Cheese plants are great. They're strong, versatile, look great and they have a deep green colour that's unrivalled by other house plants. They're impressive to look at and their leaves are interesting shapes, sizes and patterns.
They (almost) cannot be killed off, which is great for someone like me who has little luck when it comes to keeping house plants alive. But did you know that you can cut back a Monstera (cheese plant)? It's not something that we ever really considered until it starting looking a bit large and messy.
So we made sure we knew what we were doing before hacking back our lovely cheese plant (who we have named 'Chez'). Seeing as we managed it successfully last time we gave him a prune, I thought I'd tell you how we did, when and some signs that your Monstera needs a hair cut! So, let's dive in!
Signs your cheese plant needs pruning
In the wild,
cheese plants can grow up to 50 feet high. They're more likely to want to grow upwards rather then outwards, growing and clinging onto nearby trees. While they're not likely to grow big enough to start climbing your walls in a domestic setting, they can still get out of hand, which is when most people will give their cheese plant a trim.
There are some sure signs that your cheese plant needs to be pruned, however, and they do include legginess. Usually, it's down to personal preference. Some people will leave them and let them grow naturally. However, they can quickly look unkempt and a bit messy, which is what happened to ours. But there are some other signs that suggest your Monstera needs a cut back, besides personal preference, and they include:
- The plant looks leggy
- The plant looks sparse
- Leaves look damaged
- Leaves look yellow
- The plant is outgrowing its space
- There are loads of aerial roots
- You want to propagate your cheese plant
When should you prune your cheese plant?
Much like outdoor plants and flowers, Monsteras will respond best to pruning during its growing season, which is during the spring and summer when temperatures are warmer. This is largely because they're tropical plants.
But it's just a general rule of thumb for plant and flower trimming, generally. This gives the plant the best possible chance of regrowing. If you do it at the wrong time, it increases the risk of infection or die back, which you don't want.
How to prune a cheese plant
IMPORTANT NOTE: Monstera plants have calcium oxalate crystals that can cause skin irritation. Make sure you wear gloves before trimming your plant to avoid coming into direct contact with sap and clean your equipment after pruning has completed to prevent other plants and flowers from coming into contact with it also.
Now that we've got the important bit out of the way, it's time for me to explain to you how you can prune your established Monstera (cheese plant) effectively. Here's a step-by-step guide:
- Look at the plant first, identifying any dead, damaged or sickly leaves. Also, choose which leaves you'd like to remove if they look unsightly
- When cutting, make sure the action is firm and clean. Crushed or incomplete cuts could cause infection in some cases, so avoid it entirely
- Cut vine tops if the plant gets too leggy by cutting just above the leaf nodes. This ensures growth occurs below the cut site, meaning the plant will get more bushy as opposed to leggy
Pruning is only usually required for a more established, older cheese plant. But if, for whatever reason, you want to cut back a young plant, then you should take a different approach. To prune a young Monstera, follow these steps:
- Cut vines at differing lengths. Do some a third down and others a quart down, for instance
- Trim just above leaf nodes if stems are bare to encourage new outward growth
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post and that you found it somewhat useful? Let me know in the comments below how you like to trim your cheese plant and I'll see you all again soon with some brand new content very soon!
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