Monstera Deliciosa is a vining plant that is native to tropical areas. They use aerial roots to stabilize themselves and grow vertically when possible. Most of us that keep Monsteras have houseplants also want them to grow vertically because otherwise, they take up way too much room. So what do you do to stop your Monstera growing sideways?
Why is Your Monstera Growing Sideways?
The very short answer is gravity. When your Monstera is young it can grow fairly upright on its own unsupported. In its native habitat, it uses its aerial roots to hook into its surroundings for support. In your house you may have some support, but not as plentiful as in the wild. And it doesn’t take us long to realize that you don’t want those roots trying to attach themselves to the nearest wall or another nice surface. The aerial roots will definitely destroy your paint and drywall if you let it take hold. I’ve even had some caulk around my window get some damage from my Monstera’s aerial roots.
As your plant grows, it becomes heavier. You’ll notice the vine becomes thicker and if it’s getting the right care the leaves will become larger as well. Without adequate support, your Monstera grows sideways like the one I’ve pictured above. It’s even taking the support pole with it.
I also want to mention that you should be rotating your Monstera so that all sides receive some sun. This will help your Monstera to grow in a more balanced way anyway. It won’t grow upright just from rotation, but it will be easier to train and secure to a pole or trellis if the growth is more even. Rotation is one benefit that growing plants indoors provides. Plants in the wild don’t get to do this. If you’re looking for direction on a rotation schedule, a quarter turn each week works well for me.
How to Get Your Monstera to Grow Upright
At home, you pretty much always have to have some kind of support system for your Monstera to help it grow upright. If you don’t want something extremely large and sturdy to give the aerial roots room to do their thing, then you will also need some support ties. Personally, I like a thin homemade pole (a four-foot dowel rod wrapped with jute) because I’m trying to conserve space. I also trim all the aerial roots to keep them tidy.
Whether you use a moss pole or a trellis to help your Monstera to grow vertically, what you definitely need is the garden velcro. I always have a roll of this at my house. I use it for my plants, but also for cord management and many other household organization tasks. As you can see above I have tidied up my Monstera aerial roots. You can clip these back, don’t worry about hurting your plant. I trim them right up to the vine with no problems. I also restaked my support pole which was leaning heavily from the weight of the big Monstera vine that was growing sideways. Then I affixed the Monstera vines up along the pole with the green velcro.
It’s hard to tell from my picture, but as your Monstera vine grows and becomes heavier, it’s a good idea to secure it with the velcro along many points on the vine, not just up high. While attaching it to the pole or trellis up high gives the look you want, it will be a lot more secure if you have several points of the vine secured.
How do you train your Monstera to grow upright? Share or show us in the Comments section below.
I'm a long time plant lover on the quest to happily coexist with as many plants as I can. Let's grow!