I finally got my hands on some monstera albos! For the start of my birthday week my husband went with me to pick up these three clippings. It ended up being a 3 hour round trip but everyone charges $65-$150 (which is crazy!) for one leaf and I was able to get three at $40 each. I am trying aquarium rock, just water, clay balls and chunky soil as ways of growing roots and new leaves. What is your go to way to grow your plants?
For cuttings I do a lot of perlite and stratum mixed
1 me gusta I thought perlite was only for soil. That’s good to know. Both mixed and filled up with water right?
0 Me gusta Nope, you can use it for anything really. It's also sterile, which is why it makes a nice option for rooting. Yes, I mix it together and then dampen it.
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GORGEOUS leaves. Absolutely worth driving for. I have a decent amount of experience propping and growing monstera albo at this point. I’ve done it 10-ish times, sold most, but still have 4 in my collection. 100% do what you want with your cuttings but maybe my experience can be helpful: If you don’t already have an aerial root to work with (most common for top cuts where the root hasn’t yet emerged), water is going to be a VERY slow method. Like I’ve had it take 6+ months to get a root despite using air stones and heat pads and all the things that should speed it up, and that really risks losing the cutting. If your cutting in water doesn’t have a root, I would strongly consider moving to sphagnum mixed w perlite or some type of semi hydro. Bonus if you can put in a giant ziploc or other high humidity setup for a couple weeks to get it going. Also: I would avoid prop drops for a cutting like this in water that you care about. If you do have aerial roots on the one in aquarium rock, I would start by putting enough water in the reservoir that the root is at least partially submerged, then fill progressively less each time until you’re at the level you plan to keep as the long-term baseline. The soil/leca mix is actually a favorite of mine for albos. I’ve usually rooted them a little first but should work just as well if you don’t. And I would err on the side of low-to-medium light for the first month or so just to minimize water loss while they root. After that, light and warmth all the way. Bright light and heat will help prevent those white sections from browning off. I have an albo on a heat pad with good light and it has full moon leaves over 6 months old that haven’t browned at all. Some of it is genetics and fertilizer, but most of it is the heat and light.
4 Me gusta This is absolutely AMAZING. Thank you so much for all the suggestions on how to care and help them grow. I do not want these to die and from your advice it looks like they are not in the proper care that they should be in order to thrive. Your options are extremely helpful and I can’t wait to try them out for the best success of these little babies. ♥️ thank you thank you.
2 Me gusta You’re gonna do great!
1 me gusta Thank you!! ☺️
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