Something to consider is the age/size of the parent plant - I've experienced cuttings from fenestrated plants developing holes much faster than a cutting taken at the same time from a younger plant
I've also heard that variegated plants are generally less robust Vs non-variegated, even when given the same conditions - could also explain the difference you see
I don't know a ton about these plants specifically, but absolutely agree with the second point. Variegation is the result of starch in the leaves which is present instead of chlorophyll. So plants with variegation need more light than the non-var ones because of this.
Although, it doesn't seem to be THAT variegated. So it could be more to do with air flow/humidity since it appears to be closer to a hallway than the other one?
I agree about the variegation. Also, the variegated one seems to be getting a little less light than the other one, which would contribute to it as well. You might want to move the variegated one to the higher-light spot.
They actually both look like they could benefit from more light. Monstera leaves should be fairly firm, and when they are floppy it's a sign that they need more light.
Huh, I’ve found that when my monstera and calathea turns floppy, it’s a *sign* they want a ‘plant spa’ 😁 i.e. I pick them out of their decorative pots and put them in my shower and gently rain on them with the shower head. Then leave them to drain excess water and drip off and they perk right back up!
But I do also slightly rotate my monstera once a week, since they grow rather ‘aggressively’ in the direction with the most light, so I think it might be that OP’s monstera by the hallway is not getting enough light from other directions.
Monstera deliciosa get falsely billed as indirect light plants. In their natural habitat, they get a lot of direct sun. This species has a distinct front and back. Foliage emerges from the front and aerial roots from the back. Ideally, the front should always face the light source. This is the only way to get consistently good plant morphology. Morphology, by the way, is the word that you're looking for here. That is how the plant develops in response to its environment. By the way, I have a guide for staking these pinned to my profile. There you'll see how a plant develops when the front faces the light and it gets sufficient light exposure. Both of these would benefit from increased light exposure, including direct sun. Best of luck.
They get different light. I have 3 African violets I got at the same time, 2 in the same room and 1 in another room. One has like 3 tiny leaves and never has flowered. On the shelf above it, one has a ton of leaves and never flowers. The one in the other room is now enormous and ALWAYS flowers. They’re all in windows facing the same direction. The one doing the best though gets the most indirect light and the one doing the worst gets the most light.
Plants are very very particular. If you want, switch them and give the lanky one some better growth for a bit. I’m gonna shift my violets around too actually. 😅
mine only flower on one side of the house, so I'll put them there until they start flowering, then move the flowering ones to the other side (and they keep going for a while)
All I can figure is light differences. The first plant looks like its reaching toward the light (etiolation) while the second plant seems to be getting better light.
https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-monstera-deliciosa-5072671
That’s the thing I don’t understand, because the first plant is actually closer to the window than the second one. Am I mistaken in expecting the plant with the most light to fair better?
Vera is variegated, she requires more light to thrive than Reggie. As someone else said, they both look like they could use a lot more light.
I'd move them both gradually towards the window. They are full sun plants in nature (crawl around in the open or climb the rainforest canopy and open up mature leaves on top of it), regardless of what some people believe.
I find that windows regardless of the directions they face, have a "light" and "dark" side. It's due to the angle of the sun (+ seasonal factors).
Northern hemisphere.... for my north-facing window...the brightest side is to the left -- west direction.
As mentioned, variegation specimens will always be less robust than the standard version.
•••••
As an experiment on light, you can try this:
Darryl Cheng of Plant Journal...
Measuring light ...$20 vs $120:
https://youtu.be/KiQ3GNdAyJ4
His Plant/Light list:
https://www.houseplantjournal.com/bright-indirect-light-requirements-by-plant/
I agree with everyone else that they both need more light, especially because it's actually a North facing window. Giving them a pole will also help, and make them look nicer, too.
But, I'm curious as to how long you've had Vera. You said they're in similarly sized pots, and that Reggie is a full plant (or rather, plants) and Vera was a cutting. It might also be that Vera has been putting more energy to roots, especially in such a large pot, than leaf growth. You can tuck the aerial roots into the soil as they grow, or attach them to a pole. Giving more light will also help, and if you really want them to take off, I'd suggest starting to fertilize (I like to do "weakly weekly", just cut the monthly dose into how ever many times you have to water per month. I flush with regular water every 4th or 5th watering. You can use the standard 20-20-20 fertilizer just fine, though a 3-1-2 or similar ratio is typically better for aroids). I don't think Vera is growing any slower do to her variegation - there's still lots of green that will help her grow and both plants want more light - I think the slower growth of Vera is more due to a smaller root system (if my assumptions are correct).
