Monstera Peru - Teak And Terracotta

Here’s a really simple but thorough guide on how to get the best out of your monstera peru, the main take away is being careful not to over or underwater the plant…

Monstera Peru Summary

Light needs:	Plenty of indirect sunlight.
Watering needs:	Check your plants once a week and water it if the soil is dry all the way down.
Fertilizer:	High nitrogen feed once a month in spring and summer.
Soil:	A well draining potting mix.
Humidity:	50-70%.
Temperature:	18-27°C (64-81°F).
Where to buy:	Try our list of Rare Plant Shops.
Other names:	Monstera sp.peru, monstera kerstenianum.
Common issues:	Yellow leaves and root rot from over watering.

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Introduction

The monstera karstenianum aka monstera peru is a small, fast growing tropical houseplant with amazing gnarly, dragon-like leaves. It has ballooned in popularity in the last 3 years, and rightly so, it is an amazing little plant that is easy to grow and propagate.

You can see from Google Trends that the plant has ballooned in popularity. The top line represents 100, the most popular it’s ever been which is late 2020, early 2021, having only really come into the public consciousness since 2019. And it is still regularly searched for to this day.

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.

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Search popularity for ‘monstera peru’. Source: Google Trends

Monstera Peru Light Needs

Give your monstera peru plenty of indirect sunlight to encourage growth, they will do ok in medium light areas too.

How Often to Water

Check your plants once a week and water it if the soil is dry all the way down.

Fertilizer

You do not need to feed this plant, but it will grow much quicker if you do. Use a feed high in nitrogen. Most feeds have the NPK ratio on the packet, nitrogen is the ‘n’, so you want an NPK ratio of something like 3-1-2 or 5-2-3.

Monstera Peru Soil

Use a well draining potting mix, and if possible with added perlite for draining. This one has got to be treated as an epiphyte when it comes to drainage, they do not like to sit in water logged soil at all.

For more on buying or making your own soil, see our guide here: Monstera Soil.

When To Repot

When the roots grow through the bottom of the container you can repot the plant. Any time of year is ok, but spring is best just before the growing season.

Monstera Peru Humidity

These tropical houseplants like to be humid, 50-70%. Normal households are 30-50%, so your monstera karstenianum will like the higher end of what is normal. Mist it 2 or 3 times a week to keep it happy.

Temperature

18-27°C (64-81°F) is a good range for a monstera peru. So normal household temperatures will be fine.

How To Propagate Monstera Peru

You can propagate your monstera peru by following these steps:

Take a cutting with at least one node and one leaf
Leave it aside for a few hours until the wounds heal over completely.
Put the cutting in water.
Keep the cutting in indirect sunlight until it roots over the next month or two.
When it has well established roots move it to soil.
Once in soil keep it humid and well lit until it starts putting out new leaves, when it can be treated as a young plant.

For more on different types of monsteras see our monstera category with all our monstera care guides.

Do Monstera Peru Fenestrate

Their leaves do not split like some other monsteras.

Is Monstera Peru A Slow Grower?

It is fairly slow growing as monsteras go.

Is It Toxic To Cats?

They are toxic to cats if eaten, and can cause vomiting and numbness. So seek vets advice immediately if your pet eats any.

Monstera Peru USDA Zone

They can survive outdoors in zones 10 and 11.

Where To Buy

You can try one of these Rare Plant Shops or Etsy.

Other Names

Monstera sp.peru, monstera kerstenianum.

Monstera Peru FAQs and Common Problems

Like a lot of tropical houseplants the monstera peru can suffer from yellow leaves and root rot as a consequence of becoming waterlogged by over watering. The best thing to do is make sure the plant is in well draining compost and you only water once it is almost dry from before.

Leaf Curling

If the leaves of your monstera peru are curling it is a sign they lack moisture, which his due to underwatering or lack of humidity. So if the soil is dry give them a good watering and mist them once a day.

Drooping

Another common issue is underwatering, the plant can droop or become soft. Give it a good watering and let it drain out and then check it weekly.

One thing to be careful of with a plant like this that is both sensitive to being under watered to overwatered is that they can quickly go from one to the other which can kill it. For example if it is underwatered and then you drench it loads it can quickly go the other way and get root rot, and then it will likely die from that much stress as it was already unhealthy. Just let it dry out and only water it when dry, checking it once a week.