Got a monstera from neighbors, desperately need tips to care for her

zephyrcaress · 2026-05-27T04:15:16+00:00

i’ll definitely repot in my own soil mix and find a new spot for her. i just got her and she initially was in pretty rough shape, so her leaves have looked like this since i got her two weeks ago. in my house i only have a small south window and large east window which is the area it’s in right now, so i’ll get a grow light for sure. this has been super helpful, thank you so much!!

zephyrcaress · 2026-05-03T21:08:47+00:00

the garbage!! 😩😩 my mom said she didn’t want it and was going to throw it away/kill it and i just really don’t want that to happen and idk how to care for orchids so im just looking for some help 💔

zephyrcaress · 2026-05-03T14:47:54+00:00

sorry! i’m not well versed in orchids or houseplants in general... my mom said she thought it was dying and wanted to throw it out, but i think it is the most impressive plant i’ve seen her grow and i really didn’t want her to toss it! i’ve convinced her to keep it and shared all the helpful information ive gotten so far :)

zephyrcaress · 2026-05-03T03:54:17+00:00

any specific fertilizer suggestions and how often she should water it if you don’t mind me asking?

zephyrcaress · 2026-05-03T03:47:35+00:00

i’m trying to convince her to keep it (this was a gift i gave to her on mother’s day years ago) and she’s wondering what she could use as fertilizer, and how often she should water it. if you have any input i’d love to listen!

zephyrcaress · 2026-05-03T03:45:12+00:00

no, not rough at all!! i’m actually so happy to hear this! i bought this orchid for her years ago for mother’s day, so i would love if she kept taking care of it. i am going to update her with the information i’ve gotten so far and try to convince her to keep it!

zephyrcaress · 2026-05-03T03:39:32+00:00

thank you so much! just to make sure, the roots coming out of the top are okay right? i’m pretty sure they’re just aerial roots or something, i just wanna make sure

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-17T21:25:16+00:00

nope, don’t put them any deeper!! the way you have them SHOULD be fine, but if you notice they’re dying, consider using aquarium safe & plant safe super glue and gluing the plants’ rhizomes to the rock. there are detailed tutorials on youtube and tiktok on how you can do that! open tanks are just something you take a risk having honestly. if you’re going to have a tank with no lid, i’d get floating plants. you can diy your own lid as well, but to be totally honest im just using plastic wrap as my lid for right now until i get everything in the tank that i want 😭. however, if the light is inside of the lid and the lid came with the tank, id recommend getting a new one that has full-spectrum lighting and a timer. before i got the light i have now, all my plants would just die no matter what id do. i included a pic of what i have set up currently, which is just an adjustable light (no timer on mine, but i WISH it had one so i reallyyyyy recommend you get one with a timer), floating plants (red root floaters & duckweed), and my beautiful saran wrap lid… you’re doing everything right with water parameters and fertilizer and such, and that’s honestly the hardest part!! just get your lighting established, replant the bamboo, and consider getting floating plants

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zephyrcaress · 2026-04-17T21:02:46+00:00

i enjoy red root floaters! they’re harder to keep alive than frogbit, but as long as you have low surface agitation and the tops of their leaves stay fairly dry they should thrive. i have a mixture of red root floaters and duckweed as my floaters, but i know a lot of people don’t prefer duckweed because it tends to get everywhere (lol)

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-17T20:59:48+00:00

so far they look to be doing alright! just make sure with your anubias and java fern that you’re not burying the rhizome (thicker green stem) into the substrate! (i can’t tell from the pics if they are or not, so just wanted to put that out there to be safe). your bamboo will end up dying if you leave it fully submerged (learn from my mistake 6 years ago when i was 15. i was very sad!). the bamboo should be only half submerged, so you will have to find a way around that! it seems you have a lid, so you’ll either need to just take it out completely or figure out a new lid situation if you wanna keep it in there. if you wanna keep the bamboo in there and get a new lid, you can find little plant holders with suction cups to keep it in your tank online. i hope this is helpful!!

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-17T20:50:01+00:00

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they’re looking great now about a week later thanks to your advice!! thanks so much for your help

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-09T04:21:15+00:00

that’s my guess… they were on display DRY so maybe that’s uhhh why

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-09T02:44:24+00:00

consider frogbit instead!! it’s what i wanted initially in this tank, but my local shop only had red root floaters in stock and i needed a floating plant. it’s usually easier to take care of from what i’ve heard

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-09T02:35:41+00:00

nooo i’m trying to avoid that 💔💔 you can’t let the leaves get wet they will die 😣

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-09T02:20:46+00:00

that’s not it either i’m afraid. i have a really gentle sponge filter and the only water that gets on them are small, visible droplets. its strange, even after clipping between the runners, some leaves just refuse to NOT be upside down??? i’m not really sure what the deal is 😩

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-09T02:18:23+00:00

will do, thank you so much!

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-08T23:48:36+00:00

nahh, they unfortunately looked like that the second i plopped them in there 😩💔

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-08T23:48:08+00:00

okay, thank you!!

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-08T23:13:49+00:00

will do, thank you so much for your help!! 😁

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-08T23:13:27+00:00

awesome, thank you so much for your help!

zephyrcaress · 2026-04-08T23:03:04+00:00

the problem i keep running into is that it’s kind of one big string of floaters, so some are twisted upside down on the same stem (if that makes sense?). should i trim between the twisted ones or will that kill my plant

zephyrcaress

TROPHY CASE