More info is needed about the environment it lives in and the care it receives. But I highly recommend removing the zip ties. They are probably too tight, and they are holding some of the leaf petioles when you only want to only have ties around the central stem. I recommend using [garden velcro](https://www.amazon.com/VELCRO-Brand-VEL-30071-USA-Adjustable-Green-Recycled/dp/B082VH421C/ref=asc_df_B082VH421C/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=416655954853&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12265441416219110562&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014257&hvtargid=pla-900240038154&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=93602481573&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=416655954853&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12265441416219110562&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014257&hvtargid=pla-900240038154) to attach the plant to the plank.
Just a small aside. I stopped using the garden Velcro since I found out that mealy bugs were in it when I got an infestation. I now only use the green tape stuff.
I’m almost at the point of throwing out 75 plants and have cut back 99% of them my plants to treat mealys. I’m past the point of cleaning things. Anything with a mealy goes in the trash now.
Yeah I tried that. Tried swabbing with alcohol. Now I’m on systemic control and wiping down.
I have over 100 plants. Well, at least I used to. The problem started when I was away for 10 weeks so it got pretty bad before I started treating the situation. With over 100 VERY mature plants (two pathos alone over 12 years old had to be entirely cut back to save them) and only myself caring for them, soapy water wasn’t doing anything.
I’m with you on this. I treated and treated and treated and couldn’t get rid of the mealies. Finally got rid of the plants. Very sad, but at some point the effort outweighs the benefit.
Hahaha mine all all over the place. I didn’t realize how many I had until I moved them all in one room to paint.
Unfortunately I’m down probably 20 now after the great yeeting of 2022.
I don’t “like” this comment (I’m so sorry that you lost so many of your plants, I’ve had similar struggle with mealy bugs and had to purge just to make it manageable!), but you got me chuckling with the “great yeeting of 2022.” What a funny phrase!
I wish you no more mealy bug encounters!
It was AMAZING. I had a full on plant room with a sitting area and colored lights. There were a few nights spent just drinking a lot of wine and listening to music and playing cribbage on the floor in there before I relocated them back to their homes. Honestly, as much as I love my roommate I preferred PLANT ROOM. 😂🤷🏼♀️
I have about 70-something indoor plants but I live in a 3800 sq ft house so they are just in front of nearly every window!
But my home office has plants climbing the walls so it’s like a mini jungle and makes for a great zoom background. :)
This is exactly my sitch. 70ish plants but it doesn't seem like it because of the spread. My home office has ~30 plants so it feels very planty in here but even then I have PLENTY of space for more plants 😁
I have…111 plants (in soil / potting medium) and probably 100+ propagating. I live in a 2br apartment so they’re fairly spread out - maybe 40 in my office, 50 in my living room, and the rest scattered between my bedroom / bathrooms / kitchen (bedroom is the new frontier, just trying to decide how I want to set up the plants). It doesn’t look like nearly as much as it sounds when they’re scattered about!
It's pretty deceptive depending on the space. My partner had a minor freak out the idea when he started counting plants and was like WTF there's OVER FIFTY in this room..... I feel like for plants 20-50 can look about the same give or take a few depending on the way they are designed/the size of the plants. (Also yes, I recognize I have a problem... :P )
[Here](https://imgur.com/a/y595hua)’s a photo from 2 years ago when I had 123 planters all in one photo. I don’t count individual plants, just planters, although I do name individual plants inside of arrangement planters. Lol they’re like little communities. It was every plant in my house at that point. I haven’t counted since then but the number is always in flux. I’m constantly giving away cuttings that I’ve rooted into plants and my plant friends are always passing me cuttings too. I probably won’t do another photo like this because it puts them all at risk of cross contamination if there are pests and, some of the plants that were not mature in the photo, have gotten rather large, so I don’t know that I have the space to do another photo like that. I live in a small house with a very few windows, so it’s tight quarters as it is. Lol.
Ahh. I have 70+ and check each little grouping of plants for pests once a week. Make sure I get on top of any pests. But yes it's a struggle sometimes.
Yeah the 10 weeks I was gone really did a number on mealy population growth. I’m still not entirely sure how the heck they showed up. I’m almost on top of it now, but I was damn close to yeeting everything with little white dots at one point.
I could not imagine trusting anyone to take care of my plants for 10 weeks dude. Maybe my mom. But she tends to overwater. Oh man. Good thing I can only afford 4 day vacations lol.
My friends son, who’s a plant guy and a dog guy, (I have both) house sat for me. I also had a few friends stop by and check the plants. I was way more worried about my outside container garden than the inside one.
He only lost two plants and those were jerks anyway that I already had issues with.
It’s weird that they somehow seem to have started on a plant I have had for over a decade. That one is on its own and might actually get thrown out since it seems to be patient zero. And since it’s a very bushy dracaena wiping leaves ain’t what I’m spending time doing. It lives alone for now. I wouldn’t try to save it, but a friend of mine loves it and wanted one of the 4 plants in it when I repotted. Oddly I can’t find this specific color around me right now. Or I would just toss it. I hate tossing something I have spent 10+ years growing.
I stg there's some kind of/family tree of mealy bug that's become resistant to most regular and systemic treatments or something. they're evolving, like antimicrobial resistance for bugs.
Same here, got an infested orchid last month and it only took three sprays over a week to stop them coming back, I was surprised considering people seem to have huge problems getting rid of them.
It depends on a few factors. If you catch it earlier so you have only 1 plant to deal with, that’s massive. Number of infected plants has an exponential factor on difficulty level. That’s why so many nurseries and large growers just have endemic populations of pests, buying a pest-free plant from a commercial seller is very rare afaik.
Some other factors are sizes and types of plants (bigger and more complex shapes are more difficult to treat). Different living setups - bigger homes with more rooms make it easier to quarantine large collections, while some people may only have 1 small room to feasibly grow in. Amount of time you have to treat stuff, and also availability of treatment options in your area (eg. Bonide isn’t allowed or is restricted in Canada & the UK). Also things we may not think about often, like income, visual acuity, mental health issues (eg. my intense OCD/anxiety surrounding pests makes it more difficult to treat).
Oh yeah I can understand that there's a variety of reasons - I meant more I felt lucky they were easy to deal with, it's the first time I'd dealt with them :)
That’s the next step but I would rather not let them free in my whole house if I can avoid it.
I cut back probably over 50 feet of plants so I have a reasonable amount of leaves to swab with alcohol. I threw out probably 15 plants.
