Monstera Albo
Monstera,  Plant Care,  Rare Houseplants,  Variegated Monstera

Monstera Albo

The monstera albo is a stunningly beautiful, expensive and in demand rare aroid, loved by plant collectors the world over the good news is they are not too difficult to care for as indoor plants, in fact they are very similar in need to their non-variegated relatives, you just need to get their light needs right…

Monstera Albo Care Summary

Light needs:Bright and medium indirect sunlight. Be careful about giving them enough light to encourage variegation, but not o much to much the white parts of the leaves.
Watering needs:Water when the top layer is dry.
Fertilizer:Balanced feed, well diluted, once a month in summer.
Soil:Rich, well draining.
Humidity:70%.
Temperature:Normal household temperatures are ok. Move them away from cold windows in the winter.
Where to buy:Try our list of the best rare plant shops.
Other names:Monstera Albo Variegata, Monstera Albo Borsigiana
Common issues:Over and under watering, leaf burn, losing variegation.

Introduction

Welcome to our article on the Monstera Albo. The variegated monstera albo is a classic, it is a rare houseplant lovers dream plant. They have spread like wildfire over Instagram over the last few years too, and for good reason, they look absolutely immense! The key to caring for them is to give them bright light but no direct, and to keep the soil moist but not soaking wet.

See also: How To Propagate Monstera Albo, Monstera Thai Constellation, Monstera Adansonii Variegated, Monstera Standleyana, Variegated Monstera (Category).

Tip: we recommend Etsy for buying plants. Look for the best rated seller you can, and try to buy as close to your home as possible so the plant does not travel too far.

A note about affiliate links: when you buy a plant, pots, soil, or other goods through links on this article we sometimes earn a commission. It doesn’t cost you anything, but it really helps us out if you do use them. Thanks a lot! An example of this is if you buy a plant on Etsy using this link. Read our privacy policy for more information. Thanks again.


Monstera Albo Care

You can care for your monstera albo the same as normal monsteras, they need indirect sunlight, and water them when the top layer of sail is dry, they do not want to sit in water as this can lead to root rot, but at the same time they do not like to dry out completely. They will do well in normal household humidity, but prefer the higher end of this range, so keep them with other plants and in fairly high humidity if you can.

Monstera Albo cuttings rooting
Sem of my Monstera Albo cuttings with roots

Monstera Albo Light Needs

Bright indirect light is ideal, but no direct sunlight. The main difference in care to a normal monstera is that this plant needs slightly higher light levels as the white variegated parts of the leaves cannot photosynthesize as well as green areas. So it needs a good amount of indirect sunlight, and this can help to encourage and enhance the variegation. A monstera albo can lose it’s variegation if not given enough light.

However be careful as the white leaves can burn if given too much light, so the key to good monstera albo care is to give them enough indirect sunlight to encourage the variegation but not too much so as to burn the white leaves.

For more on monstera deliciosa care see our guide: Monstera Deliciosa Care.

Monstera albo cuttings
Monstera albo cuttings

How Often To Water

They can be easy to overwater which can cause root rot, so you want to make suer that they do not sit in waterlogged soil.

Fertilizer

They don’t need to be fed but should grow quicker if you do. You can use a balanced liquid fertilizer every 3 weeks in the spring and summer. Don’t feed them when it is too cold.

Soil

You want to use a light, airy and chunky mix that aids drainage, I would use a mix of equal parts orchid bark, perlite and potting compost (they love peat moss / peat moss alternatives). For more on buying or making your own soil mix, see our guide here: Monstera Soil.

When to Repot

They can grow quickly, so it is a good idea to check the roots once or twice a year and repot them up when they get crowded. You want the plant to have plenty of space to grow. I check the roots of my plants at Easter time so they can be repotted at the start of the growing season.

You can give them a moss pole or trellis when they get big to hold them up and keep them tidy as they can sprawl.

You can grow them in sphagnum moss or leca too, but I prefer soil as it is full of nutrients that the plant needs.

One of my monstera albos
One of my monstera albos

Humidity

Aim for 60% humidity in the day if you can. They are a tropical plant and thrive in decent high humidity levels. You can mist them, but this tends to increase the chance of rot or leaf-browning. In my opinion it is best to keep them in 50-70% humidity. Often keeping them near other plants can keep humidity levels slightly higher as plants give off moisture into the air.

Temperature

Try to keep them in the range 17-25ยฐC (63-737F) during the day and aim for a minimum temperature of 10ยฐC (50ยฐF) at night or in the winter. They are tropical monsteras so they like warm temperatures.

Monstera Albo Propagation

Follow these steps to propagate your monstera albo by taking stem cuttings:

  1. Take a cutting with one node and one leaf.

    You want to wait until a leaf has fully unfurled but before it then grows another so you get one leaf only with no new growth. You don’t want the energy going to new growth, you want it going to the roots. So get a leaf a few days after it has unfurled and started to harden off. You can trim off any aerial roots too.

  2. Let the wounds heal

    The next step is to let the cutting callous over for 4 or 5 hours so the wound is healed. This really helps to reduce rot as the cut is sealed over.

  3. Put the cutting in water

    Put the cutting in a jar of tap water. I use filtered tap water with a britta jug and use that. I also use a glass jar so I can see the root growth and I can see if the water turns cloudy.
    Keep all leaves out of the water as they can rot if let to touch it. And keep an eye out for the water turning cloudy which is a sign of rot. Change the water if this happens.

  4. Give it indirect sun and wait for it to root.

    Then keep the plant in indirect sunlight for a month or two and it should produce some roots. You don’t want to leave it for too long in water as it can then get shocked when moving it to soil. I would wait for it to have a few small roots started and then move it on. Keep it humid until it has taken to the soil and started to put out new growth from the top. Then you can treat it as a juvenile plant.

