This Easy Houseplant Is Perfect for Summer Decor
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A Swiss cheese plant, also known as a Monstera plant, makes a striking addition to any room. It's a tropical plant with waxy, deep green leaves on each of its vinelike, woody stems; the leaves develop the holes behind its nickname as they get bigger. In its native setting in the tropics of North and South America, Monstera can climb up to 70 feet tall, and their stylish leaves can grow up to three feet wide. Rest assured the potted one in your living room won't get that big, but you may need to prune it back every once in a while. Aside from that, Monstera is such a popular houseplant because it's so low maintenance, generally unfussy, and resistant to pests or diseases. That makes it a great choice for newbies and experienced plant people alike.
Allison Futeral, the owner of the Oakland, California plant shop Crimson Horticultural Rarities, loves the Swiss Cheese plant as a houseplant option for bright or indirect sunlight. "This plant will do best in a peat-based soil mix that will help the roots dry out between waterings," she adds. "I also recommend planting it in a terra-cotta or raw clay container to help control moisture levels."
We love the Monstera plant because it's gorgeous and fairly easygoing. Unfortunately, no, you can't eat Swiss cheese plant, but you can use it to decorate your home inside and out, depending on where you live. Read on to learn everything else you need to know about this conversation-starting houseplant.
Swiss Cheese Plant Varieties
There's a little confusion about exactly which Monstera plant is which. This is where it gets a little complicated: The plant category, or genus, is Monstera, but several different species go by the same common name of Swiss cheese plant. Mostly you'll find Monstera deliciosa, which has long-lobed leaves and elongated holes (though young leaves may not have these holes). Another similar plant, Monstera epipremnoides, looks almost identical except its leaves have long slashes through the outer edges instead of holes. And Monstera adansonii has heart-shaped leaves with holes. Regardless of which species you buy, they're all beautiful, easy-care plants with similar needs.
How to Care for Swiss Cheese Plant
Your lush tropical Monstera plant will love living with you if you give it the moderate amounts of warmth, water, and sunlight that it needs.
Temperature
Monstera deliciosa likes moderate indoor temperatures of 60 to 85 degrees.
Humidity
Monstera prefers high humidity, but it will adapt fine to dry indoor conditions. If you really feel like nurturing it, you can mist it with water occasionally to boost the humidity—but that's not strictly necessary.
Water
Water a Swiss cheese plant until it runs out the bottom, then wait until the top few inches feel dry before watering again. (Make sure your pot has drain holes! No plant likes wet feet.) Don't overwater—that's a common mistake with this plant. Monstera deliciosa likes its soil a little on the dry side. If you want to, you can feed it with a balanced liquid fertilizer in the summer, then stop over the winter when it's not actively growing.
Sunlight
Give it light, but not too much. In its native environment, a Swiss cheese plant grows beneath the canopy of large, tall tropical trees. So, it prefers indirect sunlight, or sunlight filtered by a transparent curtain. It can tolerate some direct sunlight but no more than a few hours per day. Avoid putting a Monstera plant in direct sunlight right away as it's getting acclimated to your home because the leaves scorch easily. Also, in low light levels, it won't develop the characteristic leaf holes.
You can take Monstera deliciosa outdoors in summer or keep it outdoors in warm climates. (It's often grown as a landscape plant in warm climates such as Florida.) Place it in an area with filtered shade—never direct sunlight, so the leaves won't fry. Bring it back indoors before temperatures drop into the 40s.
Growth
Small Swiss cheese plants may be staked with a moss-covered pole, which they will climb. The leaf size will increase as the plants get going. If you don't stake your plant, it'll have more of a sprawling look, which is also fine. In the wild, the Swiss cheese plant produces flowers and fruit, but that's rare for a houseplant.
How to Pot Swiss Cheese Plant
Fill the bottom of your pot with potting soil, taking up approximately one-third of the pot.
Place a stake in the pot for the stem to climb onto.
Put the roots in the container, and surround the roots with soil.
Surround the stake with soil, then use plant ties to attach the stake to the stem.
How to Propagate Swiss Cheese Plant
There are two ways to propagate a Monstera or Swiss cheese plant: using stem cuttings or air layering.
If you want to try using stem cuttings, follow these steps:
With a sharp, clean pruning shear, remove any stem that features what's called a node, or a bump that roots will come out of, as well as at least two leaves and an aerial root.
Pour some ground cinnamon (from the grocery store) onto the mother plant in the spot where the cut was made. (This will help prevent disease.)
Place the cutting in a glass of water. Make sure to clean out the glass every three to five days, and try to use filtered water or rainwater instead of tap water.
After a few months, roots will begin to sprout. Once that happens, you can place your plant in a pot with new, moist soil.
If you want to try air layering (a lower-risk practice that involves waiting until the baby plant is ready to be potted on its own rather than cutting the mother plant), follow these steps:
Search for a stem that has several nodes (the places where roots grow from). You could also use a leaf growing from a stem as long as it has a short aerial root beneath it.
Make a cut that takes up approximately one-third of the stem's width, just under the root.
Wrap an inch of sphagnum moss around the spot where the leaf and the stem meet.
Spray the moss with some water, then wrap it in plastic. Use twist ties to secure the plastic.
Make sure the moss has moisture while the roots are developing.
After a few months, once the roots come up, cut the stem that's located beneath the roots and place the young plant in a new pot with fresh soil.
Pour ground cinnamon on the mother plant's wood to prevent disease.
Common Swiss Cheese Plant Pests
Luckily, these plants aren't particularly prone to pests. However, like any indoor houseplants, you should always be on the watch for aphids, mealybugs, scale insects, or spider mites. According to the University of Wisconsin Horticulture extension, dusting the leaves by wiping them with a damp clot can help keep pests away.
Common Swiss Cheese Plant Problems
Brown Leaves
The UWI extension states that brown or dry leaves are a common and tell-tale sign of too-low humidity. We recommend using a humidifier, placing other houseplants close together around your Monstera plant, or creating a pebble tray to help promote moisture.
"Sweating" Leaves
A Monstera plant's leaves will "sweat" if the growing medium is too moist, says UWI. The growing medium primarily refers to the soil, but it can also mean that the moss support (if you're using one) is too moist. If this happens, limit watering and move your plant into a brighter spot to prevent root rot and let it dry out.
Stagnant Growth
Swiss Cheese plants are aggressive growers, and their roots love to spread out. If you've noticed that your plant is struggling but can't pinpoint exactly why, you probably need a larger pot.
Swiss Cheese Plant Safety
Place your Monstera out of the reach of curious pets and children. Like many tropical houseplants, Swiss cheese plant contains calcium oxalate crystals, which are toxic to pets. If you have cats or dogs who like to nibble, keep them away from this plant because ingesting any part of it can irritate their mouth, lips, and tongue and potentially cause drooling, vomiting, and difficulty swallowing.
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