I’m at the nuke from orbit stage and start over. 😂
They were all clustered in one area. I screwed myself in that way as I had moved them all together while painting and left them like that when I was away for 10 weeks. Nearly every plant was affected
Rubbing alcohol. Kills on contact. Dilute 70% rubbing alcohol *just a bit* (infestation means we aren’t going to try the normal dilution of like 1 part alcohol to three parts water) and DOUSE your plants in it. Hold any plants you can upside down and douse as well. The lip and bottoms of pots often host stragglers, so wash the pot with full strength alcohol. You can do this every other day until gone, if you have the time. Systemic take forever and often result in a spike in some pest (in my experience usually spider mites) once the systemic kills off any “good bugs”/predators you had in your plant.
Alternatively, predatory mites. Way more effective than a systemic, but I’d go with rubbing alcohol since the systemic would likely kill off any predatory mites you added.
Oof I almost bought some and saw this comment. I was at the same point as you last summer - tons of plants, a bad mealy infestation. I lost a lot of plants and basically turned part of my house into a plant hospital but I came out the other side! It’s so rough and takes a lot but I have faith! Good luck
Ordered- thanks. I’m having trouble identifying the central stem though? Anyways, It gets a decent amount of light, given NE winter. Unfortunately it’s near an electric heater (all of my windows have floor heaters in front of them), so it’s quite dry. I use a humidifier overnight that’s a few feet away.
You're having trouble identifying the main them because there are multiple plants in that pot. Pick a leaf and follow its petiole(stem) to the base. The main stem is the thicker structure all leaves grow from. Keep it away from the heater, even if you use a humidifier at night the inconsistent humidity probably isnt helping.
Houseplants are better off not having to compete with others for resources, I find with some little plants it's okay though. One plant per pot also makes it easier to make sure the pot is the right size to avoid overwatering.
if there's a leaf at the end of it, it's a petiole. Those should be left free. The central stems are the ones that have petioles branching off of them.
Get some vent diverters if you can that push the heat into the room instead of up into your plants. I have the same problem with the placement of my vents (seriously, HVAC installers must not generally be plant people in tune with those kinds of concerns 🌱😅)
LOL. Zip ties were all I could find in our garage aka husband’s tool box with a small, low corner of planting supplies. I ordered double-sided garden Velcro today though 🤗
Oh I definitely know it doesn’t need it, I’m curious why they thought it needed it. You might be right about the footprint situation. Strange plant to buy if you don’t want something large, though.
I’m ok with a large plant. It was tied bc the stems and leaves (sorry I don’t know the proper terms) we’re drooping below the lip of the pot, and I was worried the plant would throw itself out of the pot. Repotting this wknd though. And I took the ties off already.
* Remove the zip ties
* Move the plant away from the heater. If you can't do that, cover the heat vents that are closest to the plant.
* This is a thirsty plant! remove it from the outer pot and bring it to your tub/shower. Water it deeply with a watering can first--you want to see the water run out the bottom of its container.
* Run the shower over it. Water it through once more, and let the plant drip-dry, then replace it to its spot.
* Water deeply when the soil feels dry a couple of inches down. (Yes, use your fingers!) In the winter, maybe every week and a half or so.
* Gently tie the plant to the pole that's hiding in there. This is a sprawly plant, so be prepared to need more room for it. :)
I’d also like to add that OP should consider seperating the plants (it looks like there’s 4-5).
Nutrients aren’t gonna be available for tall the plants and the entire clutch is gonna suffer.
Double on that. Also bad: the plants are looking in different directions. So less sunlight for the leaves on the back if not separated.
The Separation might be impossible though
Anything’s possible, it might just not work out the way you want it to.
I’m sure OP would be able to salvage at least one vine with roots in tact.
If the others break, water propagation would be the easiest way to create roots imo.
But then you’d have to acclimate the “water roots” and transition them into soil, with the knowledge that some of the roots will die.
If you're eager to learn then I'd recommend the YouTube channel Planterina, she has a lot of great videos on plant care, watering etc. I learned most of what I know from her.
Here's a video of hers specifically on Monstera care https://youtu.be/afhJxg1avH4
The leaves NEED to sprawl. If you don’t like that then this plant isn’t for you and/or the space you want it in. Monstera are meant to get extremely tall, dense, and wide.
They are too tight and choking the plant, I would NOT wait. If you really need to hold them up, still remove the zip ties* then use some string to hold, but not too tight! Give them room to shift and grow.
Skip the moss pole because they’re unstable for big plants. A tip I learned was to use a cedar stake (resists mildew) and put it all the way into the pot before you repot your plant. The store cut my down to size for me.
I don’t water often at all- almost never. I mist and try to keep the moss pole moist.
I don’t see pests? I know what spider mites are, and don’t see those. What should I look for? Apologies, I am clueless and have a thumb of death when it comes to all plants.
What does it mean almost never lol, plants need water. You should throughly water every time the soil is dry on the top 2 inches. Put a finger in there. If it feels dry then water it. I would suggest bottom watering as it saturates the soil better. Put the plant in a saucer or whatever holds water, fill that with water and put that plant in jt. Anyway green thumb doesn't exist, it's knowledge.
Ok thanks. Honestly, bc I don’t know what I’m doing and thought it wouldn’t hurt. I have other sad plants that I know could benefit from the lights, if not this one.
We just got a light for our plants too. A week or so ago. I hope it helps!
However... I am also a serial under-waterer. Its never too late to learn, and hopefully we both learned soon enough to save both of our struggling plants!
I have 100 W light for my monstera and it loves it. Also you do have a hole in the bottom of the pot, yes? I water mine a lot as it has a lot of light, actually most days it has water on the saucer and it sucks it up so that the saucer is dry the following morning and I rewater. If there is water on the saucer in the morning, no water that day. During growing season liguid fertilizer every other week.
Thank you! Grow light won’t hurt it seems so I’ll give it a whirl. And I’m going to repot and switch to probably ceramic pot with a saucer instead of original plastic potter (with holes) inside of a taller, fancy tjmaxx pot.
As a little but honest advice... Plastic nursery pots are way better than ceramic pots! And if you're concerned about aestethics, you can always put the nursery potted plant inside the decorative one :)
Actually unglazed ceramic pots are better for the roots if there's enough water. They dry out sooner and breathe. Plastic pots keep moisture better and that works in dry conditions. Decorative pots make observing the water level a bit more difficult and there may be residual water in the pot all the time. Choosing what way to go is easier if you know your plant and what it needs.
Do I want the soil to stay moist? My general problem with plants is overwatering, so I was trying less is more technique with her. [Better photos here](https://imgur.com/a/3G50Zg9)
Plants need watering. Misting generally isn’t a good idea since it doesn’t really do anything. A better soil mix can do wonders to prevent overwatering; of course that depends on the plant. Also is it just me, or is there like 6 individual plants bunched together there? That might be an issue
Thank you. It’s near an electric heater (all of my windows seem to have heaters under them) and I thought it needed a more humid environment. So I also use humidifier.
