Monstera Adansonii Care – How to Grow a Swiss Cheese Plant
The Swiss Cheese plant (Monstera adansonii) is a popular trailing vine houseplant that grows perforated leaves like Swiss cheese.
It is an ideal houseplant, stunning and low-maintenance. Provide bright, indirect light, keep the soil consistently moist, and maintain a warm, humid environment. Pruning and trellising can help shape and support its delightful, trailing foliage.
Looking to buy a Monstera adansonii? Find it for sale on Amazon.
Scientific name: Monstera adansonii. Common names: Swiss cheese plant, Cheese plant, Plant with holes in leaves, Swiss cheese monstera, Adanson’s monstera, or Monstera monkey mask.
Monstera Adansonii Care
The Monstera adansonii is native to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. There it naturally grows as an epiphyte. It attaches itself to tree trunks and branches and grows along them rather than in the ground. Aerial roots help it climb upwards toward the canopy to reach more filtered sunlight.
This dappled light environment is responsible for the characteristic holes in its leaves, evolved to capture as much light as possible. The holes let light filter through the upper leaves, benefiting those beneath that would otherwise not get any light.
The Adansonii is a close relative of the Monstera deliciosa and is sometimes confused with Monstera obliqua, a much rarer member of the family.
Need a plant care refresher? Check out the Beginners Guide to Basic Houseplant Care.
Light
In the rainforest, Monstera adansonii receives dappled or filtered sunlight. While it can tolerate some shade, it may cause the leaves to stay smaller and might not form the distinctive holes. Vines may also grow leggy with more space between the leaves reaching for the light.
Indoors, it is best to place your Monstera adansonii near a window where it receives bright, indirect light.
Watering
Water your Monstera adansonii regularly to keep the soil slightly damp. The soil should feel like a well-wrung-out sponge.
If the soil feels moist, don’t water but wait one or two days and check again. If the soil is dry, go ahead and water thoroughly to saturate all of the soil. Then allow the top layer of soil to dry out before watering again.
Overwatering can lead to yellow leaves and root rot, while underwatering can cause the leaves to wilt and droop. The leaves should feel firm and look healthy. If in doubt, don’t water yet. An underwatered plant is easier to revive than an overwatered plant.
If you are uncertain, you can use a moisture meter to help you out with when to water. And read up on the basics of watering your indoor plants.
Humidity
The Monstera adansonii can grow and adapt to average household humidity levels. However, it will do better if you raise the humidity. The best way to do this is to place a small humidifier near your plant.
Place your Adansonii in a bathroom or kitchen with a bright window. The steam from the shower or cooking will provide your plant with the humidity it loves.
Soil and Potting
Repot in spring in a pot one size up when roots have filled the pot, and or when you see roots growing from the bottom of the pot. Even if your plant still has room to grow, you want to refresh the soil every two to three years. The soil will have lost all its nutrients and will need to be replaced with fresh soil.
A well-draining special aroid potting mix is a good choice for your Monstera adansonii.
Gently remove your plant from the pot. If needed tap the pot to loosen the soil and roots. Support the plant in one hand, and use your other hand to carefully take the pot off. Make sure the new pot has drainage holes on the bottom. This is a must. You want any excess water to have a way out.
Read more: How to repot your houseplants.
Monstera Adansonii Propagation
The easiest way to propagate your vining adansonii is by taking stem cuttings and rooting them in water or soil.
Simply cut a stem cutting with a few leaves. Remove the leaves from the lower part of the cuttings. To water propagate, let the cuttings dry and callous over before placing in water. Keep in bright, indirect light. Change the water regularly and after a week or so roots will start to grow. Transplant to soil when roots are about 1 – 2 inches.
To propagate in soil, plant the calloused cuttings in a small pot with well-draining soil. Keep in bright, indirect light. Mist or water very sparingly until you see new growth.
To speed up the propagation process, you can apply a rooting hormone powder to the cutting before planting it. This powder stimulates the formation of roots and results in stronger, better-rooted plants. If you don’t have any, you can skip it. It might just take a little longer.
