As a mom of three, you’d think I’d have learned by now that favoritism in wrong. But no, it’s surfaced in my life.
My Swiss cheese vine, Monstera adansonii (friedrichstehlii) is an exotic beauty. A rare find and the apple of my eye.
The Swiss cheese plant is in stiff competition with my Chinese money plants whom I also dearly love. Somebody help me.
Cascading in a hanging pot, my Monstera adansonii (friedrichsthelii) is always in view. And it’s there to stay reigning supreme between the kitchen and den.
As to anyone who comes over and fails to admire said plant….my stern eye is dire. How dare they?
An amazing plant that puts you in the tropics without leaving home. Or pay the exorbitant price for a plane ticket.
Here’s why you simply must get a Monstera adansonii (friedrichstehlii) and how to best care for this plant.
Holy moly!
The holes. Aren’t they spectacular? Each mature leaf displays multiple oval holes.
The theory is as follows: the holes resembling Swiss cheese allow sun and water through to the lower leaves in tropical environments and help the leaves stand up to the forceful wind.
I put my first Swiss cheese plant in a hanging planter so it can climb up or trail down. If you want yours to climb, it’s never a bad idea to stake it. Whatever the plant prefers!
Perhaps the most special feature of the Swiss cheese plant is this: truly, no two plants look the same.
Some plants boast leaves that magnificently mimic Swiss cheese with numerous holes while other plants have leaves with fewer holes.
They even vary in color. Some plants sport darker foliage while others as shown above have lighter stems and leaves.
But all are exotic and alluring in their unique way!
Fun Monstera fact!
Fast Facts….
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Top 5 ways not to kill this plant
Much better is all day bright, but indirect light. Fluorescent light is fine, too.
2.) Allow the Swiss cheese plant to dry out between waterings. Swiss cheese plants that are overwatered tend to rot and die.
The Swiss cheese plant never wants to sit or stand in any water. So no collection tray underneath. And if you plant in a pot without drainage holes, you’d better be extra careful not to overwater.
My Swiss cheese plants have gone weeks without watering suffering no ill side effects. They don’t even get droopy or wilt.
When in doubt, don’t water. Poke your finger in the soil, if you feel any moisture, wait a few more days to water.
3.) Re-pot every other year in nutrient dense soil containing peat or perlite to increase drainage.
Failure to keep this plants in nutritious soil could be detrimental to these plants.
I highly suggest using a cactus or succulent potting mix. Add your own perlite to the formula for fantastic results.
My house lacks a conservatory (bummer) but I do have a kitchen with lots of bright, but indirect light.
The kitchen also boasts a fair bit of humidity for this plant. But maybe you have a well- lit bathroom where there’s lots of humidity? Your Swiss cheese plant will likely be happy there.
5.) Don’t fuss. In my experience, the more you fuss over plants, the more they die. Give them tons of light, and don’t trouble yourself by overwatering. Rots those roots every time!
If you really want to spoil your Monstera adansonii, consider buying it a humidifier. Not only will it keep the air moist near the plant, but the extra humidity in your home will do you a ton of good.
Keep this houseplant in a dwelling 60 degrees Fahrenheit or above if possible. Misting is a big, bonus spin!
Propagation of the Monstera adansonii (friedrichsthalii)
Since I’ve had more success rooting in water over soil, that’s my preference.
One stark advantage to rooting in soil, however, is that that new roots don’t need to adjust. They are already acclimated to soil and all the wonderful microbiology within.
Not so with plants rooted in water. They’ll go through an adjustment phrase when you re-plant from the water to the soil.
Even if you are successful with getting lots of roots via water propagation, when you go to re-plant, they may still rot in the new soil. It happens!
The first step to propagating a Monstera adansonii (friedrichsthalii) is to find a node. They are the nubs and ridges on the stem and typically have a few aerial roots protruding out from them.
Although you only “need” one node to root, it’s better to have two or three nodes when attempting propagation. In my experience, one or two of them never grow roots, sometimes rotting altogether.
But when you have 2-3 nodes underwater, usually at least one will sprout some healthy new roots.
You do this so that when the mother plant starts regrowing there’s not going to be a dry stick poking out from the old node when the plants starts putting out new growth.
Cut as close to the mother plant as you can to avoid having this useless and unattractive stem protruding out.
Submerge the node/nodes underwater. Hopefully, your cutting has 2-3 leaves on top as well.
In about a week, two at the most, you should see beautiful roots forming in your clear vase. If not, what do you see?
Has rotting occurred? If so, make a tiny 45 degree cut below the node and stick it back in water. This provides a new surface area to expose to the water to potentially sprout roots. Use fresh water every time.
One last tip is to change your water every few days. It’s not absolutely essential, but I’ve had more success when I’ve changed the water than not.
If your cuttings are still rotting after a week or two with no roots forming, change the type of water that you are using.
Try pure, filtered water for your cuttings. Maybe the cuttings don’t like your tap water and that’s why they are rotting instead of producing new roots.
Final epiphany
I’m sorry to say that hasn’t been my experience. I literally do jumping jacks when I notice a new leaf. It’s not that my plant doesn’t look healthy, in fact, it always has looked fantastic.
It just doesn’t grow particularly quick. That could be because I can’t offer the plant idyllic conditions with high humidity and such.
