I posted a picture of this plant on Reddit a while back proud of how long its vines had gotten. A jackass Redditor commented and said that the plant was light starved (he had more to say, but I’ll leave that out).
Anyway, is my plant doing OK? Does it need more light? I’m training some of the vines over the curtain rod so that it can get more light from the window.
It’s fine. That’s an understory plant and would die in direct sunlight. They get bleached out and fry in the sun pretty quickly, especially when accustomed to interior conditions. They naturally grow on tree trunks in deep jungles. They grow towards light because that’s how plant hormones work.
Ignore the jackass.
Gotcha. So it’s probably oerfectly happy where it is. Thanks!
Yep. If you want more leaves and greener growth, a pinch (like 1/2 tsp) of mild fertilizer, like a 5-4-5 organic or similar, could be added occasionally. (every couple months during the warmer part of the year) Ideally, dissolved in a few cups of water. In natural conditions, this would mimic an animal/insects dying nearby or a bird shitting near the root zone. Without a source of nitrogen from time to time the plant will steal from older leaves (yellowing them until they fall off) to fund nutrient requirements of new growth.
Gotcha, OK. Will try that. I have some fertilizer sticks, would that work?
Probably, yeah. That might be overkill. I’m not a fan of anything that could give a strong concentration in one spot or could risk giving too much at once. Personally, would probably break a little off and dissolve it and then water that in… But again, it would probably be fine to just use as directed.
Your plant looks great. Don’t let that redditor bother you. The vines are beautiful but they will grow bigger if you give it something to climb on like the curtain rod you mentioned. I think that guy was saying your plant was light deprived because of the leaves being smaller than the older ones. It’s normal and not all plants have to look picture perfect. Your plant is healthy and looks great. To be honest I am jealous that I don’t have such a lush and healthy plant.
Thanks so much! I am not great with house plants, but this plant has brought me a lot of joy.
I think you hit the nail on the head. A jackass redditor.
The plant may be the slightest bit leggy, where it’s reaching to the window, but looks totally fine to me. Google monstera adansonii (that’s what that looks like it is anyhow)they all looks vaguely like that.
OK, thank you!
I feel like the leaves I’m seeing on the plants I’ve googled are bugger than the ones on mine, but it aeems OK otherwise.
Looks pretty good to me! I’no expert whatsoever but if I see the plant growing with good distribuiton of leaves on the vines it’going good!
I think it looks lovely. Something I like to do with vining plants is propagate the extra long vines and pot them back into the same pot. It’s a fun way to have more plant babies, more vines, and a fuller looking pot!
Thank you! That’s a good idea. I think I’d need a bigger pot for this guy, but I’d like to try that. Maybe I can prop into another pot.