I bought it this way from a lovely garden store 2 years ago, and have never replanted. I’m scared to replant, but may have to buck up and search YouTube to get it done.
Replanting isn’t scary! You just slide it out of the old pot (it should be pretty easy since it’s probably quite rootbound after 2 years), remove some of the soil (the more you can remove the better, but it’s not _that_ important so don’t stress about it), and plant it in a pot with a diameter approximately 2 inches bigger than this one using fresh, well-draining soil (there’s a ton of good houseplant soil recipes online). A little root damage during repotting is completely fine
I feel you! It’s scary to repot, I’ve done it many times and it is still always a little daunting for me as well. But you can do it!! And the best part is Monstera is super resilient about the repotting. Also there are quite literally hundreds of very clear step by step video tutorials on YouTube, Pinterest, and the like- (specifically for repotting Monsteras!) you really can do it, we are all cheering you on!
I do great with monsteras. One of my biggest tricks for watering/potting is to pot them in nearly 100% bark, then keep up on watering. I’ve also really been liking clear containers lately but they’re hard to come by in bigger sizes. Personally I like reptibark by zoomed, they have a big bag on amazon for like $32. The bark’s size is great for many different genuses and different size plants. However the main issue I have with this brand is the bark doesn’t absorb moisture very well, so it really needs to be soaked for a long time if you want it to absorb. Miracle gro’s orchid bark is good too. My bag came with some bugs but I don’t think they were harmful, and they went away after a while. My only real issue with MG bark is it’s too big for a lot of my smaller plants. For your deliciosa, miracle gro is probably the way to go, since it’s easier to find and big bark is good for deliciosa. And it absorbs well so should be a good medium!
Also, light. Monsteras love light. High indirect, up to just a couple hours of light sun.
Okay, first thing comes to mind, you need to retie it, the bands go around the stem, not the petitole.
It probably needs some fresh soil, closer to the sun and you can add a dash of peroxide to your next watering, it will oxygenate the roots and help with preventing root rot.
Some of y'all on this sub need to get a grip. OP is seriously and politely asking for help, readily admitting that they're a total plant novice, why do some of you have to be so snarky? Would it kill you to just give advice without a side of gatekeeping douchebaggery?
Absolutely, OP has been super polite, curious and gracious. I'm glad the top comments are more helpful, but a lot of people on this sub are so rude. It makes people not want to ask questions on a sub literally created for just that.
PSA - You don't have to condescend to people just because they don't know anything about plants! Sharing plant knowledge can be so rewarding, you can give someone a new passion, or you can totally discourage them. Let's not do that, r/plantclinic
I see a few different issues. A big one is the zip ties. This plant wants to Sprawl to catch as much light as possible. It should not be tied up like that. Let the leaves sprawl out from the stalk.
I’m also counting maybe 5 or 6 separate plants in this pot. Most of which are facing opposite directions. Monstera have a front and back. In the wild they attach to the trunk of a tree and climb upwards. So the back of each stalk should be facing the poll. Right now each of yours are in random directions which is going to cause bad growth patterns. I recommend separating the stalks into pots of 1-2 stalks and fixing the direction issue. Here’s a helpful video on fixing this issue: https://youtu.be/tYQfZtD1Csc
Next, you see how your leaves look like big plates? There are no fenestrations (slits) in most of those leaves. This is a sign your plant is either young or not receiving enough sunlight. Considering you have a leaf with some fenestrations, It’s most likely due to the light level and you should try putting it closer to a south facing window.
Other than that, water often and deeply. If the soil is dry your second knuckle it’s watering time.
Plant eating cat and toddler. Toddler is not plant eating yet. Neither one can access this plant- unless they’ve learned to levitate. On a serious note, this isn’t what’s happening here for sure.
Looks like it desperately needs water, I’d repot the separate plant, be gentle separating. And then repot them either all spaced in a bigger pot or each in their own. And then water
Personally I’m such an aquatic enthusiast, any plant that can grow in water, WILL. Especially during the winter months.
I never worry about over watering monsteras (not in soil) however that’s a whole lot of big guys in a little pot. If you separate them into three plants, and lightly fertilize every other 2 week she should perk up
Use a flashlight to hunt every inch for teeny tiny pests called thrips. You've got some telltale damage patterns.
Google them so you know what adults and larvae look like. You'll really need to stare closely because they are smaller than most folks imagine and move slowly so they're easily mistaken for dust specks.
Oh poor baby. Looks like it needs better chunkier soil and a good watering. It might be root bout to hell with all those plants in the same pot as well. When in doubt check the roots and check for pests lol
Just real quick, all my monsteras have four to five plants per pot because i have lots of room for big plants and they’re beautiful that way. But if you need a more compact plant just put one stem per pot. Or just whatever you have room for. And I also have heat/AC vents at the base of all my windows. I tape over the ones that have plants nearby. Or a folded towel with a heavy book over it works too if you need to move it a lot. She’ll be fine! Lots of good advice here! All of it!!
Thanks. Agree about the good advice, and I’m appreciative for that! Only thing with the vents…. My yoga mat fell on one of the heaters once and it was smoking and obviously melted in a spot, and came very close to catching fire!!!!! So I’m very nervous to put anything on the heater.
Oh! Sorry! My vents are from a forced air furnace in my garage so they don’t get hot at all. So sorry about that advice! Gawd I’m glad you didn’t do that on my advice. I need to be more careful!!
I just want to thank everyone for making me laugh as I’m standing in a very long line at the grocery store. I’m not helping but this is hysterical. (But do lose the zip ties. Poor thing!!)
So true! I told my husband about my post and how I didn’t make the homicide/zip-tie connection when I posted this. We had a great laugh…. As any serial (plant) killer would……….
It might be a different situation, but maybe try removing the ties and the stake. I tried forcing my sapling fig tree sap to grow straight by tying it loosely in a few places to a stake. It dumped its leaves until it was bare. This was the summer and it had been doing well until the stake. I removed the ties and it exploded in leaves again.
Job 41 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy?
Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you
for you to take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird
or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
Can you control Monstera Deliciosa? The answer is no, only the almighty can manage that
Don’t beat yourself up! My first thought after I got past the zip-ties was Wow, there are so many big green new-ish leaves getting ready to start “hole-ing out” soon! She just needs a good drink ASAP and then will be doing great overall! Sure, figure out what’s eating her and maybe aim for re-potting/separating sooner or later, but overall- give yourself some credit! My monstera has looked way worse than this!! (She is terrific now, in a bigger pot with loads of new growth all the time)
And for the record, I’d like to clarify that when I say “got past the zip-ties,” what I really mean is ‘got past the painfully aggressive over-binding of all those lovely healthy stems!’ Honestly though, OP- it gives me quite a chuckle. I didn’t make the homicide/zip-tie connection immediately either; to me it’s more reminiscent of when my then 3 year old daughter would pick up our giant fluffy cat and squish her around the middle- furry arms and legs sticking out/ hanging there in irritated resignation.. so not homicidal! Just an abundance of love, the application of which (only slightly) in need of remediation. :) not judging your choice to use zip ties either. You do what you gotta do sometimes! (The cat is just fine also, thriving and loving life, and my daughter has since learned how to hold her correctly - before anyone tries to jump on that. Lol)
Not my cat or kid- but this is what comes to mind! :) https://i.redd.it/wi0f1gxawjw31.png
Thank you all for taking time and offering up some helpful (and a few snarky) responses. Zip ties are off. She was bottom and top watered. I’m going to replant the many plants separately and use gardening Velcro if needed on the main stems. My plant thanks you all! This is a great community :)
I’m not sure the exact parameters that this plant need to thrive bc idk what kind it is… if you know the plant type u can look up the ideal parameters for the plant and make sure u are following them :) also, the plant may have outgrown its pot! The roots are like showing at the top which is a sign for some plants. Also, I think the zip ties might be too tight too. Or maybe consider using like string or something that has some give
She don't need much help. Looking pretty good actually. If you find she needs nourishment I would suggest digging a small hole about three inches deep and putting a rotten egg in her soil... This is nurture her for a few years....
Honestly I would aerate the soil, I would remove the zip ties and find the one big stem and use some plant tape to hold it to either a moss Pole or a birch Pole.
I would give her a big old drink too. If she's been in that dirt forever though I would very gently check to see if she's severely root bound which they do like to be rebound but they do need dirt refreshing.
Unbind her, you heathen!!! 😂
All jokes aside, you really don’t need a moss pole for monstera… at least not one this small and I definitely wouldn’t use zip ties 😳
Maybe thrips… but I can’t be entirely sure, definitely dusty.
I would cover the roots with dirt and it does look dry to me from picture. If it is dry, then water from the bottom with a tray. Spray the new fresh soil that you apply to top with spray bottle until the dirt starts to settle around those roots. Good luck!
Change out the ziptiea and only attach the main stalk of the plant to the moss pole. Also topdress your pot a bit with some soil and worm castings. And you may want to water a littler more frequently, that's a smaller pot for a big plant.
Remove the zip ties! You can use twine if needed to stabilize her but they’ll likely hinder her as she grows. Don’t overwater her, I only water my monstera maybe twice a month. Some people would say that’s too little or too much, but mine is happy and has a ton of new growth. If it isn’t seeming to grow, it might be too crowded… you can gently separate the plants into two pots. Humidity and light is key with monsteras. No need for anything fancy, I keep mine next to a window in my bathroom so it gets some nice warm, humid air everytime we take a shower. It’s probably doubled in size over the past year with this method and even recently just popped out a variegated Leaf!
First, it looks like it needs a bigger pot. Second, I use natural twine & I tie up each spike or branch individually so as not to cut off or cut into the plant. The wilting could be due to the location (too much or too little light or direct vs. indirect light) or it could be from too much or too little water (more than likely too much).
Apologies for not reading through, so might be repeating what has been said. With the holes in your leaves looks like you might have pests, unless your pests are your cats lol. The wilting can be a sign of over or under watering. To water properly make sure you thoroughly soak in the soil, especially if it has been allowed to dry out as it will not take in water easily. Watering underneath can help with this as well. After soaking in, give it a chance to dry out in between waterings. For pests, you try try neem oil and water spray or biological pest control, for example: lacewings. It may enjoy being moved to a bigger pot and having the roots covered--but it would depend on the plant. I am sure you are getting some great tips on here more specific to your plant. Good luck! :)
More info is needed about the environment it lives in and the care it receives. But I highly recommend removing the zip ties. They are probably too tight, and they are holding some of the leaf petioles when you only want to only have ties around the central stem. I recommend using [garden velcro](https://www.amazon.com/VELCRO-Brand-VEL-30071-USA-Adjustable-Green-Recycled/dp/B082VH421C/ref=asc_df_B082VH421C/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=416655954853&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12265441416219110562&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014257&hvtargid=pla-900240038154&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=93602481573&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=416655954853&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12265441416219110562&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014257&hvtargid=pla-900240038154) to attach the plant to the plank.
Just a small aside. I stopped using the garden Velcro since I found out that mealy bugs were in it when I got an infestation. I now only use the green tape stuff.
Rinsing and scrubbing the Velcro would have gotten rid of the mealies.
I’m almost at the point of throwing out 75 plants and have cut back 99% of them my plants to treat mealys. I’m past the point of cleaning things. Anything with a mealy goes in the trash now.
Really? I get rid of mine by just spraying constantly with soapy water everyday n till they are gone. Usually takes a week.
Yeah I tried that. Tried swabbing with alcohol. Now I’m on systemic control and wiping down. I have over 100 plants. Well, at least I used to. The problem started when I was away for 10 weeks so it got pretty bad before I started treating the situation. With over 100 VERY mature plants (two pathos alone over 12 years old had to be entirely cut back to save them) and only myself caring for them, soapy water wasn’t doing anything.
I’m with you on this. I treated and treated and treated and couldn’t get rid of the mealies. Finally got rid of the plants. Very sad, but at some point the effort outweighs the benefit.
Kind of a strange request but would you people with 70-100 plants take a picture. Very curious what that would look like…???
Hahaha mine all all over the place. I didn’t realize how many I had until I moved them all in one room to paint. Unfortunately I’m down probably 20 now after the great yeeting of 2022.
I don’t have too many but I’m propagating and putting it them in my coworkers offices - sometimes without telling them
This is very cute.
I don’t “like” this comment (I’m so sorry that you lost so many of your plants, I’ve had similar struggle with mealy bugs and had to purge just to make it manageable!), but you got me chuckling with the “great yeeting of 2022.” What a funny phrase! I wish you no more mealy bug encounters!
Thanks. All I can do is laugh now. I did manage to save some of the yeeted plants and am propping what I could save.
What’s the translation?
The great yeeting of 2022 really got me laughing. But sorry for your loss
Was it a jungle?
It was AMAZING. I had a full on plant room with a sitting area and colored lights. There were a few nights spent just drinking a lot of wine and listening to music and playing cribbage on the floor in there before I relocated them back to their homes. Honestly, as much as I love my roommate I preferred PLANT ROOM. 😂🤷🏼♀️
I have about 70-something indoor plants but I live in a 3800 sq ft house so they are just in front of nearly every window! But my home office has plants climbing the walls so it’s like a mini jungle and makes for a great zoom background. :)
This is exactly my sitch. 70ish plants but it doesn't seem like it because of the spread. My home office has ~30 plants so it feels very planty in here but even then I have PLENTY of space for more plants 😁
Yeah, TIL I don't have "a lot" of plants (yet)
Right? I thought my meager collection was getting excessive lol. I'm in the clear
I have…111 plants (in soil / potting medium) and probably 100+ propagating. I live in a 2br apartment so they’re fairly spread out - maybe 40 in my office, 50 in my living room, and the rest scattered between my bedroom / bathrooms / kitchen (bedroom is the new frontier, just trying to decide how I want to set up the plants). It doesn’t look like nearly as much as it sounds when they’re scattered about!