Want to learn more about plant propagation? Read the complete guide explaining the 6 different ways to propagate all your plants.
Monstera Adansonii Trailing vs Climbing
In its natural habitat, the Monstera adansonii uses aerial roots to climb up trees and large branches. When your plant grows larger, you can give it something to climb on. A moss pole is a great option.
Place the pole in such a way that leaf nodes are touching it, or at least are very near to it. Aerial roots will grow from these nodes, grabbing onto the stake. Mist frequently so the roots can attach themselves more easily.
Get all the tips and a step-by-step how to attach your Monstera adansonii to a moss pole!
Is the Monstera adansonii Toxic to Cats?
Unfortunately, the Monstera adansonii is moderately toxic when ingested. It can cause oral irritation, excessive drooling, vomiting, and difficulty swallowing.
Although it is very rare for pets to get seriously hurt from eating plants, keep this one out of reach of children and pets.
Read more: Keep Your Pets Safe: Identify Toxic Plants in Your Home.
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My adansonii is turning yellow even though I haven’t watered it in two and a half weeks, and the soil is dry. Do you think this could be a sign of underwatering or low humidity?
Does your pot have a drainage hole? If not, that could be the reason.
But two and a half weeks of not watering seems a bit long. It might need a drink by now.
And also, look at the light situation the plant is in. Is it in full sun all day, or does it get some indirect light most of the day?
Maybe move it to another spot, see how it likes it.
HI! I recently purchased what I *think* are adansonii seeds, but no instructions for sowing were included! Do you know anything about the best way to sow these seeds? Thank you in advance!
Hi Vivien. I haven’t grown any Monsteras from seed myself, but if I would, I would just put them in a small pot, covered in soil slightly. I have a little indoor greenhouse for seedlings, but you can also put some cling film over your pot. This helps with the humidity which helps the seeds to germinate. Then the waiting game starts. I would say about two weeks, maybe a little shorter or a little longer, be patient. Give them plenty of bright light, but keep them out of direct sun. You don’t want them to burn. When the seeds germinate you can remove the cling film. Hope your seeds will grow into happy and healthy Monstera adansoniis! Or maybe some mystery plants.. 🙂 Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Great article! Can you recommend a type of stake for the plant to climb? Does it need to be covered in moss?
Thanks so much!
Hi Tess! You can stake your Monstera with a metal trellis or bamboo stakes. The moss poles have a great look and your plants’ aerial roots can grip onto it very well. The problem is that you have to keep the moss moist all the time. In combination with stale air inside our homes, mould can start to grow on the moist moss. Ewwww… Good luck with your plant!
Hi! My plant is almost a year old now and is not growing properly. Is it a very slow grower? Plus, the few new leaves which have come out are really small in size, about 40% the size of the old leaves. I followed every care instructions written on this page and I don’t know what is going wrong.
Well, I wouldn’t call the Monstera adansonii a slow grower. Maybe when they go dormant in winter. But in spring and summer, it can grow quite quickly.
Do you fertilize, or is the soil still fresh enough that it still has enough nutrients? Your plant might just need a little extra push.
Or maybe try and give it a little more light.
That’s what I would start out with, hope it helps your plant.
Hi,
I was given a monstera adansonii about a month ago, I have been watering it once a week (using a spray) and I mist the leaves. I keep it away from direct sunlight. The pot I use has holes. I went away for a week and when I returned the vines were droopy and hanging down the edges of the pot =( I watered it on the day I left. A couple of the leaves are now curling. I bought a stick yesterday and twined some of the vines to help it lift, it is only a small monsterra.
So sad, I don’t know how I can rescue this poor baby. Do you have any advice?
Hi Sophia,
It’s hard without seeing the plant, but reading your story, it sounds like your Monstera adansonii plant might just be thirsty. If you water your plant, don’t be afraid to give it a good pour. Just spraying a little bit of water isn’t enough. Droopy, curling leaves might well indicate too little water. You might want to read up on how to water houseplants. It might help in determining if your plant needs water.
