The famous Monstera plants, also known as the Swiss-Cheese plants, are commonly available species.
Monstera is known for being weird, abnormal, and different in as many aspects as it can and stands up to its image every time you go to observe them. Starting right from their name (Swiss-Cheese), everything about Monstera is different and unique and that’s the beauty and demanding factor of these plants.
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Different types of Monsteras found in nature
Here is a short video that features all the different varieties of monstera plants.
In nature, many such plants have their unique identity and species type. There are many different species of that particular plant spread all over the universe. The same goes for the Monstera plant. There are many different kinds and species of the Monstera plant and many of them are rare and cannot be found everywhere.
Some of the different types of Monstera species are as mentioned below-
Monstera Deliciosa
This is the most common and popular species of genus Monstera. This is a flowering species and grows a lot of beautiful and fragmented flowers during its growth. These species belong to the tropical forest areas of Mexico and Panama.
These species have left and growing habits that match with the plant Philodendron to a great extent. Therefore, sometimes it may confuse the person observing the plant.
The word deliciosa refers to being “delicious”. The fruits of this species of Monstera are very sweet, delicious, and tempting.
This Monstera species plant can grow very large and huge might be up to 9 m or 30 feet in height. The fruit of this plant is also very large, about 25 cm or 10 inches in height.
This species of Monstera is considered as a big delicacy due to the sweetness of its fruits. The fruits not only have a sweet taste but also have very beautiful fragrance too. But as the fruits start to ripen, the fragrance of the fruits reduces quickly. That is why the fruit is not known for its awesome fragrance as it is for its sweet taste.
The Monstera deliciosa species are also of ornamental use. The type is such that it requires a lot of rich-quality soil.
A constant and medium temperature of about 13-15° C is good for the species as it cannot sustain a temperature more or less than that. The sunlight that it requires is very bright, but too much of the sun also can harm its living style. It cannot even flower away from its normal temperature and atmosphere.
Hence we can conclude from this that the deliciosa species of genus Monstera is the most popular and advantageous species. They serve a lot of important purposes for nature and humans can advance a lot from this species.
Monstera Obliqua
This species of genus Monstera is very easily found in Central and South America. It is a very famous epiphytic climber, the one which takes the support of other plants to make it grow faster and to long distances.
This species of Monstera is very often confused with Monstera Adansonii. This is one of the different types of Monstera species.
This species is very rare not usually found everywhere, unlike Monstera Adansonii, which is not a rare species and can be found in almost all gardens, nurseries, and parks.
Many studies from the past do not even involve the mention of Monstera Obliqua, as they were not been found in those times too. There is a mention of this species only 17 times in the history of botany.
The Monstera Obliqua has a very fast-changing habitat, i.e. it does not stay constant even if the temperature and climatic conditions remain the same.
The maturity of the plant can be attained at any level where it feels that its growth has reached its peak.
It is also an epiphytic type of plant that lives on other plants and takes food, moisture, and nutrients from them for its living. Many times, the plant is being overlooked at the places where it exists in vast numbers as it is very small and does not get people’s attention easily.
The Monstera Obliqua species has a very slow growth rate. This makes the plant eligible to be taken into consideration as a house plant solely and completely.
The plant has very tender and sensitive leaves that can turn yellow very easily due to over-exposure to the sunlight.
Therefore, it is better to keep the Monstera Obliqua plant in a semi-shady place so that it does not dry-up and the leaves are saved from changing its color and becoming yellow.
Monstera Adansonii:
This species is popularly known as Adanson’s monstera or the five holes plant. It is a flowering species from the same family as the Monstera, the Araceae family.
The Monstera Adansonii grows vigorously at regular intervals and usually cannot be taken into consideration as house plants. The plant has large, heart-shaped leaves and is a climb-loving plant. When the plant matures, it may reach a height of up to 10-20 m.
The best blooming time for the Monstera Adansonii plant is the spring season. These plants are bad conductors of direct sunlight.
They grow best and longest in indirect sunlight only. So, this plant should be provided with only 2-3 hours of sun in the morning and not more than that otherwise it may damage the leaves and plant surface.
The plant is best grown in peat-based potting soil and the peat helps the soil to trap moisture for the plant. The pH of this soil is 5.5 to 7.0, which is very adequate for plant growth.
The appropriate places for the growth of Monstera Adansonii can be:
- Conservative &
- Greenhouse.
These places have a maximum temperature, humidity, and light content. While growing this plant, fertilizers should be used in very less quantity as they are slow-growing and exposure of fertilizers for a long time may cause harm to their lifestyle and they may die soon.
Due to their slow growth rate, they are usually kept hanging in the corners of the wall as a decorative impression for the houses.
Pruning of Monstera Adansonii is necessary for its better growth and progress. The Monstera Adansonii has insoluble calcium oxalate traces present in it that causes swelling or vomiting to humans and animals.
