Mini monstera or Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma belongs to the Rhaphidophora family. It is a small plant bearing cute split leaves, similar to Rhaphidophora deliciosa. Nowadays, it is quite common as mini-split leaf, philodendron piccolo, and ginny philodendron and would be a unique home improvement. Monstera would be best for small places and corners to beautify your house or garden. In fact, it is a stunning addition to your household plant collection.
It is pretty much easy to grow and care mini monstera, and it also shares its caring guide with other philodendrons like monstera adanosoii or monstera deliciosa. So, don’t worry if you have a collection of house-decorating plants. Here, we are going to tell you all the growing and caring tips or precautions for your new plant. So, follow them as all these are super easy to take into account and execute.
How To Care For Mini Monstera
Mini monstera is a tropical vine with an unusual or vigorous nature of growing and climbing, and it’s fun to care for it. So, let’s see in what ways you can care for your Rhaphidophora tetrasperma.
For vigorous growth and climbing, enough light, temperature, water, humidity, and support play a vital role. Besides this, the minor factors such as soil type and fertilizers also matter that we will discuss about later.
Light
Rhaphidophora tetrasperma might be the prettiest and flexible placement in your home. But at the same time, it is also a heat-sensitive plant. So, the medium quantity of sun rays works great for its proper growth.
Afternoon sunlight can harm or even burn its heart-shape split leaves as it is too bright and hot. Be sure to place monstera pot in the morning or evening sunlight to keep its leaves super green and striking.
However, too little light may also slow down monstera’s growth or suppress the splitting of leaves. So, it would be best to put your new plant addition to the place where it gets plenty sun rays of morning sun and shade for the rest of the day.
Temperature
Mini monstera, like other houseplants, can’t bear too hot and too cold temperatures. As too hot temperature leads your plant wilts badly and too cold temperature will completely stop its growth. And, it is not much easy to reverse these effects, so keep your plant at a moderate temperature.
Monstera grows best between 12-27°C, and a slight rise or drop in a temperature goes okay. But avoid sudden too much drop or rise in temperature as it can cause the death of your plant.
In addition, minimize the usage of air conditioning and heaters to allow monstera to develop sharp climbing habits and deep leaf splits.
Water
Similar to the medium quantity of light, mini monstera also loves water in a balanced way.
Don’t overflow the pot with too much water as it leads to root rot. Similarly, don’t let the potting soil entirely dry and compact as it will make your wonderful monstera dead.
So, always water it carefully once or twice within a week. Moreover, regularly check the potting soil by sticking your fingers, and water it if you find the upper 2 or 3 inches of soil dry.
Humidity
Rhaphidophora tetrasperma is native to Thailand and Malaysia, so it requires that natural environment. Therefore, providing your monstera a humid surrounding is a struggling task, as it depends on where you live with what amount of light and air humidity.
In such circumstances, a humidifier can solve your problem and keeps the plant humid. However, you can also place its pot above a shallow tray filled with damp pebbles or stones.
Regular misting to monstera also works, but its effect remains for a short time. By the way, if your bathroom provides enough sun rays to monstera, then shift it to the bathroom to keep it humid.
In this way, you can mimic the natural environment of monstera smartly.
Support
Mini monstera climbs on wild trees naturally to grab its roots strongly. In fact, as monstera is a vine, thus it loves to climb. Therefore, you shouldn’t ignore its climbing perspective.
In homes or gardens, you can replicate its natural environment by introducing a moss pole or trellis near its pot. In this way, monstera’s mini aerial roots will grab onto and climb happily.
Trellises go great and cute for home use, and it would also be a unique home improvement. And for gardens, introduce small or tall moss pole, and it will do the similar job of supporting monstera.
Other Attributes Affecting Mini Monstera
Although I have discussed all the major factors influencing the growth of Rhaphidophora tetrasperma, there are also some other attributes leading to the monstera’s striking and vigorous growth. For instance, soil type and the usage of fertilizers.
Soil Type
The soil type and potting also play a vital role when it comes to the care of mini monstera. So, make sure the usage of fertile soil that drains too much water to avoid root rot.
For me, perlite and peat moss work well because of rich nutrients. By the way, you can also add orchid bark to prepare soil for monstera. And, make sure the use of pots having one or two drainage holes.
So, never underestimate the importance of the right soil if you really love your new plant friend. But don’t try the dry or sandy soil to grow monstera as it will not give you the expected consequences.
Fertilizers
Spraying fertilizers to your favorite plant is not always necessary as it grows normally without fertilizers. But the usage of fertilizers every now and then would be best to speed up its growth.
