PlantFiles: Swiss Cheese Plant, Window Leaf, Split Leaf Philodendron, Mexican Breadfruit
Monstera obliqua 'Leichtlinii'

Split Leaf Philodendron is a plant for all indoor houses I feel.
It is easy to grow with minimal effort. Though one has to realize it will grow very tall reaching a 6' ceiling in no time!

The current one I have was traded to me as a cutting, it is taking off. When this one outgrows the area as my previous ones have I will sell it to another office or a bigger place as I have in the past (if that is I can get it out of the house without harming it).

Cuttings are really quite simple, rooting it in water or a wet indoor potting mix giving it a root hormone is just a plus. Nods are very easily seen therefor easily cut.

Bugs do like to attack and consume this plant, making it ugly. Such bugs I have experienced in my years of growing this is the spider mite (dry conditions make this a very tasty treat and good homes for spider mites), thrip (comes in dirty soil be careful of taking in peoples unwanted plants without putting them in quarantine) and I think aphids in the past.

Anyhoo great plant I feel!!

I love this plant. She grows like nothing I have ever seen. She is very beautiful. I have had her for only 3 months and it looks like she is starting to out grow her pot already.
She is easy to care for. Matter of fact she likes it best when you don't baby her. I found that out the hard way. I grow her under grow lights and every other week I give her a shot of liquid compost. http://www.GreatBigPlants.com has the best liquid compost.
Once a month I shine her leaves with cold pressed neem oil. She looks great and is growing fine from the love I have given her.

This plant is awsome, and is doing great in my west facing window.. It is very long and very healty.. I fertalize about once a month, half strength, a 20-30-20, by Schultz, that ive recently found at albertsons.. It is a little better than miracle gro, well from what i have noticed! The new growth bruises easy, and falls of easy if hit, have had a few new leafs break off after i was trying to move it.. But other than that a great plant!

$$$$UPDATE$$$$ 8-7-05
I had to move this plant to get some afternoon sun, the new leaves were coming out really tiny, unlike the others! It has been doing well since i moved it. If you move it from shade to sun, expect some leaf burn, this is normal and will not kill the plant, they plant will get use to the new light situation. If leaves are yellow, or have yellow tint to them, fertalize with a High First number, fertalizer, like, 30-10-10, Miracle Gro has one for Camellias and Evergreens, in a blue box, that also works great on alot of other plants. Fiddle leaf fig, Prayer Plant, Cast Iron Plant, and any of the Philodendron Family, Dont mix alot with water, half strength of what the box recommends!

Grow this at local botanical gardens in shade. Bears fruit that is edible. Taste like cross between banana and pineapple. Allow the fruit to dry, the shell drops off in small hexagonal pieces, with fruit underneath.

This plant goes nuts in humid conditions. I use it as a creeping groundcover and "filler" in my screen-enclosure garden in florida. It grows very fast and can take shade or quite a bit of sun. Keep the soil moist, but not soggy.

Pretty much everytime I cut old leaves & stalks in the garden i have to yank out big clumps of this, as it will twine itself around other plants, crawl up anything, and at times become a nuisance.. it grows 2x faster than anything else.

But the neat thing is what it does if allowed to climb up an object (tree trunk, pole, etc) for some distance.. climbing triggers the plant to make giant leaves. I've had some get to almost 2 feet long!

*Note that the bottom picture is actually Monstera Deliciosa- not the plant being discussed here.

There are a number of monsteras that have this "window-leaf" look: M. schleichtleninii (big holes), M. Pertusa, M. Pittieri, M. friedrichsthalii, and M. Obliqua

not to be confused with Monstera Deliciosa which is the actual "mexican breadfruit"

This plant was given to me after my grandmother died and I have had very good lcuk with it. It flourishes with minimal shaded light outside. I live in Orlando, Florida. It never ceases to amaze me how much it grows. It is an easy plant to take root. I just cut mine back , cut down to where the nodes are ,stick them in a little root-tone and stick them in the dirt and they grow like crazy. I have shared this plant with a lot of my friends. I now will always have a living memory of my grandmother.

Reponds well to light fertilizer once a month

In the Pacific Northwest (U.S.), I would not recommend this as an outdoor plant as our weather is too variable. This plant makes a beautiful indoor specimen. My neighbor gave me hers as it was dying in her care. I simply gave it some TLC by cutting most of the dead growth so the plant could use its energy to make new growth. It loves my western facing window, hanging as it does over my desk.

DO NOT over or under water. Water soil to moistness, let dry out between watering. When this vine gets leggy, simply cut just after a leaf/node. Remove first leaf near the base of cutting, and plant node(s) under soil. Then water as normal. My Monstera obliqua is flourishing, and I would consider it a botanical eye candy.

I live in Jacksonville, Florida & have one large hanging basket of this plant which remains outside. I do very little to it besides mist it during the Florida summer temps & "freshen" the soil each spring. It lived through 19 degree temps this past winter & has flourished so much so that I now have several large baskets that I hang from the trees because of their size.

I've recently been given some cuttings of the vining "Monstera", which I rooted in water for about two or three weeks, then planted in a pot in rich potting soil. It has since put out a new vine with a few new leaves, which are lighter green and don't have any holes yet.

I was very surprised when my friend who gave me the cuttings called this plant "Monstera" as I always thought of Monstera, (or "Swiss Cheese Plant") as one of those ubiquitous plants you see in all the malls in Central and South Florida. In St. Petersburg you may even see it growing outside in very protected places; my neighbors across the street had huge old Monsteras that grew almost up to the eaves of their house in a very protected and shady Southeast exposure. Periodically they would have to chop and thin these plants to keep them from taking over the front yard. But I never considered these large plants "vines."

My reference books call Monstera deliciosa "Split-leaf Philodendron" and Monstera friedrichsthalii "Swiss Cheese Plant" but they don't mention this plant. Confusion reigns!

En México es conocida con el nombre de Teléfono Calavera y Julieta. Es una planta que resiste también el pleno sol aunque reduce el tamaño de las hojas y el color de éstas.
Es una planta que agota rápidamente los nutrientes del sustrato por lo que hay que abonarla constantemente y si es posible renovarle el sustrato cada año. Es una planta que aquí en México es cara y difícil de encontrar en los viveros. En mi corta experiencia como aficionado creo que esta Monstera es una planta bella y agradecida si se la sabe cuidar bien; aunque a lo largo de su cultivo presente uno que otro problema.

Large, heart-shaped leaves covered with long holes from the edge to the middle of the leaf resemble Swiss cheese. The holes appear with age (new leaves do not have holes).

Mist on a regular basis as this plant does well in high humidity. Is not happy below 55°F. Bright shade will encourage this plant to form more holes. Allow soil to dry out before watering.

Spider mites, mealy bugs and aphids can be a problem. Floppy leaves that turn brown are most likely caused by drafts and frequent temperature fluctuations; cut off the brown leaves and move the plant to a warmer area. Tears in the leaves, brown spots, and root rot are due to too much water - allow plant to dry out between waterings. Small leaves are caused by too little light; move to a brighter area. Poisonous to humans and cats.