So you can buy a plant off Etsy in the $10-$12 range but you get what you pay for. A tiny plant that won’t come into its own for many years to come.
It will be five years at least before you have anything close resembling the plants you see in the stock photos on the web. I’m not that patient.
Garden Goods Direct sent me a plant that I won’t have to wait until I retire to enjoy. With thirteen leaves already, it’s big enough to take a cutting from if I choose to.
I won’t by the way. I’m just savoring the plant “as is” in all it’s size and glamour.
It is a beautiful plant, but I do not have any Monstera plants. I used to have one a long time ago and it got large and leggy if I remember correctly. It was not this variety or I would have taken better care of it. Yours is a beauty!
I have never seen these before. Very interesting. It would take a bit of time for my brain not to freak out about the holes in the leaves. I would automatically start looking for bugs.
Interesting plant
I really want one of these plants. I love all the holes.
thrse are awesome, just got me one
friedrichstehlii Is my favorite! Your pictures do it justice!!
Very helpdul.
Not crazy about this particular plant.
I’ve never seen anything like this. Thanks for sharing.
It is different looking. I don’t do houseplants.
I have never had one of these. Very interesting.
This is quite unique!
Pretty cool looking plant. My house is small and with toddlers….so I don’t have any houseplants here. Maybe a hanging one might work well.
Love the name! So fitting! LOL
That plant is so unusual I absolutely love it ! I have never had plants of this variety before but I’m considering adding some as I’m just starting a new collection in my new apartment .Thanks for sharing : )
I have never seen this plant! It looks a lot like my plants after my cat has taken bites out of them!
Very unique looking plant, I know the wife would really love this!
love the look
What a different looking plant!
I do not have these but am looking to expand my plant collection
Love learning about new plants, especially low maintenance ones.
I’ve never seen this before, thanks for sharing!
Really pretty plant with it’s delicate leaves. I’d love to grow one.
I love the plant, the look, and how well it thrives.
Unique plant
Thanks for the growing information!
I wish I could find plants like you do! I do not know anyone who has them
boy these look terrific making me hungry for sure
i like this plant!!! thank you
Neat looking plant
Such a fun and unique plant!
I have never seen this plant before. It looks very cool. And I would like to f=grow some of these this coming summer!
I live in a trailer park, so the “soil” is dubious. I make a hobby of seeing what will or will not grow here. Nasturtiums are happiest, but I’ll plant anything I can get. Well, not toxic stuff, but you know
Very nice plant!
I love all the holes, but sometimes they do remind me of plants that have been attacked by bugs. LOL
This would be good for my office. There is not a lot of light in there.
I’ve never seen the Swiss cheese plant before. Looks like you took a paper cutter and cut out shapes on each leaf. Mother nature is truly amazing.
This is a unique plant! I could certainly use a few new low light indoor plants. Thanks.
looks like a peace lily with holes
What an interesting plant. I would love to have one but I would kill it. I don’t have much luck with growing plants in the house.
Very Nice Plant!!!
I don’t have any monstera plants. I have to admit that when I first saw this, I thought this was a bad after picture of what not to do to your plants. Very interesting.
nice plant for indoor setup
I have never seen this plant before nut it has a pretty and unique look .
These are quite interesting looking with the holes!
I love planting flowers and gardening.
I would love to photograph these beautiful Plants & flowers.
I’m interested in low light plants as I live in a log cabin & have a living room that doesn’t get much light. I will have to seek this one out. Thanks!
Great stuff!!
I have one of these that my friend “pawned” off on my. ha You cannot kill this plant! 🙂
great info
These are so cool
It is such a pretty plant.
I’ve never seen these plants before, but I love the unique leaves.
I love these plants! It’s on my list as a next purchase!
This plant is quite interesting. I don’t really care for it.
Love this.
I am more of an outdoor gardener, even with the leaf hole symmetry, my brain still jumps to PESTS on the plant!😂
This looks very different! I will search for this for myself!
Swiss Cheese is a good name for this Monstera Vine plant.
These are so unique! Love the leaf look – seeing the dirt underneath! will have to see if I have a good place to put one! thanks for the care information – it is appreciated!
Well okay.. if I saw this plant I would think my cat got hungry.
What lovely, dramatic fenestrations they have. (And hey, I learned a cool new word! Bonus!)
Absolutely fabulous id love too! Wonderful article!
Cheers!
this is my favorite indoor plant
I’ve always wanted a Monstera Swiss Cheese Vine Plant!
Never heard of these plants before, but plan to search one out and see what I can do with one. Very interesting to say the least.
This low-light indoor houseplant would be lovely to have in my living room. Definitely a unique plant to take care of.
I don’t have one and had never seen or heard of it before.
The Monstera plant is one that is on trend and I see it in many rooms in pictures on the internet. Thanks for all the tips about letting it dry between waterings and what the holes in the leaves are for. I didn’t know that it needs indirect light, humidity, repot every 2 years and how to make cuttings for propagation.
This plant looks like my kitties have attacked it already! Interesting plant.
What an interesting plant. At first glance, it can look like there is something wrong with them.
My toddler loves this plant!
Wow! I’ve never seen or heard of this before. I would have assumed bugs got into the plant. Very interesting and slightly disturbing. The kids would probably want to put their fingers in the holes.
I have never seen this plant before. I love the holes in the leaves. So unique.
I would like to grow a Monstera plant. …very unique.