My guess is it does and that it will perk right up after a good watering. Good luck with your plant!
Hello I have a M.A. cutting that had one full leaf 2 nodes side by side (this part of the cutting went under water) and it had a another node with a new leaf not yet fully open. For the first week or so the nodes under water appeared to be growing with whiteish roots then when I wasn’t paying attention the small roots turned black. I went to have a look and when touched it the root was mushy and basically disintegrated!
Rubbing it back the two nodes are still there so I popped it back into water but now it’s been weeks and it hasn’t produced any new roots
Any idea what caused the black roots and whether it’s foolish of me to think the roots will grow there again?
The other new leaf died in this process but the two nodes in the air are still there. Can I cut the stem and try to grow it from just a piece of stem? Or turn the cutting upside down?
Please help me save this cutting!! 🙂 Thank you
Hi Kay, It sounds like you just left the cutting in the water too long and the roots started to rot.
I am not sure if those nodes will produce new roots or not. I would try if those other nodes on the stem would produce roots, and as soon as those have decent size white roots, I would pot it up immediately. Good luck, hope you can save it!
Do you know where the diamond trellis came from in your example photo?
Hi Brandi, I have bought the diamond trellis in a shop here in the Netherlands. It was sold as a wire shape home decor piece, not as a trellis. I just unscrewed it from a small wood base it was standing on and then used the metal wire shape as a trellis. Hope that helps. Maybe you can check out places like Urban Outfitters if they might sell something similar?
My plant is growing three nice long legs, yay! But about halfway down the legs, the leaves are not coming out. So I have like 2 ft legs with a foot of them having no growth. Is this normal? Are the leaves slow to open up and come out? Thanks for your help!
My plant has white little mold type fungus around the leaves and particularly in the stems. Do you know the cause of this?
Hi Judith, If you see white mold on the soil of the plant, it is usually a sign of overwatering. But you say you see the mold on the leaves and stems. Is it like a powdery white fungus? I have seen that on plants like Jade plants, not on a Monstera before. That’s not saying it couldn’t happen. The powdery fungus is a disease that can spread through your whole plant and it might not survive it if you do nothing. Without seeing your plant it is hard to say exactly what is happening. If it is a fungus disease, it would remove the leaves and stems that are affected. If it is already widespread, I would take the healthy parts of the plant and try to propagate those and start over.
I hope this helps somewhat and you can save your plant. Good luck, let me know how it goes.
I have my plant on a north facing window so I have been using a grow-light for the plant (about 9-12hrs a day). I know it needs indirect sunlight, but in the absence of that is the direct grow-light advantageous?
Hi Ethel, I would say if you can give your plants a spot to live with real light, I would do so. But if you can’t, providing some additional artificial light from a grow light is always a good idea.
Hello – My Monstera Plant was in the sun too long and the leaves turned black/brown.
How can I help reverse these effects?
Hi Alex, Unfortunately, you can’t reverse sunburn on a plant’s leaves. If it is just one or two leaves, and they bother you, you can remove them from your plant. If it is most of your plant that is affected, I would look to see if there are any vines that are unharmed and try to propagate those. But that all depends on how bad the state of your plant is in. Good luck and move your plant away from the direct light a bit.
My plant has a brown spot with a yellow outline. What am I doing wrong? Thank you in advance! You’re plant looks beautiful!
Without seeing it, it is hard to tell. There are a few options, brown spots could be sunburn spots, it could be that the plant wants more humidity or yellowing leaves with brown spots could also mean underwatering. I’m hesitant to diagnose without pictures or more information.
If it’s just one spot on your whole plant, no worries, but keep an eye out if it spreads.
Hi !
A month ago I buy a monstera andonisii and now it have a long stalk of 50 cm buy no more leaf on ! I don’t understand .. Should I cut it ?
