Monstera Help - Old Plant Needs Attention

[Nifty]

Hi friends!

I inherited a very old an decrepit Monstera, and would like to try and help it regain glory and/or take cuttings from it.

It is very twisted and just all-over-the place.

I've watched a TON of videos about repotting them, helping to train them up/climbing, and propagating them with cuttings.

For re-training it: It seems WAY too bent out of shape to really do a good job having it go "up" and straight. Not sure it's possible as-is?

For cuttings: The ones in the videos show a very clear area / distance between the segments where I can cut between "nodes"... but as you can see in the 2nd pic, I can't really see a good spot to cut.

Any ideas / suggestions on what to do with this?

 

[baymule]

Are those roots growing out of the stem? Maybe cut a length of the stem and plant it straight up but with the roots in soil too.

 

[Nifty]

Are those roots growing out of the stem?

Kinda... they are called "aerial roots"... and from what I've read, mostly that grow above the ground for climbing.

 

[flowerbug]

if you have stem that looks like that you then you will also have nodes (where each leaf comes out), so it should not matter where you cut it as long as you get a big enough piece.

it looks like you have several feet of stem there to work with. you could take chunks of them both and try to get them rooted, but also leave the original plants in the pot to resprout and grow so you will have a live plant no matter what to work with.

the size of the chunks probably should be some minimum length to make sure they have enough energy to start a root and to get a node sprouted, the videos you've been watching should give you some idea of how long that is, but from what i can tell from your picture that plant isn't the healthiest so you might want to add a little more length to the pieces.

you can refresh the top layer of potting soil in that planter and that should give it a boost of nutrients and water it on a schedule as recommended by more knowledgeable people than me (as i've not kept one of those specific plants ).

snipping off air roots won't harm it if they are only for anchoring and you're not using them for that.

pretty much get them growing and with some new stem on them and then to make them look better you can put the plant down deeper in the pot and it will root out even more from the newer stem too, but first you want the pieces rooted and growing new leaves before you do anything else with them and burying fresh green stems and stalks of leaves is asking for rot, so you want to wait until they've started going up further and have a more cured stem down below the leaves and stems to bury.

not all pieces may survive the attempt, but you may get a few to take, rooting hormone might help, i've not had that specific plant but others similar enough that i'd not be too worried about it. they're kinda geared towards this sort of technique.

another approach could involve air layering but that's a whole different topic than cutting a plant stem into segments.

 

[Nifty]

Thanks @flowerbug !!!!

if you have stem that looks like that you then you will also have nodes (where each leaf comes out), so it should not matter where you cut it as long as you get a big enough piece.

That's good to know. I have lots of plant, so I'm inclined to give it a try.

you can refresh the top layer of potting soil in that planter and that should give it a boost of nutrients and water it on a schedule as recommended by more knowledgeable people than me (as i've not kept one of those specific plants ).

Oh, great idea!

another approach could involve air layering but that's a whole different topic than cutting a plant stem into segments.

I LOVE that you suggested that! I've watched SO many of this guy's great videos, and just stumbled on this one. I think I'm going to try air layering the healthy part of one stem and see how that goes:

 

[ducks4you]

How to Prune Your Monstera: The Ultimate Guide (2025)

See how to prune your Monstera to encourage growth! Pruning indoor Monstera is easy, including when you cut back a leggy or overgrown one!

houseplantauthority.com

This is a tropical bush/tree and all tree and bush pruning suggestions come to mind.
No more than 30%/year, cut off all dead pieces, and like above, try replanting the pieces.
Also, yours looks cramped in it's pot, like you should take some of it away and repot. This article also suggests root pruning, something suggested for certain fruit trees.

 

[Dahlia]

Hi friends!

I inherited a very old an decrepit Monstera, and would like to try and help it regain glory and/or take cuttings from it.

It is very twisted and just all-over-the place.

I've watched a TON of videos about repotting them, helping to train them up/climbing, and propagating them with cuttings.

For re-training it: It seems WAY too bent out of shape to really do a good job having it go "up" and straight. Not sure it's possible as-is?

For cuttings: The ones in the videos show a very clear area / distance between the segments where I can cut between "nodes"... but as you can see in the 2nd pic, I can't really see a good spot to cut.

Any ideas / suggestions on what to do with this?


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These plants seem to be really popular. I know multiple people that have these as house plants.