier and the plant looks bigger, which I did not expect.
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