How To Care For A Monstera Dubia

Introduction

Monstera dubais are not as well known as some of the other Monstera plants, but they are very beautiful and unusual plants, with variegated leaves. They are climbers and will scramble up any surface, with their leaves pressed flat against it. On trees, they look like roof tiles, fanning out to cover the bark.

A Monstera dubai makes a beautiful addition to any home, and their rarity makes them more attractive to some growers. It’s easy to see why they are so prized by those who know and love them, because they really are breathtakingly beautiful.

Monstera Dubai plants need a good level of humidity (preferably over 50%) and a reasonable amount of food provided on a regular basis to help them grow strong. They are climbing plants and must have a structure to scramble up, or you’ll find that they get out of control. You should keep your Monstera dubai out of strong sunlight and only water it when the soil is dry.

If you follow all these steps, you should have a happy and healthy Monstera dubai, filling your home with beautiful, variegated greenery.

Indoor vs Outdoor Growing

Monstera dubais come from Central and South America, so they grow best in these regions if you want to keep them outdoors. If you are happy to grow the plants inside, however, you can grow them pretty much anywhere in the world, as long as you make sure it’s warm enough for them indoors.

If you want to grow your Monstera dubai outside, you will need to find a suitable spot that is not too sunny and not too shady. Strong sun will burn the plant’s leaves, but the Monstera dubai does need a reasonable amount of light in order to grow.

When growing a Monstera dubai indoors, you need to provide a good structural support. All Monstera plants enjoy climbing, but the Monstera dubai must have a platform or trellis to scramble up or it will end up in a heap on the floor and won’t be able to grow.

Make sure you provide adequate vertical support and a good amount of indirect light, and your Monstera dubai will be very happy in your home.

Best Location For Your Monstera Dubai

If you’re trying to decide where to put your Monstera dubai, you’ll be pleased to know that these plants can go anywhere that there is a reasonable amount of sunlight and a stretch of vertical space that they can grow into.

That means you can grow this plant in a bathroom, office, living room, bedroom, or anywhere else that you want to enjoy it. These plants don’t handle frost well, so during cold snaps, you may wish to move them away from windows and doors to prevent them from getting chilled.

Soil For A Monstera Dubai

If you’re wondering what kind of soil these plants need, the biggest factor is that it needs to be well-draining. Like others in the family, Monstera dubai plants hate to be wet for long periods of time. They will wilt and their roots will rot if they don’t dry out between waterings, so it’s important to make sure the soil doesn’t stay damp for too long.

Mixing perlite or gravel into some rich compost will often give you the best results for this plant. They like lots of nutrients around their roots, so you want to ensure you are including a growing medium that is rich and nutritious. The gravel will help with drainage and make sure the plant doesn’t sit in water.

The Monstera dubai also prefers a pH value between 5 and 7.5. They have a strong dislike for acidic soils and will not grow well if they are stuck in a low pH value soil. Make sure that you use standard compost, not ericaceous compost. As compost is naturally neutral or slightly alkaline, you shouldn’t need to do much else to ensure the pH stays suitable.

Having the right soil for this plant is key to helping it grow well, and as Monstera plants tend to grow quite slowly, this is important.

Watering Your Monstera Dubai

As mentioned, Monstera dubai plants strongly dislike “wet feet” and won’t thrive if they are over-watered. You need to ensure they are allowed to dry out between waterings, and that involves not watering them on a schedule, but checking the moisture levels of the soil instead.

You may wish to buy a water meter that will help you determine when the Monstera dubai needs a drink. These are pushed into the soil and will tell you how dry it is below the surface. However, you can do this without a meter too. Simply scrape back the top layer of soil and push your finger in.

If it feels wet to a couple of inches down, the plant doesn’t yet need a drink. If the soil is dry up to your knuckle, the Monstera dubai is getting thirsty and it’s time for you to water it.

It’s a good idea to water deeply, waiting for the water to run out of the bottom of the pot to ensure it has thoroughly saturated the soil. Empty the tray your plant stands on so your Monstera dubai is not sitting in water, and then leave it to dry out again.

While Monstera dubai plants really dislike over-watering and it’s better to under-water them, try not to let them dry out completely on a regular basis. This will stress the plant out. A good balance is important.

Humidity For Your Monster Dubai

Like any tropical plant, Monstera dubai plants appreciate warmth and humidity. They come from rainforests and are used to being surrounded by other plants creating and trapping moisture in the air – as well as lots of rain!

That means that if you can humidify the environment for your Monstera dubai, it will be a much happier plant. Some people like to grow these plants in their bathrooms so that the warmth and humidity of the shower can do this job for them.