Monstera Siltepecana:
The Monstera Siltepecana plant is popularly known as the Silver Monstera. This species of Monstera are perennial plants that are evergreen throughout its life-span. The leaves are lanced-shaped. They are bluish-gray color and have slight silver shades in it. These leaves when at maturity turns dark green and develop holes slowly. It also belongs to family Araceae and so it’s native in tropical America.
The name of the plant (Monstera Siltepecana) is given because of its silver-colored leaves that are very unique among all other plants. There are many common names of this plant. They are as mentioned below-
- Silver Monstera,
- Swiss-Cheese,
- Silver Queen Philodendron, and
- Seltene Monstera.
In outdoor environments, Monstera Siltepecana grows from the base of the tree to the top by slowly climbing. But when indoor, it needs support that is strong and firm to grow, in shape, and with beauty.
If we do not provide the required support to the plant, then it will never become matured and grow.
For the conservation and growth of Monstera Siltepecana, one needs to provide the plant with all its necessities in appropriate quantities. It should be provided with enough water, soil availability, and a proper amount of light. With these, the plant also needs a good amount of humidity.
The temperature range that is needed by the Monstera Siltepecana plant is 50-95°F. Between these temperature ranges, the plant grows very well.
The leaves of this plant lack a lot of strength of character in nature. The plant cannot handle too much air pressure, so you should make sure that you do not keep your plant exposed to atmospheric air pressure.
This plant is very easy to grow and cultivate. They are also very sensitive plants, so if they get exposed to extra sunlight, they may die very soon.
Monstera Dubia:
Monstera Dubia is a climbing plant that has silver-colored and variegated leaves. The length of the leaves varies with each Monstera Dubia plant and their age.
The young or immature leaves are of height varying between 2-3 inches. But, as they grow to new heights and become mature, their height becomes as much as 12-15 inches.
The leaves of the Monstera Dubia plant may sometimes give the split-leaf appearance, the same as the one that appears in the Monstera Deliciosa plants.
The Monstera Dubia is the tropical plants that are healthy climbers and need lots of sunlight and exposure to moisture and humidity to grow longer and healthier.
When provided with proper care, these plants have very well-established root systems that grow wider and spread to very long distances. The plant is very particular with its soil type, amount of sunlight, the temperature required, and any many other such factors.
These are very easy to grow plants if kept indoors. But, if you are growing these plants indoors, then you should make sure that they do not grow to a very big height.
These plants can be grown in mild climates also. While in moist soil, these plants grow best and even longer than expected. The Monstera Dubia grows best in wet, sandy, or dry soil.
These plants fertilize best when they are kept 6 inches away from the base of the pot or the soil. This plant survives best in 70-75% sunlight.
Usually, the Monstera Dubia plants should be brought and protected during the winter season, as these plants are the winter-lovers and grow best mostly in this season only.
These plants are required to be pruned properly so that their growth does not stop or pause. Growing these plants in small pots at nurseries make it easy to transplant them whenever required.
Monstera Pinnatipartita:
The origin of Monstera Pinnatipartita is in South America. It is a very rare plant species of Monstera. It is usually grown in many rainforests in the areas near Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador.
The Monstera Pinnatipartita is a very old plant species of Monstera. It is much older than the other species of Monstera. It was first identified in 1857 and then the scientists named it as Monstera Pinnatipartita-‘a rare and old species of Monstera’.
The height of the plant usually varies from 50-60 cm and can even grow more than that if provided with a good amount of nutrient content.
It is also very toxic and can harm your pets or small children if kept anywhere in the house. So, it should be kept in a proper corner where no one would usually go and harm themselves by touching it or coming in contact with it.
While keeping it in a corner, you should make sure that the corner receives an appropriate amount of sunlight and heat and is not in a shady place, otherwise, that would become an obstacle in the growth of Monstera Pinnatipartita’s growth.
From the different types of Monstera plant species mentioned above, it is clear that the Monstera plant has its wings spread in all over the world in a lot of different types and forms. To mention specifically, the Monstera plant is a wide-spread plant and can be traced from anywhere in the world with the help of its different types of species.
That is whyMonstera is considered as one of the most important biological and environmental plants. It has its uses in many fields, such as ornamental plants, biological plants, commercial plants, and so on.
Therefore, to conclude, Monstera is very important to our nature and humans too. So, we should solely and completely try to preserve, protect, and cultivate it on a very large scale so that we do not have to suffer a deficiency or loss of the different types of Monstera plant species in near future.
Hi there! My name is Constance and I am a professional botanist. My enthusiasm for organic farming has led me to start this blog about gardening for beginners!
I write articles and tips on improving your home and garden with less work. I also share my own advice from the perspective of someone who loves all things green – like how to grow vegetables in containers or how to make compost out of kitchen scraps.