repotted my monstera a month ago into this terracotta pot. as my first plant, it got root rot so i cut off all rotting and put it back in two weeks later with some leca. after that repotting, the monstera has continued to yellow out and brown leaves. i’ve checked for more root rot or for pests but i can’t find the source of my problem. the pot has drainage and it gets watered every two and a half weeks. it is facing a north-west window.
by Grieys
7 Comments
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this monstera is relatively my only plant that is doing poorly and i’m confused on what i am doing wrong. any advice or tips would be appreciated.
I would ditch the Leca, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
usually when you have transfer a plant into leca it’s supposed to be when it has a stable root system. You also need to keep the leca super wet as in that pot should be filled all the way up for a week or two to allow the plant to get used to being in leca. Then it would be fine if the water runs low. My plants do amazing in leca, way better than water culturing or regular soil. I think just propagate what nodes you can find and save and try again. It was a struggle figuring out leca as a beginner but now that’s all my plants live in!!! They push out leaves like crazy and I don’t even fertilize them.
Does this have soil under the leca?
Nope – not a lost cause. The pot looks way to big. That’s a problem if you tend to overwater (doesn’t sound like the case here, but if most of the roots already rotted off it could be). Pot size is an issue because the root ball isn’t big enough to soak up the water in the pot before the soil dries out. Pot size doesn’t matter if you are able to keep the soil consistently moist, but never wet. Most noobies don’t get this balance right. You may be wondering why it got rot if you only water infrequently. Well, that’s because the root tips may have dried out (died), then overwatering made the problem worse.
I’d take it out, repot in a pot that fits the root ball ‘reasonably snugly’. I think a 4” pot would be the right size.
Other issues could be:
– not enough water (soil should be just moist and shouldn’t completely dry out between watering)
– not enough light (monsteras like a lot if light, but not too much direct sun. A south facing window is usually ideal)
– it’s not looking a vibrant green, so some worm castings in your soil mix when you repot would be good. Or start giving it some fertilizer. Ozmocote slow release pellets (or similar) are good and you don’t run the risk of over fertilizing and burning the roots. The plant looks stressed now, so be very careful with fertilizing – it’s not like medicine. Fertilizing an unhealthy plant can kill it.
Why is it growing in hydroton? Unless you’re growing it hydroponically you need to ditch the hydroton. And that pot is too big for that plant anyway. Probably takes forever to dry and your plant is hating it