I probably shouldn’t admit this but I’ve killed a number of Monsteras through watering mistakes. The truth is that a lot of people have.
There’s this weird thing that happens when you bring home a monstera. You get all excited and start treating it like a needy pet. Which is a problem because before you know it you’re either drowning the poor thing or letting it shrivel up.
So I’m going to focus on watering Monsteras in this article and explain the right way to do it that makes sense. No unrealistic “water once a week” nonsense that doesn’t account for the environment in your home. By the end of this you’ll know how much water to give your plant along with how to do it the right way, signs it needs water and more.
How Much Water Does A Monstera Need
The simple answer is there’s no magic number. I know, I know. You wanted me to say “exactly 2 cups every Thursday” or something like that.
But Monsteras are tropical plants that originally come from the rainforests of Central America. That means they’re happy with different amounts of water.
Most Monsteras do best when you water them thoroughly once the top 2 to 3 inches of soil has dried out. That usually means watering indoors every 7 to 10 days in the growing season (spring and summer) and every 12 to 14 days in the winter.
But it isn’t always this simple. Your typical situation might be completely different from mine. For example, last summer my Monstera I had near the south facing window needed water every 5 days because it was hot and bright. But the one in my bedroom went two weeks before it needed anything. The same house, but very different water needs.
Why the Finger Test Actually Works (And What to Look For)
I used to think the “stick your finger in the soil” method was much too simple. There had to be a more high tech way of monitoring moisture.
Nope. I bought three different moisture meters and got very inconsistent results so decided to to go back to basics.
This is the right way to do it:
- Put your finger int the soil about 2 to 3 inches deep
- If it feels damp or cool don’t water
- If it feels dry and warm then you should water
- If you pull your finger out and the soil is sticking to it then you absolutely shouldn’t water
The reason this works better than a schedule is because it is dealing with all the things that we can’t control. Stuff like the humidity, how much light the plant is getting, fluctuating temperature, soil quality and so on.
The Weight Trick
Once you get familiar with your Monstera, you can usually tell when it needs water just by lifting up the pot. If it’s been watered and watered well then you’ll feel it’s a lot heavier than when it hasn’t been.
I started doing this almost by accident when moving plants around for cleaning. You end up getting a sort of intuitive sense after a few goes.
If the pot is heavy then you can give the watering a miss. Surprisingly light pot? Them it’s time to water. It feels like a strange superpower once you get the hang of it.
How Much Water to Actually Give (When You Do Water)
Okay, so you know your Monstera needs water. Now it’s all about how much you should give it?
What you want is to water it thoroughly until you see water draining out of the bottom holes. If it doesn’t then you probably need to repot it because the water will be building up and may cause root rot.
For a medium sized Monstera (let’s say in an 8 to 10 inch pot) that usually means about 4 to 6 cups of water. But don’t measure it – that’s missing the point. Just water it until you get the drainage from the holes.
This is the process I use:
- Take your Monstera to a sink, your bathtub or somewhere outside where drainage isn’t going to be a problem or mess
- Water it slowly and evenly across the whole surface of the soil (not just one spot)
- Wait a minute then water it again if the soil absorbed everything too quickly
- Let it drain completely – so leave it for 15 to 20 minutes just sitting there
- Once you’re done put it back in its pot or saucer
Never let your Monstera sit in standing water. It’s roots need oxygen and waterlogged soil will suffocate them.
Reading Your Monstera’s Signals
Plants tell you a lot if you pay attention. Your Monstera will tell you if you’re watering it wrong – you just need to know what to look for.
Signs You’re Overwatering
- Yellow leaves that feel soft or mushy
- Browning that starts at the edges of the leaves and moves to the middle
- Wilting even though the soil is wet
- Soil that stays wet for more than a week
- A nasty smell coming from the soil
- Black or brown stems that feel mushy near the base
I’ve had more issues with overwatering more than underwatering. When you’ve got a beautiful plant you naturally want to take care of it and too much water can be a way you do this. You look at it and think ‘Are you okay? Do you need water? Let me just check again’ and that quickly becomes too much watering.
