Monstera Dubia Mounting - Teak And Terracotta

We cover all you need to know about monstera dubia mounting, you can use a moss pole, wood or even cardboard. We run down all methods, with pictures for each from my own dubias.

See also: Monstera Dubia for a full guide to caring for this plant, as well as our other posts: Monstera Dubia Frame, Monstera Dubia Propagation In Moss, Monstera Dubia Propagation.

What You’ll Need

You will need:

A monstera dubia
Cardboard/Wood/Mosspole to mount the plant on
Craft knife
String / twine
Saw (if using wood)
Wooden skewers (if using cardboard)

Why Do Monstera Dubia Need Mounting ?

In the wild dubia will ‘shingle’ or climb up a tree. They then eventually get split leaves (a little bit like a monstera deliciosa) when they reach maturity growing on the side of the tree. If a dubia is not near a tree it will put out long, thin and leggy ‘runner’ stems with very small leaves which grow and search for something to climb up, then when they hit a tree they cling on to it. Then the leaves grow up the side of the tree and the plant will put out the normal climbing leaves you see when you buy a dubia as a houseplant mounted on wood.

If you do not give your dubias something to climb (or ‘shingle’) up they will put out a really leggy runner with very small leaves until they find something to climb up that resembles a tree in the wild (like wood or a wall). As soon as they find it they grow much bigger leaves and shingle/climb up the wood. So give them a decent mosspole or wooden plank to get the best leaf growth out of them.

When they have something to climb up they have that amazing shingling growth pattern that they are known for. You need something like a tree that they get in the wild, you can use a moss pole, wooden plank or even cardboard to get that upwards growth pattern.

Which Is Better: Wood Or Moss?

A wooden plank as wide as the pot is best, as you’ll get the biggest leaves. A moss pole is good too, and easy as you can just buy it ready made. I use cardboard sometimes too, which also encourages big leaves. It is really cheap, and when I sell dubias I use cardboard as it is the best for sending through the post.

When selecting wood planks it is best to get something that is already the right width then you can just saw it to the right length. Most types of wood are fine, but something cedar is best as it rots much less.

Using Carboard

I mount a lot of my dubias to cardboard when they are young, and I sell them that way sometimes. All you need to do is get a bbq skewer or two, cut the cardboard to the right size. And then fasten the carboard to the skewers, and them plant the dubia close to the cardboard and train it up with twice or wire.

cardboard for mounting — I used old packing boxes and Amazon boxes and cut them with a taper at the end so they will fit in the pot

carboard mounts in the pots, they need to be buried — Place them in the pot, and push to the back, then fill in the pot with soil up to half way. Fill in behind the board all the way up.

fixing the cardboard using bbq skewers — Use food skewers to hold the board in place, in an X shape like this to hold it in the soil. Fasten with twine or wire through holes in the board. This also helps when the cardboard rots in the soil

The monstera dubia cutting is attached to eh carboard with wire or string — Plant the cutting as close to the cardboard as you can and fasten with twine or wire through small holes in the board.

an carboard box and one skewer mount for a small dubia — Here’s one I made with an old Amazon box when propagating a dubia in sphagnum moss.

How To Mount Monstera Dubia On Wood

To mount it on wood, you’ll need to repot the dubia with the wooden plank buried in the pot with it…

The first thing is go to a hardware store and buy a plank of wood that will fit in your pot. If your pot tapers (like most do) don’t get a plank the width of the top of the pot, but a bit less. Then you’ll be able to bury the wood a bit deeper in the soil and it will have some support.

You’ll then need to trim the plank to length, you want it long enough to give space for the plant to grow.

If the plank is wide for the pot you can cut the corners off so it will fit in the pot better.

Push the plank to the back of the pot and half fill the pot with soil, then fill in behind the plank with soil too.

You want to get your dubia and plant as close to the plant as possible. Gently tie it to the plant with twine. Then fill in the soil around the rest of the plant.

Use more twine to make sure the cutting is in contact with the wood. The back of the leaves and the stems should be touching the wood as much as possible.

Eventually, after a few weeks, the plant should stick to the board itself.

Using a Moss Pole

You can also use a moss pole which is really easy, you can stick it in the soil next to your dubia and then gently tie the plant on until it is growing up it naturally. Use string or twine at the start and make sure as much of the stem and leaves are in contact with the pole as possible.

The great thing about a moss pole is that when your plant our grows it you can just buy a bigger one, then gently take the plant off the last moss pole and tie it to the bigger one.

Mounting Dubia When Growing In Leca

I have propagated dubia with leca before, one of the things you nee to be careful of if using cardboard is that the cardboard should not touch the leca. Leca works by wicking up moisture from the bottom of the pot and if it touches the cardboard the cardboard will be a soggy mess. You can see in the picture below that the cardboard is touching the leca and starting to go soggy at the bottom. You want to move the cardboard up half a centimeter or quarter of an inch and fix it in place to make sure it cannot fall down.
With soil and moss it is normally ok and you don’t get these issues, but leca wicks moisture up into the cardboard.