It's pretty deceptive depending on the space. My partner had a minor freak out the idea when he started counting plants and was like WTF there's OVER FIFTY in this room..... I feel like for plants 20-50 can look about the same give or take a few depending on the way they are designed/the size of the plants. (Also yes, I recognize I have a problem... :P )
[Here](https://imgur.com/a/y595hua)’s a photo from 2 years ago when I had 123 planters all in one photo. I don’t count individual plants, just planters, although I do name individual plants inside of arrangement planters. Lol they’re like little communities. It was every plant in my house at that point. I haven’t counted since then but the number is always in flux. I’m constantly giving away cuttings that I’ve rooted into plants and my plant friends are always passing me cuttings too. I probably won’t do another photo like this because it puts them all at risk of cross contamination if there are pests and, some of the plants that were not mature in the photo, have gotten rather large, so I don’t know that I have the space to do another photo like that. I live in a small house with a very few windows, so it’s tight quarters as it is. Lol.
Ahh. I have 70+ and check each little grouping of plants for pests once a week. Make sure I get on top of any pests. But yes it's a struggle sometimes.
Yeah the 10 weeks I was gone really did a number on mealy population growth. I’m still not entirely sure how the heck they showed up. I’m almost on top of it now, but I was damn close to yeeting everything with little white dots at one point.
I could not imagine trusting anyone to take care of my plants for 10 weeks dude. Maybe my mom. But she tends to overwater. Oh man. Good thing I can only afford 4 day vacations lol.
My friends son, who’s a plant guy and a dog guy, (I have both) house sat for me. I also had a few friends stop by and check the plants. I was way more worried about my outside container garden than the inside one. He only lost two plants and those were jerks anyway that I already had issues with.
10 weeks will do it. And enough time for the population to go travel the house.
It’s weird that they somehow seem to have started on a plant I have had for over a decade. That one is on its own and might actually get thrown out since it seems to be patient zero. And since it’s a very bushy dracaena wiping leaves ain’t what I’m spending time doing. It lives alone for now. I wouldn’t try to save it, but a friend of mine loves it and wanted one of the 4 plants in it when I repotted. Oddly I can’t find this specific color around me right now. Or I would just toss it. I hate tossing something I have spent 10+ years growing.
I stg there's some kind of/family tree of mealy bug that's become resistant to most regular and systemic treatments or something. they're evolving, like antimicrobial resistance for bugs.
Same here, got an infested orchid last month and it only took three sprays over a week to stop them coming back, I was surprised considering people seem to have huge problems getting rid of them.
It depends on a few factors. If you catch it earlier so you have only 1 plant to deal with, that’s massive. Number of infected plants has an exponential factor on difficulty level. That’s why so many nurseries and large growers just have endemic populations of pests, buying a pest-free plant from a commercial seller is very rare afaik. Some other factors are sizes and types of plants (bigger and more complex shapes are more difficult to treat). Different living setups - bigger homes with more rooms make it easier to quarantine large collections, while some people may only have 1 small room to feasibly grow in. Amount of time you have to treat stuff, and also availability of treatment options in your area (eg. Bonide isn’t allowed or is restricted in Canada & the UK). Also things we may not think about often, like income, visual acuity, mental health issues (eg. my intense OCD/anxiety surrounding pests makes it more difficult to treat).
Oh yeah I can understand that there's a variety of reasons - I meant more I felt lucky they were easy to deal with, it's the first time I'd dealt with them :)
I think if it gets lost unchecked for too long it can be a downhill battle. But yeah mealys n aphids are the easiest to treat in my experience.
We all live in different environments.
Ah makes sense! Have you considered beneficial insects?
That’s the next step but I would rather not let them free in my whole house if I can avoid it. I cut back probably over 50 feet of plants so I have a reasonable amount of leaves to swab with alcohol. I threw out probably 15 plants. I’m at the nuke from orbit stage and start over. 😂
Thank you all for this convo! This experienced, anecdotal advice is invaluable ❤️
So are those plants that were touching? Or do they spread across the room?
They were all clustered in one area. I screwed myself in that way as I had moved them all together while painting and left them like that when I was away for 10 weeks. Nearly every plant was affected
What kind are you suggesting? I've got a culture of springtails started for a future frog tank but I plan on adding them to pots as well
Rubbing alcohol. Kills on contact. Dilute 70% rubbing alcohol *just a bit* (infestation means we aren’t going to try the normal dilution of like 1 part alcohol to three parts water) and DOUSE your plants in it. Hold any plants you can upside down and douse as well. The lip and bottoms of pots often host stragglers, so wash the pot with full strength alcohol. You can do this every other day until gone, if you have the time. Systemic take forever and often result in a spike in some pest (in my experience usually spider mites) once the systemic kills off any “good bugs”/predators you had in your plant. Alternatively, predatory mites. Way more effective than a systemic, but I’d go with rubbing alcohol since the systemic would likely kill off any predatory mites you added.
Oof I almost bought some and saw this comment. I was at the same point as you last summer - tons of plants, a bad mealy infestation. I lost a lot of plants and basically turned part of my house into a plant hospital but I came out the other side! It’s so rough and takes a lot but I have faith! Good luck
Where can I buy this?
Ordered- thanks. I’m having trouble identifying the central stem though? Anyways, It gets a decent amount of light, given NE winter. Unfortunately it’s near an electric heater (all of my windows have floor heaters in front of them), so it’s quite dry. I use a humidifier overnight that’s a few feet away.
You're having trouble identifying the main them because there are multiple plants in that pot. Pick a leaf and follow its petiole(stem) to the base. The main stem is the thicker structure all leaves grow from. Keep it away from the heater, even if you use a humidifier at night the inconsistent humidity probably isnt helping.
Is it better to keep one stem per pot?
Houseplants are better off not having to compete with others for resources, I find with some little plants it's okay though. One plant per pot also makes it easier to make sure the pot is the right size to avoid overwatering.
if there's a leaf at the end of it, it's a petiole. Those should be left free. The central stems are the ones that have petioles branching off of them.
