Most inexperienced, as well as just novice gardeners or just lovers of indoor flowers do not even suspect what difficulties you can face when breeding monstera at home. To begin with, you should fully understand the features of this process, otherwise you will have to spend a lot of effort and patience to grow a healthy and beautiful flower.
However, compared to other decorative flowers, the monster is fairly easy to root. Almost all vegetative green parts are used for plant propagation, because it resembles in its structure a tropical liana, which can adapt to any conditions.
Monstera breeding methods
Propagation by apical cuttings
For propagation by apical cuttings, the crown of an adult plant is cut and lowered into the water so that the cutting can take root. Only three strong branches are enough for transplantation. However, if you want to achieve a quick appearance of the first green shoots, then you can wait until more root shoots are formed.
Propagation by stem cuttings
Another equally common method of breeding monstera is to use stem cuttings as planting material. The stems must be selected in such a way that they have a pair of large buds. This cut part of the cutting is applied to the ground. It is better to use a light substrate as an earthen mixture or hydrogel.
The stalk should touch the soil with the bud. It is not necessary to bury it or sprinkle it with earth on top. The only maintenance requirement is regular watering and spraying of the topsoil. To maintain a certain microclimate around the landing site, it must be covered with a protective film. Thanks to such actions, this material will quickly take root and take root. Do not forget to periodically air the cutting. After small roots appear on it, the cutting is transplanted to an area where it will constantly grow. After some time, young leaves begin to form, which usually look in the shape of a heart. Then they gradually turn into full-fledged leaves of a dissected form.
Reproduction using leaves
Some gardeners share their experience of breeding monstera leaves. However, this method is not always successful in all cases. Often, the leaf begins to fade, and sometimes its rooting causes difficulties. If, nevertheless, a small monstera leaf turned out to be at hand, which for some reason simply broke off, it can be put in a glass or a jar of large volume of water. Soon the leaf will start to take root, after which it can be transplanted into any other container filled with soil.
Reproduction using shoots or air layers
This method of breeding a plant can be a lot of hassle, but as a result, this method is much more effective in practice. First, you need to find healthy and long aerial roots on the main stem. They need to be wrapped in moist moss, which is periodically moistened with water. The place around the selected shoot, along with the main stem, is wrapped in plastic wrap so that the moss does not dry out. The pressure should be moderate. It is best to leave free space for root growth inside such a mini-greenhouse. It is this method that allows you to achieve reproduction of monstera without pruning cuttings. Another advantage of this dilution is the fact that during root growth, a young leaf is also formed, which already initially has the ends of a dissected form. After the roots get stronger, a shallow incision is made in the stem, a branch is released from it, which is planted in a container for further cultivation. If it is not possible to tie the air layer with moss, then it is lowered into a small plastic cup filled with water, and then carefully tied to the plant.
Monstera breeding problems
Analyzing all of the above methods of reproduction, we can conclude that the rooting process really takes a lot of time. With cuttings breeding, monstera first devotes all its strength to the growth of new roots. Only after this does the formation of leaves begin. To speed up the process, as a rule, stimulants are used. When the first roots appear, it is necessary to give them the opportunity to grow a little. Layers with a developed aerial root system will take root in the soil much faster and will be able to form the first leaves faster.
A distinctive feature of the monstera is that, like all vines, only the upper part of the plant grows well, and the stem in the lower part remains unchanged in thickness. This structural feature often leads to the fact that the flower simply breaks. Therefore, for reproduction, the thickest cutting is chosen, which is located on the stem. A support is also installed for new shoots. Sometimes the too thin trunk of the plant is slightly deepened or the surface near the base is covered with earth. If the capacity of the pot does not allow this, then an adult monster can simply be transplanted into another container with a larger volume.