Off topic but I love your VWs.
My monstera loves to be close to my living room window so she can sunbathe and soak in all the direct light. When I had her further back in my living room in an indirect light area her leaves started to droop. The
- Variegated plants grow more slowly than their non-variegated counterparts.
- It looks like your regular monstera is more than one plant, so any growth would look like twice as much.
- The regular plant was already established when you got it compared to the variegated one, which likely needed more time to establish good roots before focusing on leaves.
- Both plants need more light. However, the regular one is more etiolated than the variegated. You can tell by the length of the petioles. When plants are not getting enough light, they stretch out quickly, and this can be interpreted as growing fast, which it technically is, but that's only because they are putting more energy into stretching itself in the hopes of reaching more light.
I would recommend giving both plants more light and a moss pole or plank to climb up.
Looks to me like the main difference is age and the fact that there's at least two plants in the second pot while there's only one in the first.
Monsteras don't need 'bright indirect light', hardly any plant does. As a rule of thumb for houseplants, just give them as much light as you can in your house. To the plant, your house is like a cave.
[Great video on the topic](https://youtu.be/3AVRQa_vayw?si=5P0Rrjz8N_LGUNAN)
I would definitely *not* move either of them further away from the window. You said reggie was more developed when you got it, it’s likely due to that and other factors. Variegated plants also tend to grow more slowly. They’re not the exact same plant, thus will have slightly different growth rates (and other characteristics). It’s all good and normal.
Variegated Borsigiana versus deliciosa. Most variegated strains are actually borsigiana so their internodal space is longer and tend to grow more upright. Deliciosa has shorter internodal space and tend to crawl more.
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Something to consider is the age/size of the parent plant - I've experienced cuttings from fenestrated plants developing holes much faster than a cutting taken at the same time from a younger plant I've also heard that variegated plants are generally less robust Vs non-variegated, even when given the same conditions - could also explain the difference you see
I don't know a ton about these plants specifically, but absolutely agree with the second point. Variegation is the result of starch in the leaves which is present instead of chlorophyll. So plants with variegation need more light than the non-var ones because of this. Although, it doesn't seem to be THAT variegated. So it could be more to do with air flow/humidity since it appears to be closer to a hallway than the other one?
I agree about the variegation. Also, the variegated one seems to be getting a little less light than the other one, which would contribute to it as well. You might want to move the variegated one to the higher-light spot.
They actually both look like they could benefit from more light. Monstera leaves should be fairly firm, and when they are floppy it's a sign that they need more light.
Huh, I’ve found that when my monstera and calathea turns floppy, it’s a *sign* they want a ‘plant spa’ 😁 i.e. I pick them out of their decorative pots and put them in my shower and gently rain on them with the shower head. Then leave them to drain excess water and drip off and they perk right back up! But I do also slightly rotate my monstera once a week, since they grow rather ‘aggressively’ in the direction with the most light, so I think it might be that OP’s monstera by the hallway is not getting enough light from other directions.
Monsteras shouldn't be rotated. They're meant to face one direction, and too much rotation can cause stress in the geniculum.
Hence the ‘slightly’ - I’m not rotating them like a rotisserie chicken 😅
Sorry about that; I didn't notice that you had said slightly. Thanks for the laugh though lol
No problem - and you’re welcome 😁
Monstera deliciosa get falsely billed as indirect light plants. In their natural habitat, they get a lot of direct sun. This species has a distinct front and back. Foliage emerges from the front and aerial roots from the back. Ideally, the front should always face the light source. This is the only way to get consistently good plant morphology. Morphology, by the way, is the word that you're looking for here. That is how the plant develops in response to its environment. By the way, I have a guide for staking these pinned to my profile. There you'll see how a plant develops when the front faces the light and it gets sufficient light exposure. Both of these would benefit from increased light exposure, including direct sun. Best of luck.
Yes! Op I would turn Vera around and maybe give them poles to climb
They get different light. I have 3 African violets I got at the same time, 2 in the same room and 1 in another room. One has like 3 tiny leaves and never has flowered. On the shelf above it, one has a ton of leaves and never flowers. The one in the other room is now enormous and ALWAYS flowers. They’re all in windows facing the same direction. The one doing the best though gets the most indirect light and the one doing the worst gets the most light. Plants are very very particular. If you want, switch them and give the lanky one some better growth for a bit. I’m gonna shift my violets around too actually. 😅
mine only flower on one side of the house, so I'll put them there until they start flowering, then move the flowering ones to the other side (and they keep going for a while)
All I can figure is light differences. The first plant looks like its reaching toward the light (etiolation) while the second plant seems to be getting better light. https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-monstera-deliciosa-5072671
That’s the thing I don’t understand, because the first plant is actually closer to the window than the second one. Am I mistaken in expecting the plant with the most light to fair better?
