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My little guy I have had for 3 decades now. (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago by The_v@lemmy.world to c/houseplants@mander.xyz

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Probably the easiest plant to care for once you figure it out.

I water it every month or two. Fertilize it every 2 or 3 years. Redirect the arial roots into the pot when I water.

It gets 3 hours of direct sunlight in the morning.

Every 5 or 6 years I haul it outside in the summer. Then leach the pot with the garden hose to remove the salt buildup. I also hack the plant back to a more manageable size.

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[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago

Monstera? That was my very first houseplant! Dude that lived in the attic at our shit college house gave me one of those, and a cat. Had sworn that pets and plants were for little old ladies, not ME!

Well... promptly killed the plant, but the cat fared well. And here I am 35-years later building a greenhouse out of spare parts and hoping the tadpoles do well in the new pond. The pig and chameleon are happy campers!

And BTW, I have never seen such an impressive example. As a cable guy I was in 3,000-some houses. You win.

[-] The_v@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

Naw I have to keep him small to fit in the space. Eventually I want a house where I can let my poor little guy to grow up big.

[-] nick@midwest.social 11 points 2 days ago

My grandma has a fern on her porch that she’s had since 1951.

Meanwhile every plant we buy and bring home is dead within a week.

[-] Slab_Bulkhead@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

look at me, you're the little guy now.

[-] Zwiebel@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago

First time I hear of salt buildup in houseplants :o

[-] The_v@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Water + evaporation + water collection tray = salt buildup. Depending on the water source it can take decades or a few months. It's one of the top reasons not to use softened water on houseplants. The addition of sodium can mess them up quickly.

It's pretty easy to remove however. I haul the plant outside and run around 50 gallons through the pot in a day or so. You can do the same thing in a bathtub for smaller plants. After leaching the pot always fertilize the plant.

[-] teije9@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 days ago

give him a moss pole to climb against! in nature they climb trees, so they aren't that good in standing up by themselves

[-] The_v@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

They just need something to lean against. It's leaning against the window. Since I never rotate it, it does just fine.

[-] teije9@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago

oh, I see, cool I didn't know that!

[-] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

What is it? It looks cool.

[-] thr0w4w4y2@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 days ago

a monstera.

unbelievable size given the pot, and that limited watering.

[-] The_v@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Monsteras are very drought tolerant and do better with intermittent watering. Soak the pot then let them let them dry out. They need another dunking when the sheen of the leaves get a little dull.

They also break any rule about pot size you have ever heard. That's a 10 gallon pot btw. For the first 10 years of its life, I kept it in a 2.5 gallon one. I had to water (2-3 weeks) and fertilize (2x per year) more frequently but it grew to the same massive size.

[-] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 days ago

I've found that erring on the side of underwatering is a decent strategy for most houseplants. People ask me what my trick to caring for my houseplants is, and a huge part of this is that I made up a big bucket of well-draining soil to use for my plants. This means that I need to water them more frequently, but they're far less likely to succumb to root rot

this post was submitted on 18 May 2025

292 points (99.7% liked)

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