Hi Victoria, I’m not sure, did the leaves of your Monstera Adansonii suddenly all drop off, or is the stalk growing but no new leaves? I’m guessing the last. How much light does your plant get? It could very well be that it is a lack of light. I would cut it back to where there are leaves and move it somewhere where it can get some more light. Good luck!
Hi I just want to know where you buy the diamond shaped trellis please
Hi Ivette, I have bought the diamond-shaped trellis in a shop here in the Netherlands. It was sold as a wire shape home decor piece, not as a trellis. I unscrewed it from a small wood base it was standing on and then used the metal wire shape as a trellis.
I wish I could give you a link to a US shop for it, but I’m sorry…
HI. I am having a problem. Some of my legs are growing out as if they are going to put on another leaf, and then the tip is dying and not putting on a leaf, is there anything I can do to help it go back to producing leafs? What kind of fertilizer can I use? It is in indirect light and has been doing well until recently. I am also making sure to water it when the soil gets dry. The plant looks healthy except for the couple of legs that are not putting on a leaf right at the end. Please help. Thanks.
Hi Kaycee, How is your Monstera doing? Has it started growing leaves again? You can safely cut back the stems to where there still was leaf growth. It will start growing new shoots from where you make the cut.
I wouldn’t be too quick to use fertilizer as a solution. Fertilizer isn’t a miracle cure and can even stress out the roots of your plant. Try giving your plant a bit more light, give it some time to adjust and see if that helps. Sounds like your doing great so far.
Hi. My question is about plants in general, and a peace lily I have and a Monstera.
Recently my husband used insectidal aerosol very close to both these plants, and perhaps even on them. They were quite healthy and full before this, but after the spray, they have started to yellow and the leaves are dropping off. I read that the insecticide can be harmful to plants, so I fear I may loose them. Is there any way to rescue my beauties? Someone recommended watering with a solution of 1/2 Tablespoon hydrogen peroxide to 1 and 1/2 liters water. Any idea if that would help? Thank you.
Hi Shireen, how are your plants doing? Have they survived? I have no experience with this, but it doesn’t seem they responded well to the insecticide. If they are truly a lost cause, you might as well try to clean them with that solution. Let me know what happened and good luck.
My monstera adansonii’s aerial roots are getting shriveled and curling up. Besides that my plant doesn’t really have any issues besides some occasional brown spots with yellow outlines and lack of sheen on the older leaves. Is this a problem? Or can I let the aerial roots dry up?
Hi Eriko, I wouldn’t worry too much about the aerial roots drying up. They are mostly just for climbing. And a little moisture. If your plant is healthy otherwise, just leave it. You can remove the dry aerial roots if you want. It shouldn’t affect your plant. Good luck!
I have a monstera adansonii in my house. I keep it in the window of my room. But, its leaves have very light colour of green. There is enough sunlight and I also mist it daily. The old leaves of these were so beautiful and had a very nice and dark shade of green. But about new leaves, I dont have an idea about them.. 😟
@Anamika Anil, the new leaves will darken up but it could also be getting too much light. If it get’s direct sunlight it can damage the chlorophyll in the leaves and they can start to lighten and then turn yellow. This plant does not prefer direct sunlight.
I recently got a monstera but the leaves are turning a crunchy brown with yellow edges.. I don’t water too often and it’s not directly
In the sun..
Where did you get that adorable diamond stake for your plant?? 🙂
Hi Jill, I have bought the diamond stake in a shop here in the Netherlands. It was sold as a wire shape home decor piece, not as a plant stake. I just unscrewed it from a small wood base it was standing on and then used the metal wire shape as a trellis.
Hi Jill, I received today from an online supplier Monstera Adansonii almost dead, 10ft height attached to 6ft totem, two of top branches broke (put them in water), the leaves are droopy, lifeless, the plant looked so unhappy. I left it alone to acclimate to the house, however, I watered it reasonably as dirt was dried, I removed few dead leaves but could still cut more, I am hoping it will look better tomorrow. Will it survive? What should I expect to happen next? Please advise & thank you,
Hi Sandra,
Congrats on your new plant! Sorry to hear it’s having a rough time. Some stress is expected after a plant has been shipped and then had to adjust to its new environment. How long have you let it acclimate? If it has been a while, carefully lift the plant out of its pot and look at the roots. Do they look healthy? How much light is it getting? Maybe slowly move it to a spot with a bit more light.
