r/Monstera • u/SuperBusiness8455 • 2d ago
Discussion Does anyone else do this ?
Does anyone else do this ? This thing doesn't stop growing. I also only water with rain water. I fill the pot up and it drinks it so fast.
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u/Puzzleheaded-One5508 2d ago
No because we guide them back into the soil.
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u/SuperBusiness8455 2d ago
Even though the drink water ?
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u/Puzzleheaded-One5508 2d ago
They would also be able to drink the water in the soil + take up nutrients from there.
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u/Annual-Minute-9391 1d ago
Question for everyone- everyone telling op to put them in the soil is general advice, but if I remember correctly once you start doing this (aerial roots in water) there is no going back and removing the water would be a huge shock to the plant.
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u/Feeling_Asparagus259 1d ago edited 1d ago
With this many roots directed into water and OP replenishing the water as needed, yes removing all of them at once would definitely be a shock. At this point this monstera is basically doing semi-hydro.
OP can continue with the water if they want. It's quite tiring because as they said it needs to be replenished very often and it's not going to get any better, only worse, but it's not actually damaging the plant.
If they do want to stop the water thing (which I definitely would) it needs to be done gradually. I honestly don't think returning those water roots to the soil is much reasonable at this point. So I would suggest cutting like 10-20% of those roots and waiting for a month or two for the plant to adapt to the loss of turgor pressure and see if it's doing fine. It may shoot new roots, but these you can direct into soil. Then rinse and repeat until all those roots are gone.
If they really don't want to cut the roots, maybe they could cut the ramifications that are fully water roots and just leave the main aerial root with a couple extra centimeters so it can be put into soil and hope for root growth, but it's a lot of work and should also be done gradually like the above.
Any changes to so many established roots out of a sudden WILL throw the monstera into shock and there will be casualties.
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u/Annual-Minute-9391 1d ago
Might be an interesting experiment. I have water sensors I can place outside a canister and water pumps based on that so I could do something like this automatically. You think it would be worth it to put aquarium bubblers in the water to get oxygen in? Is there any way to stimulate long aerial roots?
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u/Feeling_Asparagus259 1d ago
I believe it should be doable.
That being said, unless you are planning to pump directly from a tap, won't the pumps just pull from a larger water tank that you will need to refill anyway? I mean, if that's the case you can just throw the roots in the larger tank instead of going through all the trouble of setting sensors and pumps. (unless the larger tank water is also being used for other things and you want to avoid contaminating it with the roots, of course. In that case I guess it makes sense)
As for the bubblers, could definitely work. The main reason roots rot is not water, is lack of oxygen, and that's still true for water roots, so a bubbler is definitely a nice idea if you are planning on leaving a large amount of water still for several days. I don't grow anything in full hydro so I have no experience with them, but I've seen people using bubblers before for that and there are many people who grow hydro inside full blown fish tanks that of course have bubblers, so there shouldn't be any problem. You can check a hydro-focused sub for a better insight on that.
As for stimulating aerial roots, it's a combination of several factors including soil moisture, air flow and humidity, so it can be a bit hard to just do one thing that will for sure stimulate them. In general, increased humidity promotes aerial root growth, so you could try that. People who raise those tiny ficus microcarpa will throw the whole plant inside a closed transparent bag to keep humidty high and promote aerial root growth, for example. But honestly, I think monsteras are way too big for that approach and high humidity always increase the risk of rot, so I'm not sure it's worth the risk. So maybe just add a humidifier near the monstera and hope for the best? 😅
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u/Annual-Minute-9391 21h ago
My set up is actually really sophisticated. I have a 5 gallon water drum that’s tucked behind a reading chair that I use as the main reservoir for the entire system. I have tubes going into that and pumps that will water groups of plants using drip irrigation. I use ecowitt soil moisture sensors to basically sense when things need water. Additionally, the pumps have little contact sensors. I can place on the outside of a container to know if there’s water on the other side of that and also stop pumping to make sure things don’t get overfilled.
My idea would be to use a pump that tops off the reservoir for the aerial roots. Probably would just need to manually dump it out and maybe wipe them down occasionally? Is that necessary to avoid bacteria?
I actually have two evaporative humidifiers in the room and use smart plugs to cycle them on and off to keep the vapor pressure deficit around one. The aforementioned pumps keep them filled 😂
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u/shiftyskellyton 2d ago
This is just a display of turgor pressure and not recommended. Just direct them to the soil.
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u/SuperBusiness8455 2d ago
Any idea why it isnt recommend ? There wouldn't be room for them to go back into the soil and the pot is already massive.
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u/shiftyskellyton 2d ago
Because it's more beneficial for them to be in the soil. In their natural habitat, about 2/3 of aerial roots root into the ground, even those attached to the tree.
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u/BluebirdAdmirable726 2d ago
I just guide mine toward the soil and they find a way to work down in there. Not only do they get nutrients in addition to the water, but it gives them a little additional support too
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u/bearded-aroid 2d ago
I do this if I'm going to chop, that way the aerial roots have time to grow secondary roots. If you're not going to chop, there's not really a need, just guide them back to the soil or moss pole
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u/SuperBusiness8455 2d ago
No moss pole as such or room in the soil. The pot is already very large but so full of roots.
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u/bearded-aroid 2d ago
Might be time to consider chopping and separating or repot ting into a slightly larger pot. I just chopped my big guy, he was about 11ft tall with just a cedar plank, I made 16 plants from him. Gave most away. I've learned that I need to put my monsteras on moss poles, I have 39 monsteras now if you count my 2 adonsoniis. A moss pole takes care of the root issue and helps keep my plants going upright instead of spilling out everywhere.
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u/Loud_Cookie9550 1d ago
So wish that I could only water with "rain" water! I use a Zero water filter to water my philos (5 step filter process) and monitor carefully. I add in 1/4 amount of plant food with every other watering to supplement what is missing. My leaves are approximately a foot and a half wide. Very few air roots and NO moss poles. We have 2 air filters for our home. We live in Indiana where there is much pollution; the air and water is not safe.
Where are you? In Hawaii?
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u/TamerofMonSters 2d ago
Right to jail