However, at the same time, monstera is sensitive to excessive use of chemicals and fertilizers. So, only use dilute or liquid fertilizer with water to get expected results.
By the way, it will be fine to grow monstera without fertilizers if you have richer potting soil.
Some Common Mini Monstera Problems
While caring Rhaphidophora tetrasperma, sometimes people face many problems. So, to avoid these issues, here we will tell you about some common problems with their solutions. So, keep reading to find out guide to your particular issue.
Yellow Leaves
Yellow leaves is the most common problem of almost all household plants. And, if your monstera also exhibits yellow leaves, the chances are that it gets too much water and hot sun rays.
Over-water causes monstera’s root rot, and thus leaves get affected, while too much sunlight causes water to evaporate from the leaves.
Both are the reasons why your plant has yellow leaves or leaves with large brown patches.
So, take into account the amount of water and light, and provide a balanced light and water for the healthy and vigorous wild growth of monstera.
Curling Leaves
The primary reason behind monstera’s curling leaves is lack of humidity or too little humidity. As we already explained that your new plant grows happily in a humid environment.
So, if you are facing this problem, you must provide enough humidity to mimic its natural environment.
You can do it by either buying a humidifier or shifting the plant to a humid place. However, regular misting also works temporarily and keeps your plant leaves fresh and green.
Droopy Leaves
Another common problem of mini monstera is droopy leaves. And, its reason lies in your watering routine. Maybe you give too much or too little water to your monstera.
So, it would be best to set a watering routine to avoid droopy leaves. However, some monstera’s pests also cause droopy leaves by sucking the sap out of plant leaves. So, keep an eye on your plant and inspect it daily.
Too Small Leaves
Sometimes mini monstera exhibits small leaves. It may be because of low humidity or little sunlight. And, if you are sure about enough light and humidity availability, make sure to trim long growing monstera’s vines to keep it healthy and normal.
No Or Too Little Splits
The fenestrations or splits in the leaves are the most distinctive and eye-catching feature of Rhaphidophora tetrasperma. But mostly, your monstera leaves got stuck with too little or no splits.
I know it’s too disappointing and disguised. Low sunlight is the main cause of this problem, as a good deal of sunlight is responsible for deep natural splits.
In addition, also introduce support (moss pole/trellis) to mini monstera to allow it to climb. And, it will help your plant to develop beautiful deep splits.
How To Get Pests Off Your Mini Monstera?
Rhaphidophora tetrasperma is susceptible to many pests and insects that may cause irreparable damage to your plant if left unchecked.
So, it’s best to recognize the pests and get rid of them. Here are some useful tips and tricks to get pests off your monstera.
Thrips, mealybugs, and spider mites are common pests attacking monstera.
Thrips are small white pests in clusters causing leaves discoloration, dehydration, and brown patches.
Mealybugs are white fuzzy balls infesting your monstera. They cause leaves fragile and yellowish by sucking the sap out of the leaves.
Spider mites are the most common pests infesting your plant leaves and cause discoloration.
You can get rid of these pests by:
- Spraying neem oil on plant leaves.
- Applying diatomaceous earth to monstera’s leaves.
- Cleaning leaves with an alcoholic cotton swab.
However, you can also avoid the pests from attacking your new plant by following the given instructions:
- Buy mini monstera after checking its stems and leaves.
- Place your new gorgeous plant away from the other houseplants for few days.
- Use clean soil and pots to avoid the attack of any other insect or pest.
- Inspect your plant daily to check for the presence of pests.
- Don’t over-water your plant as it will make monstera’s roots rot.
- Provide a good deal of sunlight to keep off insects from your monstera.
How To Propagate Mini Monstera Easily?
Propagating or multiplying your monstera is a super easy task. Stem cutting is the best method to propagate Rhaphidophora tetrasperma.
So, take a stem cutting having at least one node and a leaf, as mini aerial roots come out from these stem nodes.
After that, there are a couple of chances you have. You can put these stem cuttings in a water pot or directly in the soil for a couple of weeks.
If you are putting stems in water, then it’s best to add some sphagnum moss to the water pot as this moss will help your stems to develop roots easily.
Be patient until new roots grow an inch or two. At last, place it in a clean pot with fertile soil to allow this new plant to grow further.
Summary of Mini Monstera
Mini monstera is a plant member of the Araceae family. And, the most distinctive feature of this gorgeous plant is its deep wonderful leaf splits. Therefore, it is a great addition to your houseplant collection or indeed a perfect home improvement.
Care for your monstera by providing controlled sunlight, water, humidity, and fertilizers. Support it by either trellises or moss poles for climbing. And when monstera grows enough, propagate it by the stem cutting method.