If it has been just a few days and it’s loosing just a couple of leaves, my guess is it should survive with the right care. Good luck! Deborah
Hello! I’m having problems with my monstera adansonii. She’s been giving me new leaf every week, but I’ve noticed upon the 2nd leaf that she’s not fully unfurling. The leaf has grown to its full size but it hasn’t unfurled for 2 weeks now. I tried troubleshooting my plant, but I really can’t tell what I’m missing. I hope you can help me with this. Thank you so so much!
Hi Kristine, If it is just one leaf not unfurling and the overall health of the rest of your plant is good, I wouldn’t worry too much. Nature works in mysterious ways. Just keep with your regular care, keep an eye out for other new growth. Good luck!
Hello, I recently bought an adansonii – it looks very healthy with trails about 70cm long but the leaves have no holes or splits. Is there anything I can do to encourage the holes? Any estimate time I should be looking at? x
Hi Tati, it’s normal for new leaves to not have holes right away. I’m not sure if I understand, do you mean that there are no leaves at all with holes in them or just the occassional leave?
Hi.. I bought a monstera a few months back. But I can’t see much of a growth. Except for a new leaf which is taking forever to open up. There are no brown tips, no yellowing of leaves. Nothing to show that it’s not getting enough water/ more water. I’ve kept it as an indoor plant right next to a window where it’s getting medium light.
Should I move it outside or just wait. Coz I’ve heard monstera takes time to grow.
Hi Jo, If there are no other signs of distress, just slow growth, I would not worry or do anything drastic right now. I don’t know where you are, but assuming you’re in the US or Europe, it can be normal. When the days get shorter and the temparatures drop, your plant’s growth will naturally slow down until spring comes around. You could try to slowly move it somewhere where it gets a little more light and see if that changes anything. I would just continue caring for it as you do and keep an eye out for any other signs appearing if something is really wrong. Otherwise, just get it through winter and wait for more and faster growth in spring.
Hi.. my Swiss cheese is growing beautifully a few leaves have some brown edging but now I have figured out exactly when to water it I see it’s thriving. I’m curious though the new leaf that’s just opened up is Verigated. Can this happen or is this very rare to turn verigated Thankyou 😊
Hi Ingrid, hooray for happy plants! About the new leaf being variegated… not common. It is easy to have a variegated plant turn solid non-variegated, with just too little light. But to have a non-variegated plant suddenly grow variegated leaves not so much. But it can happen. Maybe the original cutting the growers used came from a variegated plant and this was a cutting with leaves that had turned non-variegated, so they sold it as such. And now with time gone by and great care by you, it got to grow a variegated leaf again. It is very rare to happen so here’s another hooray! 😊
My Swiss cheese plant the new leaves are coming out very small and the lower leaves have brown tips , can you give me some advice 🤔 please
Hi Margaret, how is your swiss cheese plant doing now? The smaller leaves might be just normal new growth starting out small, and growing larger over time. Staking it on a moss pole and letting it climb can encourage larger leaves.
About the brown tips, there are a few possible causes. It might be in too much direct sun, it might be lack of humidity, or your watering might be inconsistent or too much or too little. Without knowing the care it has been getting, I can’t say for sure what it is, but you might be able to figure it out with these tips. Good luck!
What would cause the new leaves to brown and only half develop?
Will the existing plant keep growing where I make the cut for propagating? I have two very long vines and I cut a few nodes off for my gf to grow her own. Now I’m a little worried that it won’t continue to grow where I cut it. I’ve been trying to google this and not coming up with any answers. Should I trim it back to a node? Right now I just have a node and a 4 inch shoot at the end of the vine.
Hi Jon, I am working on an article showing all the steps on how to propagate the Monstera adansonii.