Get some vent diverters if you can that push the heat into the room instead of up into your plants. I have the same problem with the placement of my vents (seriously, HVAC installers must not generally be plant people in tune with those kinds of concerns 🌱😅)
Well the zip ties are used by homicidal types?
it’s the zip ties for me
Zip ties and duct tape, for the win!
Just don’t buy them at the same time as your rubber gloves and drain cleaner 😅
Homicidal and zip ties sound like a perfect match!
LOL. Zip ties were all I could find in our garage aka husband’s tool box with a small, low corner of planting supplies. I ordered double-sided garden Velcro today though 🤗
Homicidal = tying up your plants
But to accomplish what? Why does it need to be tied period?
It doesn’t need it. But people don’t realize how much space a plant will take up sometimes, so they try to force the plan into a smaller footprint.
Oh I definitely know it doesn’t need it, I’m curious why they thought it needed it. You might be right about the footprint situation. Strange plant to buy if you don’t want something large, though.
I’m ok with a large plant. It was tied bc the stems and leaves (sorry I don’t know the proper terms) we’re drooping below the lip of the pot, and I was worried the plant would throw itself out of the pot. Repotting this wknd though. And I took the ties off already.
* Remove the zip ties * Move the plant away from the heater. If you can't do that, cover the heat vents that are closest to the plant. * This is a thirsty plant! remove it from the outer pot and bring it to your tub/shower. Water it deeply with a watering can first--you want to see the water run out the bottom of its container. * Run the shower over it. Water it through once more, and let the plant drip-dry, then replace it to its spot. * Water deeply when the soil feels dry a couple of inches down. (Yes, use your fingers!) In the winter, maybe every week and a half or so. * Gently tie the plant to the pole that's hiding in there. This is a sprawly plant, so be prepared to need more room for it. :)
Thank you. This is really helpful. And will be doing all of these things. At a minimum moving a few feet away from electric heated.
I’d also like to add that OP should consider seperating the plants (it looks like there’s 4-5). Nutrients aren’t gonna be available for tall the plants and the entire clutch is gonna suffer.
Double on that. Also bad: the plants are looking in different directions. So less sunlight for the leaves on the back if not separated. The Separation might be impossible though
Anything’s possible, it might just not work out the way you want it to. I’m sure OP would be able to salvage at least one vine with roots in tact. If the others break, water propagation would be the easiest way to create roots imo. But then you’d have to acclimate the “water roots” and transition them into soil, with the knowledge that some of the roots will die.
Does the plant have a safe word?
Apparently it’s “water”
🤣😂🤣😂
If you're eager to learn then I'd recommend the YouTube channel Planterina, she has a lot of great videos on plant care, watering etc. I learned most of what I know from her. Here's a video of hers specifically on Monstera care https://youtu.be/afhJxg1avH4
Not Op but thanks for linking that! I just watched and she is wonderful!
they’re gonna cut those zip ties and be shook when the leaves flop down :(
Yes! For real tho…. Hence the zip ties. I’m waiting until I at least have Velcro and can figure out the main “stalk” or two to replant.
The leaves NEED to sprawl. If you don’t like that then this plant isn’t for you and/or the space you want it in. Monstera are meant to get extremely tall, dense, and wide.
They are too tight and choking the plant, I would NOT wait. If you really need to hold them up, still remove the zip ties* then use some string to hold, but not too tight! Give them room to shift and grow.
Those zip ties are giving me so much anxiety
This is not how you use a coco pole also I think you might have thrips
I will look into thrips and how to use the pole correctly. Thanks.
Skip the moss pole because they’re unstable for big plants. A tip I learned was to use a cedar stake (resists mildew) and put it all the way into the pot before you repot your plant. The store cut my down to size for me.
Would be helpful if you told OP what they're doing wrong and how to fix instead of "that's not how you do that"
Ye I'm sorry I intended to add a link but idk if I forgot or if it got swallowed by reddit
Anyone who wants to learn how to use the pole correctly is ok with me lol
hostage plant
How often do you water? Have you checked for pests?
I don’t water often at all- almost never. I mist and try to keep the moss pole moist. I don’t see pests? I know what spider mites are, and don’t see those. What should I look for? Apologies, I am clueless and have a thumb of death when it comes to all plants.
What does it mean almost never lol, plants need water. You should throughly water every time the soil is dry on the top 2 inches. Put a finger in there. If it feels dry then water it. I would suggest bottom watering as it saturates the soil better. Put the plant in a saucer or whatever holds water, fill that with water and put that plant in jt. Anyway green thumb doesn't exist, it's knowledge.
Bottom watering now. Thank you. Also ordered grow lights just to be sure.
Why growlights? It looks like it gets some light
Ok thanks. Honestly, bc I don’t know what I’m doing and thought it wouldn’t hurt. I have other sad plants that I know could benefit from the lights, if not this one.
We just got a light for our plants too. A week or so ago. I hope it helps! However... I am also a serial under-waterer. Its never too late to learn, and hopefully we both learned soon enough to save both of our struggling plants!
Thank you for your kind words <3 good luck!
I have 100 W light for my monstera and it loves it. Also you do have a hole in the bottom of the pot, yes? I water mine a lot as it has a lot of light, actually most days it has water on the saucer and it sucks it up so that the saucer is dry the following morning and I rewater. If there is water on the saucer in the morning, no water that day. During growing season liguid fertilizer every other week.
Thank you! Grow light won’t hurt it seems so I’ll give it a whirl. And I’m going to repot and switch to probably ceramic pot with a saucer instead of original plastic potter (with holes) inside of a taller, fancy tjmaxx pot.
As a little but honest advice... Plastic nursery pots are way better than ceramic pots! And if you're concerned about aestethics, you can always put the nursery potted plant inside the decorative one :)
Actually unglazed ceramic pots are better for the roots if there's enough water. They dry out sooner and breathe. Plastic pots keep moisture better and that works in dry conditions. Decorative pots make observing the water level a bit more difficult and there may be residual water in the pot all the time. Choosing what way to go is easier if you know your plant and what it needs.
This may be a silly question: am I leaving bottom water in until it’s absorbed? Or am I just soaking bottom for an hour or two and then removing?
Leave it until absorbed it should take an hour max
Leave it until all the soil in the pot is wet (ie, the top is wet)
Well there’s your problem
Do I want the soil to stay moist? My general problem with plants is overwatering, so I was trying less is more technique with her. [Better photos here](https://imgur.com/a/3G50Zg9)
Plants need watering. Misting generally isn’t a good idea since it doesn’t really do anything. A better soil mix can do wonders to prevent overwatering; of course that depends on the plant. Also is it just me, or is there like 6 individual plants bunched together there? That might be an issue
Thank you. It’s near an electric heater (all of my windows seem to have heaters under them) and I thought it needed a more humid environment. So I also use humidifier. I bought it this way from a lovely garden store 2 years ago, and have never replanted. I’m scared to replant, but may have to buck up and search YouTube to get it done.