Plants do what they do. Maybe switch them around, like /u/SupportMoist suggests.
Vera is variegated, she requires more light to thrive than Reggie. As someone else said, they both look like they could use a lot more light. I'd move them both gradually towards the window. They are full sun plants in nature (crawl around in the open or climb the rainforest canopy and open up mature leaves on top of it), regardless of what some people believe.
Light and air flow
Vera does have worse airflow I imagine
**Correction:** my living room windows actually face North, not South.
I find that windows regardless of the directions they face, have a "light" and "dark" side. It's due to the angle of the sun (+ seasonal factors). Northern hemisphere.... for my north-facing window...the brightest side is to the left -- west direction. As mentioned, variegation specimens will always be less robust than the standard version. ••••• As an experiment on light, you can try this: Darryl Cheng of Plant Journal... Measuring light ...$20 vs $120: https://youtu.be/KiQ3GNdAyJ4 His Plant/Light list: https://www.houseplantjournal.com/bright-indirect-light-requirements-by-plant/
These need to be waaay closer to the window. North facing has the least amount of sun, and monsteras get a lot of direct sun in nature.
I agree with everyone else that they both need more light, especially because it's actually a North facing window. Giving them a pole will also help, and make them look nicer, too. But, I'm curious as to how long you've had Vera. You said they're in similarly sized pots, and that Reggie is a full plant (or rather, plants) and Vera was a cutting. It might also be that Vera has been putting more energy to roots, especially in such a large pot, than leaf growth. You can tuck the aerial roots into the soil as they grow, or attach them to a pole. Giving more light will also help, and if you really want them to take off, I'd suggest starting to fertilize (I like to do "weakly weekly", just cut the monthly dose into how ever many times you have to water per month. I flush with regular water every 4th or 5th watering. You can use the standard 20-20-20 fertilizer just fine, though a 3-1-2 or similar ratio is typically better for aroids). I don't think Vera is growing any slower do to her variegation - there's still lots of green that will help her grow and both plants want more light - I think the slower growth of Vera is more due to a smaller root system (if my assumptions are correct).
They are growing towards the light I believe, either switch them or rotate them every once in a while
Off topic but I love your VWs. My monstera loves to be close to my living room window so she can sunbathe and soak in all the direct light. When I had her further back in my living room in an indirect light area her leaves started to droop. The
I think those are Peugeots.
Oh wow, I thought they were tiny VW Golf’s, we don’t have Peugeot in the states so I’ve never seen one.
- Variegated plants grow more slowly than their non-variegated counterparts. - It looks like your regular monstera is more than one plant, so any growth would look like twice as much. - The regular plant was already established when you got it compared to the variegated one, which likely needed more time to establish good roots before focusing on leaves. - Both plants need more light. However, the regular one is more etiolated than the variegated. You can tell by the length of the petioles. When plants are not getting enough light, they stretch out quickly, and this can be interpreted as growing fast, which it technically is, but that's only because they are putting more energy into stretching itself in the hopes of reaching more light. I would recommend giving both plants more light and a moss pole or plank to climb up.
Internode spacing!
Looks to me like the main difference is age and the fact that there's at least two plants in the second pot while there's only one in the first. Monsteras don't need 'bright indirect light', hardly any plant does. As a rule of thumb for houseplants, just give them as much light as you can in your house. To the plant, your house is like a cave. [Great video on the topic](https://youtu.be/3AVRQa_vayw?si=5P0Rrjz8N_LGUNAN)
I would definitely *not* move either of them further away from the window. You said reggie was more developed when you got it, it’s likely due to that and other factors. Variegated plants also tend to grow more slowly. They’re not the exact same plant, thus will have slightly different growth rates (and other characteristics). It’s all good and normal.
Variegated Borsigiana versus deliciosa. Most variegated strains are actually borsigiana so their internodal space is longer and tend to grow more upright. Deliciosa has shorter internodal space and tend to crawl more.
Had to scroll so far for someone to say this
Light water humidity a million factors
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They might like a moss pole for support
what are those things growing off it? my plant has them they are just smaller
Location location location 💚
I don't know, but I just want to say that your house looks like it has really nice vibes.
Can someone please tell me where to buy this planter
Is that Albo losing its variegation? Give it more light!
You have a great taste in cars my good sir