Do Monstera Leaves Grow Back?

If you have a monstera plant in your home, you have probably noticed that it loses leaves from time to time. This happens when the plant grows. As monsteras get larger, they drop their lower leaves in favor of their new growth at the top.

This is normal behavior for monsteras, and usually shouldn’t be a cause for concern. If your monstera is doing well, it will likely continue to grow new leaves. However, it isn’t guaranteed that leaves will regrow in the same position that a leaf was lost especially if the leaf is lost from the lower part of the monster. Typically new leaves will grow at the top of the plant.

Why Do Monsteras Drop Leaves?

The main reason that monsteras may drop their leaves is because of age. To promote new growth, the plant needs to redirect its energy to the newest leaves. To send more energy to new growth, it needs to get rid of older leaves that are done growing. This allows it to ensure that the new leaves are going to bring the plant even more energy.

It’s possible that monsteras will drop leaves if you are not taking care of them properly. Monsteras prefer moist soil, so if you let the soil dry out, the plant will start to droop. This could lead to leaves dying and falling off the plant. It should be very easy to fix this issue by remembering to water the plant.

Other factors may cause the monstera to drop leaves, although they are less common than new growth or underwatering. Monstera plants can drop leaves when there are significant fluctuations in the temperature, light, or water in their environment. Make sure that you keep your monstera in a relatively stable environment.

How Do You Prune Monstera Leaves?

Pruning is a very important part of growing healthy plants. There are many different benefits of pruning that you should know when taking care of your plants, both new and old. Whenever you are going to prune or make any cuts to your plants, remember to use clean, sharp scissors or a knife. If your cutting tools aren’t clean, they could give the plant-bacteria that could make it sick.

Cutting off leaves can help you control the growth of your plant. If you want to promote new growth, you can prune off specific leaves of your plant. You can even control the areas where you want new growth by where you choose to prune.

If your monstera is growing too big, pruning is also a great way to scale it back. Trimming your monstera is completely safe to do, and will not harm your plant as long as you don’t take too much away. If you need to keep your monstera under a certain size, you can maintain it by pruning.

When Should You Prune Monstera Leaves?

The most important time to prune a monstera’s leaves is when you can tell that the leaves are either dead or dying, and they have not yet detached from the plant. By pruning these leaves before they fall on their own, you are saving your plant the energy that it would have expended in keeping those leaves alive for a little bit longer. As long as the leaves are attached, they will be draining energy from your plant.

If you are pruning your plant to encourage it to grow new leaves, you actually need to cut in the area that you want your plant to grow. This might seem a little bit counterproductive, but by pruning in one area, you are allowing for more growth. If you want your plant to grow taller, prune the top of the plant. If you want your plant to grow on its sides, prune there.

If your monstera is getting too large, either for the pot that it is in or for the room that it is in, you should try to prune it. While pruning does encourage new growth, it still can cut back on the size of your monstera for a while. If your monstera is growing too big, you will probably need to continually cut it, as it will keep getting new growth as long as it is healthy.

How Can You Get a Clipping From a Monstera?

If you have a large, thriving monstera, and you want to create another one, you should try to propagate it. This is also a good way of trying to salvage a dying monstera. All you need to have to propagate a monstera is a pair of sharp shears or a knife, and a new container to put the clipping into.

When looking for where to make a cut on the monstera’s stem, check to see if you can find any aerial roots. These are roots that are coming out of the middle of stems, and will give your cutting a head start in the propagation process.

If you don’t see any aerial roots, make sure that you cut at a node. Finding a node is easy. All you have to do is check for a small bump where the stems meet, and cut around it so that the node is intact on your clipping. When you start propagating, aerial roots will grow from the node. If you don’t have a good clipping with the node intact, you won’t be able to grow roots or replant that clipping.

How Can You Propagate a Clipping?

Place the clippings in a vase or a glass. Fill the container with water, and place it in a nice sunny location. After every three or so days, change the water. You will notice that roots are starting to develop after a few weeks of the clippings being in water.

You will have to wait for about a few months before the roots are developed enough to be planted. Once you have developed roots, you can plant the clipping in a pot and water it as normal.

Propagating monsteras does take a little bit of time, but it’s a very easy process that can be fun to watch!

The key takeaway

So all in all if your monstera loses a leaf you shouldn’t necessarily expect it to regrow in the same position, but it doesn’t mean your plant is dying. In fact, it may well regrow a new leaf but just higher up the plant.