I understand that doesn’t help you out now.
Your plant will continue to grow.
I tend to trim back to a node, but having that little bit left at the end does not do your plant any harm.
I like to think about what would happen with a plant growing in the wild in its native habitat. What would happen to the plant if, let’s say a stem with a few leaves would break off? It wouldn’t necessarily be a clean cut right next to a node, and the plant would not stop growing just because it lost a few leaves.
What I’m trying to say is not to worry. Keep on caring for your plant and it will be fine.
And good on you for sharing cuttings with your gf!
All the new leaves of my Swiss cheese plant are small compared to the two leaves when I bought it . The leaves are growing well though . Please let me know the reason for the smaller size leaves? Thank you
My leaves are still green but some dry and curling. What is causing this and how can I stop it? The soil is moist but not wet and it’s getting indirect light in a warm room.
My Monstera Adansonii has had odd color leaves since I bought it. They are a dark grey-green color rather (with no shine) than a pretty bright green as I’ve seen on other Adansonii. I water it with water from my pond when the top soil is 1” dry to my finger and have not fertilized it. It gets light from a north (shaded) window and white grow lights from a floor lamp for about 10 hours per day. Any help to make it green up?
Hello,
I have a m.a. doing well except a couple of leaves at the base have turned yellow, think it was short of water for a bit. I am wondering if these leaves will turn green again or if they are dead/dying and I should remove them?
Also, my m.a. only has one stem at the moment but I would like to propagate. I’m afraid of taking a cutting and then it not growing any further – could that happen?
Thanks so much for your help and lovely article 🙂
Hi Abi, How is your plant doing? I assume the yellow leaves on the bottom have already fallen off by themselves or you decided to remove them. Both options are fine. Once leaves turn yellow, they won’t revert back to green again. Sadly.
If your plant is small and has only one stem, I would not propagate it yet. Care for it and have it grow a bit more before removing parts to propagate. Taking cuttings is like pruning. It won’t stop your plant from growing. So no need to worry about that.
If you want to propagate that one stem because you see your plant declining and you want to save it, it’s a different story. Then I would say do it.
Good luck, hope your plant is doing well!
I bought a monstera adansonii which is growing in water and is now turning yellow… Will changing the water more frequently help, or shpuld I pot it in some nice soil?
If my MAis leggy but not developing leaves should I prune? If so, can I propagate the clipping
I just bought my first one, from etsy. I kept it in the bathroom for the first few days before repotting it to a) quarantine it and b) let it recoup from how hot it was the day it was delivered and left in the sun in a box all day. I’ve repotted it and after a lot of research, decided to leave it in my bathroom because it’s the most humid room in the entire house. I got a grow light because my bathroom only gets morning sun. I see new leaves trying to unfurl already and it’s only been like a week. I did put it in a plastic pot though, didn’t know that could be a bad idea. In the spring I may put it in a terracotta pot, but not until. I don’t want to disturb it twice in such a short amount of time. Thank you for the info 🙂
Hi Sunshine, 🙂 How is your adansonii doing? Sounds like you made sensible choices on how to treat your plant when you just got it. Hope it’s still growing well in the bathroom. That grow light will definitely help! Good luck and thanks for sharing your story!
Hello,
My plant is doing very well. It is growing up rather than out and down. Is there something I can do to change that or a different pot to put it in so the legs are supported? I keep resting the legs against the sill and picture frames so it doesn’t break from pressure when it flips down. The plant is very healthy, tons of new growth all the time.
I bought a beautiful one off Amazon last year & misted often…it developed fungus from misting & I was told to never mist plants…I managed to save some cuttings which I started in water & just recently planted in soil…I also bought one off of Amazon…how long before I could plant the new one in with the propagated ones ? And I’ve seen pics of them vining but mydaughter has one thats 2 yrs old & has never grown out vines…what could she be doing wrong ?
Thank you
I think iam over watering my Swiss cheese ivy to much the leaves is yellow and brown.