What ingredients do you need to make the best potting soil mix for your Monstera? This article will cover what makes a soil mix good for your Monstera Deliciosa or Monstera Adansonii, as well as how you can create the perfect blend yourself at home.
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What makes the best potting soil mix for your Monstera?
In the tropical forests where Monstera grow, their roots grow into the ground and around trees as they climb. They are naturally suited for an environment with lots of water and high airflow. Like other aroid plants, they grow best in well draining soil that also retains moisture. Monstera absorb oxygen through their roots, so providing both air and water is essential.
If you purchased your Monstera from a big box store, hardware store, grocery store, or large nursery that doesn’t specialize in houseplants, chances are the soil it is planted in does not meet those criteria! Most soil is optimized to make plants thrive in a commercial greenhouse, but not in your home. Among other issues, improper soil can contribute to watering problems.
If the soil is dark and dense with small particles and stays wet for a long time, it can lead to overwatering and cause root rot. Overly wet soil also increases chances of pests like fungus gnats. If the soil is pulling away from the sides of the pot, and water seems to roll off it instead of being absorbed, this could mean your Monstera is not getting enough water because of the soil it is planted in.
If you purchased your Monstera with less than ideal soil, or just want it to grow faster, you can easily repot it in a more suitable mix. Repotting can also give you an opportunity to add a support like a moss pole. Next, we will cover our recommended soil mixture recipes.
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Basic soil mix recipe for Monstera
You can easily make a cheap improved soil mix adding drainage to commercially available potting mix. By mixing perlite into your soil, water and air will flow more easily to your Monstera’s roots. The large size of the perlite particles trap less water in the soil.
Many types of potting soils advertise fast drainage. If we’re talking about standard Miracle-Gro, which is by far the easiest type to get, these claims are not really true. The drainage provided by potting soil alone does not meet the needs of Monstera or other houseplants that need well-draining soil.
Basic Soil Mix Ingredients
- Potting soil – Moisture retention: First, make sure you are using potting mix and not garden dirt. The exact type of potting soil does not matter. You can use regular potting soil, cactus soil, or another variety. Most have very similar ingredients, just in different proportions. Orchid soil is the best if you can find it as it also contains bark chunks.
- Perlite – Aeration and Drainage: Perlite is volcanic glass that is superheated until it pops. This creates super lightweight porous rock. Perlite can hold some moisture but allows most water to drain through. The perlite particles are larger than the soil particles, preventing compacted soil and increasing airflow. I recommend this perlite. Click on the image or link for the current price.
Basic Soil Mix Recipe
To create the best basic soil mix, combine potting soil and perlite in a ratio of 3:2 (three parts soil to two parts perlite). In other words, this yields a mix that is 60% soil and 40% perlite. If your potting soil is especially light or dense, you can adjust the ratio to what works for you.
A warning about peat moss
Most potting soil contains sphagnum peat moss, an inexpensive organic ingredient that improves water retention. Peat moss decays quickly, causing soil to compress, lose drainage, and build up harmful salts.
In addition, when fully dry, peat moss becomes hydrophobic, meaning it repels water. This is a terrible feature for an additive meant to retain moisture for your plants.
If you use soil that contains peat moss, make sure to replant your Monstera in fresh soil once per year as the peat decomposes. You can also use our advanced Monstera mix, which avoids all of these pitfalls!
Advanced soil mix recipe for Monstera
To provide the best potting mix for indoor Monstera, you actually don’t need soil at all! For best results, plant your Monstera in a gritty or chunky mix that minimizes organic matter.
By providing 5 key features (aeration, drainage, moisture retention, decontamination, and fertilization) in your growing medium, you can help your Monstera grow faster without risking root rot. I use this advanced Monstera mix for all of my variegated Monstera plants.
These advanced ingredients are more difficult to find. You likely won’t see them on the shelves at the hardware store garden center. If you are lucky, you may have access to them at your local nursery or houseplant shop. Fortunately, all of them can easily be purchased online!
Advanced Soil Mix Ingredients
- Bark and Pumice – 1) Aeration and 2) Drainage: Bark and pumice provide large and small chunks to aerate your Monstera mix. For bark, look for “orchid bark,” “bark fines”, or “reptile bark.” You want the bark pieces to be nice and big. I use this bark on all of my Monstera plants. Click on the image or link for the current price.
Pumice are small rocks similar to perlite, but have less dust and are heavier. I prefer pumice for potting mixes because it remains mixed more consistently than perlite, which tends to rise to the top. I recommend this pumice. Click on the image or link for the current price.
- Coconut Coir – 3) Moisture Retention: Coco coir is better than peat moss because it is sustainably harvested, decomposes more slowly, and does not become hydrophobic when dry. You can purchase coco coir in compressed bricks and rehydrate them to add to your soil. Coco coir absorbs lots of water but retains a light fluffy texture. I recommend this brick that has already been rinsed for you to remove salt — making it ideal for your mix. Click on the image or link for the current price.
- Activated Charcoal – 4) Decontamination: Regular horticultural charcoal is basically just burned bark. For effective removal of impurities, use “activated charcoal,” “aquarium charcoal”, or “activated carbon”. Heat treating charcoal at high temperatures activates it. Once activated, charcoal can absorb chemicals like chlorine. It is also anti-bacterial and anti-fungal to prevent root diseases. I recommend this premium activated carbon. Click on the image or link for the current price.
Marineland Black Diamond Premium Activated Carbon 22 Ounces, Filter Media For aquariums
- Worm Castings – 5) Fertilization: Worm castings contain nutrients and beneficial microbes to help your plant grow. Well draining mix that retains less water also retains less fertilizer. Using worm castings allows you to include some fertilizer in the mix itself. It’s also impossible to harm your plants by adding too much. Click on the image or link for the current price.
Worm Castings Organic Fertilizer, Wiggle Worm Soil Builder, 4.5-Pounds
Advanced Soil Mix Recipe
The recipe for advanced Monstera soil mix is 3:3:3:1:1. That’s 3 parts bark, 3 parts pumice, 3 parts coir, 1 part charcoal, and 1 part worm castings.
The easiest way to follow a ratio recipe is by using the same size scoop for each ingredient. Then, just add the specified number of scoops to your mix. For example, you would use 3 scoops bark, 3 scoops pumice, etc. to end up with a final total quantity of 11 scoops of Monstera potting mix.
Choosing the best potting soil mix for your Monstera
There are lots of recommended soil mixes out there for Monstera and aroids in general. A common soil mix recommended on internet forums is called 5-1-1 soil mix. This mix contains a 5-1-1 ratio of bark fines, soil or peat moss, and perlite. You may have also seen similar mixtures called gritty mix, aroid mix, or soilless mix.
The purpose of each mix is similar, just with different ingredients. Whichever mix you decide to use, we hope this explanation of our Monstera mix recipes will help you understand why certain ingredients are included, so can determine what’s right for you.
Want to use what we use for our Monstera plants? Check out our Monstera care product recommendations that you can purchase from Amazon.