However, if you grow your Monstera dubai elsewhere in the home, you will probably need to artificially raise the humidity levels. Our homes are very dry places, and your Monstera dubai may struggle if you don’t occasionally give it a humid cloud to sit in.

How often you need to do this will depend on where you are and what the weather is like. Some people mist their Monstera dubai plants daily, while others only do it weekly. We’ll cover a few easy misting methods shortly, but you might want to consider purchasing a hygrometer so you can measure the humidity level.

Monstera dubai plants like moisture levels of over 50%, so that’s quite a humid environment to maintain. The easiest way to do this is probably to purchase a shallow tray without holes in it, fill the bottom with pebbles to create a layer for the plant pot, and then add some water.

Don’t allow the level of the water to rise above the pebbles. You are going to stand the plant’s pot on the pebbles, and the water will gently evaporate, misting the leaves. You don’t want the bottom of the pot to touch the water, or it will soak up into the soil and cause root rot.

Stand your plant on this tray whenever it needs humidifying, and top the water up as needed. You will probably want to remove the plant before evening so that it doesn’t get mold or pests attacking the damp foliage. Dry leaves overnight tend to be a safer option.

If you don’t want to buy a tray, you can also mist with a spray bottle. Some people enjoy the routine of misting their plants early in the day, and it is also a good opportunity to inspect your plant for bugs or other problems. However, if you have a lot of plants, it can be a chore.

A plug in humidifier is another option. These can simply be flicked on in the morning, and then flicked off when you want to stop misting your plants. They are low maintenance and you can buy some really cute ones.

Fertilizing Your Monster Dubai

Monstera dubai plants are medium feeders. They don’t like to be overwhelmed with fertilizer, but in order to grow, they do need a good amount of food providing on a regular basis. You should fertilize throughout the growing months, which tend to be from spring to late summer. Consistent feeding will encourage good growth.

Give your Monstera dubai a slow release fertilizer three times a year, watering this into the soil. You can also top this up with a diluted general purpose fertilizer about once a month, but make sure you aren’t over-feeding your plant or you may burn its roots. If in doubt, feed a little less, rather than a little more!

If you struggle to manage fertilizing schedules, you can also buy a dedicated Monstera feed that is designed to be given every time you water the plant. This can make it easier to remember. Alternatively, keep a chart that tells you when you last fertilized it, or set reminders on your phone.

Your Monstera dubai probably won’t die if you forget to feed it, but its growth will slow and its leaves may turn yellow due to nutrient deficiencies. Keeping it fed will result in lots of healthy growth.

Toxicity

Like other plants in its family, the Monstera dubai is toxic to both people and pets, and it shouldn’t be consumed at all. It is not deadly in small quantities, but should not be eaten, and can cause oral irritation, drooling, swelling of the mouth, tongue, and lips, as well as vomiting, and nausea. It can also, in very extreme cases, cause breathing difficulties.

Monstera dubai plants should be grown away from children and pets, and if necessary, you should block access to this plant so that your child/pet cannot physically get to it. Discourage them from taking any interest in the plant, and consider moving it to a different location if you are concerned.

You may wish to avoid growing Monstera dubai plants if you have young children or pets, but on the whole, they are not too much of a threat, and their beautiful foliage does make them attractive. Usually, taking precautions will be enough to avert any accidents.

If you suspect that your child or pet has ingested any of your Monstera dubai, contact appropriate medical professionals immediately, without waiting for symptoms to show. The plant may not be deadly in most cases, but it is better to get advice and treatment quickly, rather than to wait and regret it.

Propagation

Monstera dubai plants are not very commonly found, so you might well want to take cuttings from your existing plant, either for yourself or to offer as gifts to friends and family. Fortunately, like other Monstera plants, the Monstera dubai is easy to propagate and you don’t need much experience to do it.

Sterilize your equipment before handling the plant to avoid introducing infection or bacteria when you make the cut. If you are going to propagate in water, make sure that you stand the water for twenty-four hours before you take your cutting; this allows chlorine to evaporate from it and will give the plant a better start.

The first propagation method requires you to take a cutting from the adult plant. Select a nice, healthy stem with lots of good growth, and gently unwrap it from the support until you have a good few inches of stem. Cut it just below a node, using sharp, sterile scissors or secateurs.

Remove any leaves that will be submerged in water, and then place the cutting in your jar of water. Put the jar in a warm place with indirect but bright light, and change the water every three or four days to prevent stagnation or rotting. Changing the water also helps keep it oxygenated, ensuring the plant can breathe when its roots start to establish themselves.