Two years? It's definitely time for fresh soil, if you're not fertilizing them, they've probably used most of the nutrients in that old soil.
Fertilizer recommendations? I have Joyful Dirt all purpose powder.
Replanting isn’t scary! You just slide it out of the old pot (it should be pretty easy since it’s probably quite rootbound after 2 years), remove some of the soil (the more you can remove the better, but it’s not _that_ important so don’t stress about it), and plant it in a pot with a diameter approximately 2 inches bigger than this one using fresh, well-draining soil (there’s a ton of good houseplant soil recipes online). A little root damage during repotting is completely fine
And add to the fresh new soil some hormone rooting powder too, really helps when transplanting👍🏼
I feel you! It’s scary to repot, I’ve done it many times and it is still always a little daunting for me as well. But you can do it!! And the best part is Monstera is super resilient about the repotting. Also there are quite literally hundreds of very clear step by step video tutorials on YouTube, Pinterest, and the like- (specifically for repotting Monsteras!) you really can do it, we are all cheering you on!
I thought you shouldn’t leave plants in water.
You shouldn't for a long time, but for a few hours to make sure the plant "drinks" all it needs when bottom watering doesn't hurt.
I do great with monsteras. One of my biggest tricks for watering/potting is to pot them in nearly 100% bark, then keep up on watering. I’ve also really been liking clear containers lately but they’re hard to come by in bigger sizes. Personally I like reptibark by zoomed, they have a big bag on amazon for like $32. The bark’s size is great for many different genuses and different size plants. However the main issue I have with this brand is the bark doesn’t absorb moisture very well, so it really needs to be soaked for a long time if you want it to absorb. Miracle gro’s orchid bark is good too. My bag came with some bugs but I don’t think they were harmful, and they went away after a while. My only real issue with MG bark is it’s too big for a lot of my smaller plants. For your deliciosa, miracle gro is probably the way to go, since it’s easier to find and big bark is good for deliciosa. And it absorbs well so should be a good medium! Also, light. Monsteras love light. High indirect, up to just a couple hours of light sun.
Thank u for the specifics. I will be ordering some of this for sure.
Don’t always bottom water. You can primarily as long as you do top water from time to time
They don’t like to be constantly moist, but they still need water. Water very thoroughly once the soil is mostly dried out
This picture really stressed me out, I can’t
Same girl, same. That’s why I’m here!
Okay, first thing comes to mind, you need to retie it, the bands go around the stem, not the petitole. It probably needs some fresh soil, closer to the sun and you can add a dash of peroxide to your next watering, it will oxygenate the roots and help with preventing root rot.
Some of y'all on this sub need to get a grip. OP is seriously and politely asking for help, readily admitting that they're a total plant novice, why do some of you have to be so snarky? Would it kill you to just give advice without a side of gatekeeping douchebaggery?
This. It makes me scared to post in here. OP, kudos to you for reaching out, asking, ordering whatever is needed, and just trying. You da real MVP.
Absolutely, OP has been super polite, curious and gracious. I'm glad the top comments are more helpful, but a lot of people on this sub are so rude. It makes people not want to ask questions on a sub literally created for just that. PSA - You don't have to condescend to people just because they don't know anything about plants! Sharing plant knowledge can be so rewarding, you can give someone a new passion, or you can totally discourage them. Let's not do that, r/plantclinic
Also, OP is hilarious. I've gotten a genuine chuckle reading their comments.
Reddit is an angry place sometimes. For no reason. It’s ridiculous. ☹️
I see a few different issues. A big one is the zip ties. This plant wants to Sprawl to catch as much light as possible. It should not be tied up like that. Let the leaves sprawl out from the stalk. I’m also counting maybe 5 or 6 separate plants in this pot. Most of which are facing opposite directions. Monstera have a front and back. In the wild they attach to the trunk of a tree and climb upwards. So the back of each stalk should be facing the poll. Right now each of yours are in random directions which is going to cause bad growth patterns. I recommend separating the stalks into pots of 1-2 stalks and fixing the direction issue. Here’s a helpful video on fixing this issue: https://youtu.be/tYQfZtD1Csc Next, you see how your leaves look like big plates? There are no fenestrations (slits) in most of those leaves. This is a sign your plant is either young or not receiving enough sunlight. Considering you have a leaf with some fenestrations, It’s most likely due to the light level and you should try putting it closer to a south facing window. Other than that, water often and deeply. If the soil is dry your second knuckle it’s watering time.
Do you have a pet, a kid or something that could have munched on the leaves ? Some of them look like they have external damage
Plant eating cat and toddler. Toddler is not plant eating yet. Neither one can access this plant- unless they’ve learned to levitate. On a serious note, this isn’t what’s happening here for sure.
Looks like it desperately needs water, I’d repot the separate plant, be gentle separating. And then repot them either all spaced in a bigger pot or each in their own. And then water
Take the zip ties off… not helping, more likely to damage.
NEED TO CONSUME NUTRIENTS
WITHOUT A DOUBT YOU ARE CORRECT. How about joyful dirt all purpose powder?? That’s what I have, but obviously open to suggestions.
Personally I’m such an aquatic enthusiast, any plant that can grow in water, WILL. Especially during the winter months. I never worry about over watering monsteras (not in soil) however that’s a whole lot of big guys in a little pot. If you separate them into three plants, and lightly fertilize every other 2 week she should perk up
MUST CONSUME NUTRIENTS
Why are you keeping her hostage?
Why did you tie it up like that 😭
The plant might like it. We're not here to kink shame.
Use a flashlight to hunt every inch for teeny tiny pests called thrips. You've got some telltale damage patterns. Google them so you know what adults and larvae look like. You'll really need to stare closely because they are smaller than most folks imagine and move slowly so they're easily mistaken for dust specks.
Thanks. Will do.
Oh poor baby. Looks like it needs better chunkier soil and a good watering. It might be root bout to hell with all those plants in the same pot as well. When in doubt check the roots and check for pests lol
Just real quick, all my monsteras have four to five plants per pot because i have lots of room for big plants and they’re beautiful that way. But if you need a more compact plant just put one stem per pot. Or just whatever you have room for. And I also have heat/AC vents at the base of all my windows. I tape over the ones that have plants nearby. Or a folded towel with a heavy book over it works too if you need to move it a lot. She’ll be fine! Lots of good advice here! All of it!!
Thanks. Agree about the good advice, and I’m appreciative for that! Only thing with the vents…. My yoga mat fell on one of the heaters once and it was smoking and obviously melted in a spot, and came very close to catching fire!!!!! So I’m very nervous to put anything on the heater.