  5. Once rooted you can move it to soil

    You can then move it to soil after a month or so in water. You want to use a good aroid soil that is chunky and well draining (see our guide here: Monstera Soil). If a leaf dies back don’t worry, chop it off and be patient, you should get new growth soon from the node.

For more on propagating your monstera albo see our guide here which covers water, soil, leca, moss and wet stick propagation: How To Propagate Monstera Albo. For different types of monsteras see our monstera category with all our monstera care guides.

Monstera albo propgations in leca
Monstera albo cuttings

Other Names

Monstera Deliciosa Albo Variegata. Variegated Monstera.

Where To Buy

Try our list of Rare Plant Shops or Etsy.

FAQs and Common Problems

Is It Toxic To Cats?

They are toxic to cats, seek vets advice if your pet eats any.

Monstera Albo USDA Zone

They can grow outdoors in zones 10-11. Do not let them get direct sun though.

Leaf Browning

A common issue with a monstera albo is leaf browning. The thing is with these variegated plants is that the white areas are really sensitive to any issues. Big all-white areas of the leaves are very likely to brown at the edges even if the plant is healthy. For example, those really nice half-moon (half white, half green ) leaves that you see on Instagram are very likely to brown at the edges of the white part of the leaf and honestly the best thing to do is to cut off that area of the leaf (I know it’s heart breaking!). If you get an all white leaf it will turn brown very uqicly and die off, more stable and mixed variegations are better in the long run.

But there are a few things you can look out for when you get brown leaf leaf edges on your albo:

  • Check the humidity is high enough.
  • Check the plant is not getting burned from too much sunlight.
  • Check that the plant is not under or overwatered.

The best thing to do is to check you’re ok on humidity, sun and water, and then consider trimming off the brown edges.


Technical, Trend and Price Info

Habitat And General Info

Genus/Species: Genus: Monstera. Species: Monstera Deliciosa Variegata (source).

Natural Habitat: Central America (source).

Zones: 9-10 (source).

Max Size and Spread (and time to get to that size): Ultimate height 2.5-4 meters. Ultimate spread 1-1.5 meters. Time to ultimate height 10-20 years (source) .

Are they toxic to pets?: Toxic to dogs and cats (source).

Popularity

Taken September 2021, showing the last 5 years of worldwide Google search traffic.

Source: Google Trends

Price Data

Europe: 80-300 Euros. USA: 250-300 USD.

(Prices taken from Etsy and Ebay sellers, September 2021, for a full plant).

Social Demand

Instagram Trend: 42854 uses of tag #monsteraalbo.

(Count taken September 2021).

Patent

No patent data found.

Please note: Although every effort has been made to provide complete and accurate information, we cannot take responsibility for any error or omissions in the information.


Monstera Albo Pictures

Here’s a few pictures of ours on our Instagram.

Types Of Variegated Monstera

There are a few different types of variegated monstera deliciosa, we run down the four main types here:

Thai constellation: a creamy speckled variegation, rather than big areas of variegation. It has a stable variegation, having been propagated from tissue culture. For more on this see our guide here.

Monstera Albo: this classic has big patches of white. It has less stable variegation than the Thai Constellation, meaning it can revert more easily.

Monstera Aurea: this is rarer than the previous two. It has a yellowy green speckled variegation. These are harder to find and newer.

Mint Monstera: one of the rarest at the moment, it has a light mint green color the the variegated areas instead of white. It looks like the albo from far away, but the minty color is obvious the closer you get, it is a real beauty.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are monstera albos so expensive?

These plants can go for up to 5000 US dollars, although some do go for 100 or 200 US dollars /euros on Etsy and Ebay. They are expensive due to huge demand for houseplants as well as monsteras rising in a general trend, as well as the covid lockdown increasing the trend further as people are buying more plants. The supply is fairly limited to a few hundred specialists selling small volumes. The relatively small supply cannot keep up with the huge demand so the price has rocketed.

Monstera Aurea Vs Albo

The aurea is very similar, but does not have white variegation, it has light yellowy green patches on green leaves.

How to prevent root rot in a monstera albo

They can get root fairly easily, you want to make sure you only water them when the soil is getting dry and make sure the water can drain off, and the plant pot is not sat in excess water.

Can a monstera become variegated?

A normal monstera can become variegated by freak genetic mutation but it is very rare. A monstera albo is one of these ‘freak’ that has been bred for a more stable variegation.

How to prevent monstera albo from browning

The variegated parts of an albo can brown easily, normally due to underwatering, it can also be due to too much humidity, so keep an eye on both.

Monstera Albo Common Pests?

They can be prone to fungus gnats, spider mites and thrips – I always check both sides of the leaves and the soil at watering time.

What Is The Monstera Borsigiana Albo?

The Borsigiana is not an official type of monstera, but it is often used by sellers to to refer to smaller plants.

Monstera Albo Variegata

The Monstera Albo (aka the Monstera Albo Variegata aka Monstera Deliciosa Albo Variegata) is a white and green variegated monstera. It goes by quite a few names to be honest! It is similar to the Thai Constellation which is also a variegated monstera but the Albo has bigger white patches in general and less speckles.

Monstera albo growing in water
Monstera albo growing in water

Monstera Albo Borsigiana

What is the monstera albo borsigiana and how is it different to the other monstera albo? The borsigiana is a slightly smaller sub-species of monstera deliciosa. Aswell as being smaller it grows slightly faster too.

M. Albo For Sale

These expensive plants can be found for sale on Etsy, which is where I got mine. Specialist rare houseplant stores will have them as well from time to time, see our list here: Rare Plant Shops.

More Info

You might also like our other articles Monstera Adansonii Variegated, Monstera Thai Constellation, How To Clean Monstera Leaves.

Monstera Albo
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