You should see roots appearing after a couple of weeks. Give them a few days to get strong, and then transfer the cutting into some fresh compost and gravel, and water lightly. Be careful not to damage the roots while transferring them. Keep the soil moist while the roots establish themselves; this will help reduce the shock of being moved from water to soil.

Once the young plant has begun to shoot and establish itself, make sure you provide a support for it to climb up. You now have a new Monstera dubai plant!

There is another propagation method that will establish a new plant more quickly. Again, you will need sterile secateurs. Prepare a pot with some suitable growing medium before you begin.

Next, choose a healthy stem of your Monstera dubai and gently disentangle it from the trellis and other stems. Try not to damage its leaves. When you have freed it, scrape back the soil covering its roots, and use the secateurs to sever the roots away from the main root ball.

This new Monstera dubai should be planted in the container you have prepared, and watered lightly to help the roots settle in. Provide it with a support and keep it in indirect light while it establishes itself, keeping the soil moist.

This is often the fastest way to get a new Monstera dubai plant, because you don’t have to wait for roots to establish themselves, and the plant will have access to nutrients straight away.

Repotting

Monstera dubai plants don’t like being root bound, so you need to repot them fairly regularly to keep them happy. They like deep containers will plenty of space for their roots, so bear this in mind when choosing a new pot for them.

The pot should have good drainage holes, and you may wish to put a layer of gravel at the bottom to increase the drainage. When you have done that, mix some compost and perlite, and lift your Monstera dubai out of its old pot. Gently tease out its roots, and then plant it in the new pot.

Fill the remaining space with compost, and then lightly water the plant to help it settle in. You may wish to keep your Monstera dubai in indirect light for a while as it will be somewhat shocked and more vulnerable to leaf burn.

How often you repot your Monstera dubai will depend on how fast it grows, but if you see roots coming out of the bottom of the container, it definitely needs repotting soon. Don’t leave it root bound; give it more space as soon as you can.

F.A.Q.

Here are a few common questions people have about their Monstera dubai plants.

Why Are My Monstera Dubai’s Leaves Yellow?

Yellow leaves are often a sign of nutrient deficiencies. If you aren’t fertilizing your plant enough, it will be lacking in things it needs to grow healthy, green foliage, and you might start to notice a yellow tinge creeping across the leaves.

You should increase your fertilizing routine unless you have just fertilized your plant. If you have just fed it with a suitable feed, the problem is probably due to over-watering, and you need to give your plant a chance to dry out.

Check the soil; if it’s very wet, your plant is getting too much water and its roots are rotting. Let it dry out thoroughly before you water it again, or you might end up killing the plant entirely. Remember, Monstera dubai plants don’t like too much water and they are vulnerable to root rot.

Yellow leaves should cause you to check fertilizer and watering; these are the most common causes of the problem.

Why Is My Plant Wilting?

Wilting is usually a sign that your plant is not getting enough to drink; it doesn’t have sufficient moisture to support its leaves.

You can help your plant out by boosting the humidity levels. Give your plant a good mist to make the air around its leaves nice and moist, and see if it picks up. If it’s late in the day, wait until the following day to mist the plant, but set a reminder so you don’t forget.

You should also check the soil to see if your plant is thirsty. If it’s very dry, give your plant some water.

If, however, the soil is wet, you may have over-watered the plant. This can lead to similar symptoms to under-watering, because the roots are rotting and are therefore unable to take up moisture, so your Monstera dubai is dying of thirst even though it has plenty to drink.

Follow the instructions below to learn how to help out a Monstera dubai that has been over-watered.

Why Does My Monster Dubai Have Brown Spots On Its Leaves?

Brown spots are a bad sign on a Monstera dubai. They often mean that the plant has got root rot. Too much moisture has cut off the oxygen and caused the roots to turn to mush, and this will kill your plant fast if you don’t take action – and sometimes even if you do.

To give your Monstera dubai the best chance of survival, prepare a clean pot with fresh compost. Gently lift the Monstera dubai out of its pot and shake off the wet soil.

Use sharp, clean scissors to cut off any roots that are mushy or rotten. You can then use some paper towels or an absorbent cloth to soak up excess moisture from the roots, or just leave the plant to dry out a little.

When the roots are no longer sodden, plant the Monstera dubai in the new compost, being very gentle with its roots. Water it lightly to help settle the roots into the new soil, but don’t add a lot of moisture.

Stand the plant somewhere cool, away from direct light, and see if it recovers. It will need to be treated gently after the ordeal, and it may not survive even if you follow all these steps. With luck, it will have strong enough roots and sufficient energy to recover. The earlier you catch the problem, the better the chances of survival are.