Plant notes

Finally Gave My Monstera Something to Climb (And Why I Should've Done It Sooner)

I kept my monstera deliciosa as a sprawling floor plant for two years before accepting the obvious: it actually wants to climb. The leaves stayed small, it flopped over constantly, and I kept having to rotate the pot to stop it looking lopsided. Last month I finally installed a moss pole, and I'm documenting what worked, what didn't, and what I'd do differently.

Why I Avoided This For So Long

Honestly? I thought it looked like too much work, and I'd seen those fancy moss poles online that seemed overly complicated. My monstera was alive, it was growing, so I told myself it was fine. But the leaves maxed out at about 20cm across and the newer ones weren't fenestrating much. The plant kept leaning toward the window so aggressively that I had to prop it up with a dining chair at one point, which was ridiculous. I finally accepted that in the wild these plants climb up trees, and maybe I should work with its nature instead of against it.

What I Actually Did

I went with a simple coir pole (basically coconut fiber wrapped around a plastic tube) that I found at the garden centre for about £8. Not fancy, not expensive. I pushed it deep into the pot—deeper than I thought necessary, actually, because the first time I only put it halfway down and the whole thing tipped over two days later. Once it was secure, I used soft plant ties to gently attach the main stems to the pole, positioning the aerial roots against the coir so they could grab on. I didn't force anything; I just guided the stems that were already growing upward and left the rest alone. The whole process took maybe 20 minutes.

What's Happened Since

It's been five weeks and the difference is visible. The new leaf that's unfurling now is noticeably larger than previous ones, and the aerial roots have actually started gripping the pole on their own—I can see them wrapping around and digging into the coir fiber. The plant looks more upright and intentional instead of like it's trying to escape the pot. I've started misting the pole itself every few days because I read the aerial roots can absorb moisture from it, though I can't prove that's helping. One thing I didn't expect: I now have much more floor space because the plant grows up instead of sprawling sideways across half my living room.

What I'd Tell My Past Self

Do this earlier. Don't wait until your monstera is massive and unwieldy, because trying to wrangle a huge plant onto a pole without snapping leaves is stressful. Install support when the plant is younger and smaller. Also, go taller than you think you need—my pole is 60cm and I'm already wondering if I should've gotten the 90cm one because this plant genuinely wants to keep climbing. And push that pole DEEP into the soil, right to the bottom of the pot if possible. A wobbly pole is worse than no pole. Lastly, be patient with tying it up; I broke one stem by being too forceful the first time, and it taught me to go slowly and let the plant tell me where it wants to go.

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