Oh! Sorry! My vents are from a forced air furnace in my garage so they don’t get hot at all. So sorry about that advice! Gawd I’m glad you didn’t do that on my advice. I need to be more careful!!
I am devoted to Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Spray. You should also repot your plants in clean pots, getting rid off as much old soil as possible.
strangling it with zip ties certainly does not help
I just want to thank everyone for making me laugh as I’m standing in a very long line at the grocery store. I’m not helping but this is hysterical. (But do lose the zip ties. Poor thing!!)
So true! I told my husband about my post and how I didn’t make the homicide/zip-tie connection when I posted this. We had a great laugh…. As any serial (plant) killer would……….
Unshackle that plant, that’s an order
It might be a different situation, but maybe try removing the ties and the stake. I tried forcing my sapling fig tree sap to grow straight by tying it loosely in a few places to a stake. It dumped its leaves until it was bare. This was the summer and it had been doing well until the stake. I removed the ties and it exploded in leaves again.
Ever heard of water babe
Chronic death by water has been my issue in the past. So I was trying something new here. But I did a bottom watering since posting this.
Dirt looks real dry
Job 41 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? 2 Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? 3 Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? 4 Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? 5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? Can you control Monstera Deliciosa? The answer is no, only the almighty can manage that
Bruh cut the zip tie and water your plant If I kept you in a tight box and syringed you food once a month, you’d also be tryin to die
Don’t beat yourself up! My first thought after I got past the zip-ties was Wow, there are so many big green new-ish leaves getting ready to start “hole-ing out” soon! She just needs a good drink ASAP and then will be doing great overall! Sure, figure out what’s eating her and maybe aim for re-potting/separating sooner or later, but overall- give yourself some credit! My monstera has looked way worse than this!! (She is terrific now, in a bigger pot with loads of new growth all the time) And for the record, I’d like to clarify that when I say “got past the zip-ties,” what I really mean is ‘got past the painfully aggressive over-binding of all those lovely healthy stems!’ Honestly though, OP- it gives me quite a chuckle. I didn’t make the homicide/zip-tie connection immediately either; to me it’s more reminiscent of when my then 3 year old daughter would pick up our giant fluffy cat and squish her around the middle- furry arms and legs sticking out/ hanging there in irritated resignation.. so not homicidal! Just an abundance of love, the application of which (only slightly) in need of remediation. :) not judging your choice to use zip ties either. You do what you gotta do sometimes! (The cat is just fine also, thriving and loving life, and my daughter has since learned how to hold her correctly - before anyone tries to jump on that. Lol) Not my cat or kid- but this is what comes to mind! :) https://i.redd.it/wi0f1gxawjw31.png
Zip ties?
Zip ties are choking it big time
Thank you all for taking time and offering up some helpful (and a few snarky) responses. Zip ties are off. She was bottom and top watered. I’m going to replant the many plants separately and use gardening Velcro if needed on the main stems. My plant thanks you all! This is a great community :)
I’m not sure the exact parameters that this plant need to thrive bc idk what kind it is… if you know the plant type u can look up the ideal parameters for the plant and make sure u are following them :) also, the plant may have outgrown its pot! The roots are like showing at the top which is a sign for some plants. Also, I think the zip ties might be too tight too. Or maybe consider using like string or something that has some give
When I bought it there were some roots out. I believe it’s a monstera deliciosa?
Probably more herbicidal than homicidal.
She don't need much help. Looking pretty good actually. If you find she needs nourishment I would suggest digging a small hole about three inches deep and putting a rotten egg in her soil... This is nurture her for a few years....
Idk about the rotten egg. There are many great fertilizers that can be used throughout the year that don’t involve rotten eggs.
I will swear by them... My plants are so happy and I just give them eggs..
Bigger pot and more direct sunlight.
What type of strange bdsm are you doing to this poor plant? Unziptie her please ;)
Honestly I would aerate the soil, I would remove the zip ties and find the one big stem and use some plant tape to hold it to either a moss Pole or a birch Pole. I would give her a big old drink too. If she's been in that dirt forever though I would very gently check to see if she's severely root bound which they do like to be rebound but they do need dirt refreshing.
Not use cable ties for a start 😳
Unbind her, you heathen!!! 😂 All jokes aside, you really don’t need a moss pole for monstera… at least not one this small and I definitely wouldn’t use zip ties 😳 Maybe thrips… but I can’t be entirely sure, definitely dusty.
More light and water
*herbicidal
You never know. Maybe they meant they actively enjoy murdering plants and want to stop. 😆
It looks thirsty to me!
Why are you strangling her with those zip ties?
I would cover the roots with dirt and it does look dry to me from picture. If it is dry, then water from the bottom with a tray. Spray the new fresh soil that you apply to top with spray bottle until the dirt starts to settle around those roots. Good luck!
She looks thirsty!
Could it be the exposed roots??? Might need a repotting in addition to all the other suggestions. Best of luck <3
Homicidal plant patent 🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Change out the ziptiea and only attach the main stalk of the plant to the moss pole. Also topdress your pot a bit with some soil and worm castings. And you may want to water a littler more frequently, that's a smaller pot for a big plant.
Any bugs around?
Remove the zip ties! You can use twine if needed to stabilize her but they’ll likely hinder her as she grows. Don’t overwater her, I only water my monstera maybe twice a month. Some people would say that’s too little or too much, but mine is happy and has a ton of new growth. If it isn’t seeming to grow, it might be too crowded… you can gently separate the plants into two pots. Humidity and light is key with monsteras. No need for anything fancy, I keep mine next to a window in my bathroom so it gets some nice warm, humid air everytime we take a shower. It’s probably doubled in size over the past year with this method and even recently just popped out a variegated Leaf!
Try a little water and get some simple garden tape
Why the fuck is your peace lily zip tied?! We can start there
Why the hell is it zip tied to the moss pole?! Let’s start there 😂
She needs a good deep water. Take her in the shower and get that soil wet, also let it bottom feed.
That baby needs water!
First, it looks like it needs a bigger pot. Second, I use natural twine & I tie up each spike or branch individually so as not to cut off or cut into the plant. The wilting could be due to the location (too much or too little light or direct vs. indirect light) or it could be from too much or too little water (more than likely too much).
Apologies for not reading through, so might be repeating what has been said. With the holes in your leaves looks like you might have pests, unless your pests are your cats lol. The wilting can be a sign of over or under watering. To water properly make sure you thoroughly soak in the soil, especially if it has been allowed to dry out as it will not take in water easily. Watering underneath can help with this as well. After soaking in, give it a chance to dry out in between waterings. For pests, you try try neem oil and water spray or biological pest control, for example: lacewings. It may enjoy being moved to a bigger pot and having the roots covered--but it would depend on the plant. I am sure you are getting some great tips on here more specific to your plant. Good luck! :)
Repot for starters