Author Topic: How to get Monstrea to fruit?  (Read 1496 times)

Weboh

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How to get Monstrea to fruit?
« on: March 23, 2019, 07:22:26 PM »
I've been trying to get a monstrea for awhile now, and I finally found one at a neighbor's plant sale. He said he planted the original years ago. It was climbing up a tree and finally got fruit near the top. A couple other neighbors have this plant under their trees, but I didn't see any fruit on them. That got me thinking: Even though it tolerates low light, it probably needs more to fruit.

What does everyone else think? Does monstrea require more light to fruit? Is there a danger of too much light killing it? Would it fruit if kept in a gallon pot? Would limited growth help it fruit? I don't want it to get giant and still not fruit like all the other ones I see.
Thanks.

Ulfr

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Re: How to get Monstrea to fruit?
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2019, 07:37:07 PM »
My folks have a huge one that grows along the ground . It fruits in both full shade and full sun sections of the plant. Under their conditions it isn’t particularly high yielding for its size, but it grows under other trees so does that matter? The fruits are nice.

Jungle Yard

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Re: How to get Monstrea to fruit?
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2019, 08:50:39 PM »
Monstera can take quite a bit of direct light. The key is to keep it moist and it likes high humidity. If you provide that it will take direct sunlight for at lest half a day. It will fruit if climbing support of staying on the ground, either way. In the deep shade it might not bloom that often.

I water my plants almost every day when there is no rain. Many are fruiting, especially those that get good light.
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Pademelon1

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Re: How to get Monstrea to fruit?
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2019, 11:01:16 PM »
I know of a monstera that grows on a rocky cliff next to the ocean. Full sun, no wind protection, salty, very hot. It still produces heaps of fruit.

Chandramohan

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Re: How to get Monstrea to fruit?
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2019, 10:15:22 AM »
Monstera starts fruiting when the vine is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick and the leaves are about 2 to 3 feet in diameter.

pineislander

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Re: How to get Monstrea to fruit?
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2019, 04:55:09 PM »
Monstera starts fruiting when the vine is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick and the leaves are about 2 to 3 feet in diameter.
I agree. I planted 30 of them 1.5 years ago under mature mango and am starting to get flowers on the largest ones. They need to bulk up with plenty of water and nutrition.
Flower to fruit might take a year. Not on mine but I have seen 2 dozen fruit on one plant. Makes productive use of space under larger trees with semi-shade. Mine are generally growing outwards so they will search for proper light levels.
Propagation by large stem cuttings with 3-4 nodes 1/2 buried in pots should give you a viable plant in six months. I found 3 gallon pots at Home Depot with a dozen usable divisons in each pot but large cuttings give larger plants faster. Pile logs around plants they love climbing on rotting wood and it helps humidity. No chance for fruit in a 1 gallon pot the plant will give back what you put in, maybe a 20 gallon pot but better in ground.

greenman62

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Re: How to get Monstrea to fruit?
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2019, 08:47:56 AM »
i agree with pineislander
logs at the base help keep the ground moist.
i use cardboard and woody mulch, and bits of rotted logs.

and unless you have rich soil i would add a bit of iron and epsom (or other magnesium)
it darkens the leaves , i use that combo on all plants with  a lot of shade.
and i doubt you would get fruit, or a decent plant in anything under 7-10 gal,
and it would need constant water