About six months ago, I bought a dying monstera from the reduced section of Ikea. Needless to say, it wasn’t doing well. It was droopy and its leaves were either yellowing or browning.
Within two weeks of adoption, the leaves turned fully brown and died. So I chopped them all off and left the plant on the windowsill for another month. Nothing happened.
Refusing to give up on my struggling monstera, I moved it into my greenhouse. Honestly, I just needed it out of the way for a while. But within a couple of weeks, new leaves started to grow. Result! I watered it and the leaves grew and grew.
I’ve just discovered that you can keep a monstera in a greenhouse. And provided you meet certain conditions for it (conditions I’ve learned), it can thrive in there!
Keep reading to learn more about growing a monstera in a greenhouse.
Can You Grow a Monstera in a Greenhouse?
In short, monstera plants can grow in a greenhouse that blocks direct sunlight, like a plastic greenhouse or one with frosted glass. A greenhouse can help a monstera to grow bushy rather than tall and leggy.
Don’t keep monsteras in a glass greenhouse without any frosting. Because its leaves can burn when it’s left in direct sunlight for more than a couple of hours, a glass greenhouse can kill a monstera or cause brown sunspots.
During the warm conditions of spring, summer, and early fall, a monstera plant will thrive in a moderately sunny spot in the greenhouse. In late fall and winter, a monstera will need a grow light to survive in a greenhouse.
Otherwise, it’s too cold and growth will stunt. Therefore, it’s best to bring a monstera back inside for the winter months and put it back in the greenhouse when the weather warms again.
Can I Put My Monstera Outside in Summer in the UK?
Monsteras like warm conditions, so in theory, you can leave it outside during the summer months. However, leaving a monstera in direct sunlight without any UV protection will burn the leaves and cause large brown spots to appear.
If keeping a monstera outdoors, place it in a warm but shady spot. This offers the most protection against the direct UV rays, but keeps the conditions humid enough for its leaves to grow and air roots to sprout.
Keeping a monstera in a frosted greenhouse outdoors also offers some UV protection, just like a window ledge indoors, so it won’t burn in there.
How to Fix a Leggy Monstera?
A leggy monstera plant grows tall and thin, with new leaves growing from the top but few new shoots from the rest of the plant stem.
The best thing I’ve found to fix a leggy monstera is to keep your monstera in a greenhouse out of direct sunlight. The humid conditions keep the roots moist enough to sprout. Within just a month or two, a monstera will grow fuller and bushier. It can then be brought back indoors.
All the short, brownish shoots on a monstera’s stem are roots. For new leaves to grow from the roots, you need humid conditions. So you can also try the following methods to fix a leggy monstera:
- Wrapping moist kitchen paper around the roots and keeping them wet
- Frequently spraying the monstera stem with a misting bottle
- Submerging larger stem roots in a nearby glass or tub of water
- Placing a humidifier next to a monstera plant
Summary
Monsteras aren’t designed to grow in greenhouses, but they do prefer a warmer climate. Provided the greenhouse doesn’t get direct sunlight (enough for the sensitive monstera leaves to burn), you can keep it in a greenhouse outdoors. Placing monsteras in a greenhouse temporarily is a good way to fix a leggy monstera and an effective method in getting the air roots to sprout.
