The magnificent Monstera pinnatipartita is an eye-catching plant with broad, dark green oblong foliage. Depending on the age of the plant, the leaves are split, fenestrated, or entire.
The plant is often seen in the young adult stage with its thick, long vines attached to poles or trees for support. The leaves are deeply fenestrated or split at this stage and may be up to 30cm long.
In much older plants, the vines are thicker and stout enough to hold the plant upright. Its split leaves could be up to 40cm long at this stage and are held on 30 cm long petioles. The overall effect is quite impressive.
Mature Monstera Pinnatipartita plants produce white spathe-and-spadix-type flowers, typical of members of the Araceae family.
Is Monstera pinnatipartita an indoor plant?
Monstera pinnatipartita will grow indoors but needs plenty of bright indirect light to reach its full potential. Indoor specimens are often in the juvenile stage of the plant, without fenestrations.
A small plant with just a few glossy leaves would make an interesting display on a tabletop.
If you want your Monstera pinnatipartita to grow bigger fenestrated leaves, you should give it a moss or coir pole to climb.
How to care for your Monstera pinnatipartita
It’s easy to care for Monstera pinnatipartita when you get the growing conditions right. It’s one plant that doesn’t need or want you fussing over it. Another good point is that you can easily tell what the problem is when there is one.
Here are my tried and true tips for getting the best out of your Monstera pinnatipartita.
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How much water does your Monstera pinnatipartita need?
Monstera pinnatipartita likes to dry out slightly between waterings, so be sure to check the soil or potting medium before giving it a drink. You can expect to water your plant only once in two or three weeks if kept indoors.
If your plant is growing up a pole, you should wet the pole also. In many cases, you may only need to spray the pole with water and allow the water to trickle down to the soil below.
A sign that your plant needs a drink is when the leaves curl inwards as the plant tries to prevent moisture loss. If it’s left dry for too long, the lower leaves become crispy with their tips turning yellow. They will eventually turn brown and fall off, but if hydrated on time, they could remain on the plant.
On the other hand, if the plant is overwatered, one or more lower leaves turn yellow and fall off. When the plant loses leaves like this it appears leggy and unattractive.
Read on to see how to fix a leggy plant.
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How much light does your Monstera pinnatipartita need?
Monstera pinnatipartita grows best in the shade of trees or on porches and balconies. It has sufficient indirect light to grow into a big plant in these conditions.
If your monstera pinnatipartita doesn’t get enough light, it will produce smaller leaves and sometimes empty vines. Fix the problem by moving the plant to a brighter location and chopping off the leafless vines.
But be careful not to place the plant in direct sunlight which could scorch the leaves or bleach them. A plant growing in ideal lighting conditions has very dark green leaves.
Read more about how to choose the right indoor plants for your light.
How often should you feed your Monstera pinnatipartita?
Monstera pinnatipartita is a heavy feeder. It needs nutrients to grow bigger leaves and to grow fast. So, if you keep your plant indoors or on a porch, you’ll need to feed it often.
Top up the potting mix with compost every two months or when you notice new leaves are small.
If the plant grows in its ideal conditions, that is, climbing up a tree in your garden, you don’t need to feed it at all. The aerial roots absorb enough nutrients from rain and debris on the tree’s bark to keep it going.
How to make your Monstera pinnatipartita bushy
Monstera pinnatipartita plants often grow as straight vines with leaves arranged alternately. If you want a full pot for an indoor display, you could start with several small plants in a wide pot.
Alternatively, you can make a single vine to spread out in a wide pot rather than grow upwards. To do this, wind the vine around the inside of the pot on the soil surface. Hold down the nodes with clips to encourage the aerial roots to grow down into the soil.
You can do this too to make a leggy plant look better. Simply cover the leafless nodes with the potting medium and wait for new vines to shoot out.
The more roots your plant has in the soil, the bigger the new leaves will be, and the more branches it will have.
Best potting mix for Monstera pinnatipartita
Generally, aroids grow best in loose soil that allows airflow to their roots. A well-drained, porous potting medium is, therefore, best for your Monstera pinnatipartita.
You can make some easily with small pieces of charcoal, twigs, pieces of coconut husk, and cocopeat. Enrich the medium with some compost to feed your plant.
Controlling pests on Monstera pinnatipartita
Monstera pinnatipartita may be affected by scales or mealy bugs. Prevent these pests by allowing good airflow to the leaves of your plants.
Inspect your plant regularly. Clean the leaves with soapy water and neem oil, periodically, to get rid of and deter pests.
How to propagate Monstera pinnatipartita
Monstera pinnatipartita is easy to propagate from cuttings.
To do this, cut off a piece of vine between two leaf nodes to get single-leaf cuttings. Leafless nodes from a leggy plant will also form roots so don’t throw them away.
Place the cuttings in water with the nodes and any aerial roots submerged. New roots will form in a few weeks. If the vine has aerial roots, they’ll help it develop real roots faster.
Transfer your cuttings to a porous potting medium in a shallow pot. At this stage, your plant has only a few roots and so will use up water very slowly. Water sparingly to avoid rotting the young plant.
As a precaution against overwatering, use just enough potting medium to cover the roots.
Expect to see a new leaf in a few weeks. Young plants produce non-fenestrated leaves. Fenestrations on leaves start appearing as the plant matures.
If you want fenestrated leaves sooner, take cuttings from mature plants.
Well, that’s it! All the best with your Monstera pinnatipartita.
Thanks for reading.
