How Often Does Monstera Grow New Leaves?

Monstera plants can grow new leaves every 4-6 weeks. With more growth, the plant produces more growth points and starts to produce even more leaves per month.

Of course, there will be differences in how individual plants develop based on how much care they receive and whether they’re grown in an optimal environment.

If you want to stimulate your monstera plant to grow new leaves, there are a few things to watch out for. I’ll explain how to stimulate growth and help you troubleshoot some monstera leaf problems below.

Why is My Monstera Not Growing New Leaves?

Your monstera may have stunted growth because of multiple factors in their environment including:

– Lack of light

Although monstera plants are often advertised as low light plants, they thrive in medium bright to bright indirect light.

Placing them near a south-facing window will prevent the plant from growing leggy. It will also help with new leaf production, making the plant look fuller.

– Bad watering

Erratic watering or excess watering are both problematic. Monstera plants enjoy being watered deeply, then the soil should be allowed to dry a bit before the next watering.

Always check the moisture level of the soil before watering. You can use a specially designed probe to measure moisture or simply poke the soil with your finger up to the first knuckle. If the soil feels dry, water the plant. If it feels moist, wait for a couple of days longer.

Don’t allow the soil to go completely bone dry either. Consistently moist soil is preferable.

– Lack of humidity

Average room humidity is fine for the Monstera plant. But if the air in your home is constantly dry (e.g. always around 40%), you may need to supplement that by misting the plant once a week.

Humidity levels of 60-65% are ideal for monstera plants, especially if your goal is to have them growing faster.

– Monstera variety differences

Variegated monstera plants have a slower growth pattern compared to non-variegated ones. Your monstera plant not growing as fast as you’d expect may have nothing to do with its environment.

How Many Leaves Can a Monstera Plant Have?

There’s no cap on how many leaves a monstera plant will have. And it’s hard to even predict how your monstera plant will do.

If you’re keeping it in an environment that’s less than ideal, it will very likely have fever leaves than a monstera kept in ideal conditions.

I’ve seen monsteras with over 20-25 leaves, but I’ve also seen monsteras with no more than 6 leaves.

At the end of the day, your monstera leaves can produce as many leaves as you can accommodate in your home.

Remember, these are climbing plants that attach to trees and grow upwards toward the light, reaching 15-30 feet outdoors and spread to 10-15 feet wide or even more.

Indoors, you’d likely have trouble maintaining a monstera plant that grows to over 8-9 feet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t encourage the plant to grow bushier.

How to Stimulate Monstera to Grow New Leaves?

If you want to stimulate a monstera plant to put out new leaves, there are several things you can do including:

– Ensure adequate light, humidity and water

Offer your monstera plant plenty of bright, indirect light, enough humidity and water to sustain a healthy growth pattern. Without adequate light, your monstera will grow leggy.

– Fertilize monstera plants

Use a diluted, general purpose fertilizer to help monstera plants grow more vibrant and healthier foliage. Use the fertilizer monthly during the growth period and avoid overfertilizing.

– Prune in spring

Pinching back your monstera plant or trimming stems that are old and fading away will help your monstera grow fuller and put out new growths.

– Keeping leaves clean

It may seem like an inconsequential thing but keeping the leaves of your monstera dust-free and debris-free will prevent fungal leaf diseases which can weaken the plant’s defenses.

– Repotting when needed

As your monstera grows its root system also follows suit. While the plant doesn’t mind being a bit pot-bound, when roots are poking out of the pot, it’s time to upgrade to a bigger pot. This will help the roots system expand and the plant grow bigger.

Why is the New Monstera Leaf Light Green?

New leaves on your monstera plant will have a light, lime green color. This is normal with young, emerging leaves that are not only a lighter shade of green, but they’re also thinner than mature leaves.

As the leaves grow bigger and unfurl, they harden off and their color changes to a deeper green. Mature leaves are thicker and darker than emerging ones.

Mature leaves turning pale or a lighter green can signal a pest infestation or lack of light. But they can also signal a nutritional deficiency.

Why is the New Monstera Leaf Floppy?

There are a few possible reasons why your new monstera leaf can seem floppy. As I mentioned above, emerging leaves are naturally thinner and softer, so it’s normal for them not to have the same stiffness as other leaves.

Give it a couple of weeks and the leaf should stiffen up as it ages. It will also change color into a darker, deeper shade of green.

Another possible reason why an emerging leaf can seem floppy or dropping is that your monstera plant may be underwatered or the air in your home is too dry.

Check the soil to see if it’s too dry or check the humidity levels in your home to see if you need to increase humidity around the plant. Most times, however, it’s just how new leaves are supposed to be.

Wrap Up

Monstera plants put out new growths every 4-6 weeks, depending on how well they take to the environment in which they’re grown.

You can stimulate plant growth to the point where you can accommodate the plant indoors and help it grow bushier, especially if you can offer it a structure to climb on.

Regular watering, adequate lighting, humidity and fertilizing with a weak fertilizer will help the plant put out healthy, vibrant leaves.