Signs You’re Underwatering
- The leaves curl inward (they’re trying to hold on to moisture)
- Brown edges or tips of the leaves
- Drooping that improves after you’ve watered it
- Soil thats coming away from the edges of the pot
- Slower growth than you would expect during growing season
- Older leaves falling off
Underwatering is usually easier to fix than overwatering. A Monstera that needs water can recover within a few hours of getting a good drink.
An overwatered one? That will need a lot more work and time. You may even have to deal with rotting roots and potentially repotting it.
Environmental Factors
Your environment affects watering needs probably more than the plant itself.
Humidity Matters
Monsteras would naturally grow in high humidity. And in doing so they would need less watering because the moisture isn’t evaporating from their leaves as fast.
That means if you live somewhere dry (or you keep your radiators on all winter), you’ll have to water more often.
I run a humidifier near my plants during winter and I’ve noticed how often I have to water them drops from every 7 days to every 10 to 12 days. The higher the moisture in the air I’ve seen the plant isn’t pulling as much from the soil.
Light and Temperature
The more light a plane gets the more photosynthesis it does and that means it’s using up more water. It’s that simple. A Monstera in bright, indirect light will use up a lot more water than one that’s getting less sun.
The warmer it is that also increase how much water the plant needs. I water completely differently in the summer to the winter, sometimes by as much as double the amount. The plant slows down how much it grows when it’s cooler, so it needs less water overall.
Pot Size and Material
Terracotta pots dry out faster than plastic or ceramic ones because they let the water evaporate through the sides. If you’ve got your Monstera in a terracotta pot then you will probably have to water it more often – sometimes twice as often as you would with a plastic pot.
The size of the pot matters too, but probably not in the way you think. A pot that’s too big will hold more soil, and in turn that means it holds on to moisture for longer too which makes for a bigger risk of overwatering.
But a pot that’s too small dries out fast and becomes rootbound. You want something that has about 2 inches of space around the root ball.
The Seasonal Shift
Monsteras need different care in the winter versus the summer and watering is a big part of that.
During the spring and summer your Monstera is growing new leaves, roots and generally doin well. It needs a lot of moisture to support that growth. This is when you’ll water most frequently, as you would expect.
Come the fall and winter then growth slows way down or stops entirely. The plant enters a semi dormant state.
I’ve made the mistake of continuing to water the same as I had been in the summer even when we’ve reached November, and my Monstera ended up with yellow leaves and droopy stems because the soil stayed wet for too long.
So you need to adjust how often you’re watering depending on the season. If you’re watering every 7 days in July, then that will probably become every 14 days in January. This is the time to be using the finger test to make sure you’re getting everything right.
Water Quality Does Matter
I used straight tap water for years without thinking about it. Then I noticed some brown leaf tips that wouldn’t go away no matter what I did.
Tap water often contains chlorine, fluoride and dissolved minerals that can build up in soil over time. Monsteras are somewhat sensitive to these chemicals, particularly the fluoride.
Your options:
- Let the tap water sit out overnight so the chlorine evaporates
- Use filtered water if you have it
- Collect rainwater
- Use distilled water for sensitive plants although this can get expensive
I switched to leaving my tap water sit out for 24 hours before watering. It isn’t perfect but the improvement in leaf quality was easy to see within a month.
Also, room temperature water is best. Cold water can shock the roots, especially if you’re watering a warm plant in a sunny spot.
Watering Mistakes
Watering on a Strict Schedule
This is the biggest one. “Every Sunday is plant watering day!” may feel like you’re being organized but your plants don’t care what day if the week it is.
Some weeks it’ll need water on day 6, other weeks on day 12. Keeping to a very rigid schedule will result in overwatering or underwatering because you’re not responding to what the plant actually needs and is telling you.
Only Watering the Surface
If you’re giving your Monstera only a tiny amount of water that’s just getting the top of the soil wet then the roots won’t grow fully. They’ll stay near the surface of the soil looking for water instead of growing deep. Giving the plant a full watering means you get healthy roots that can support it.
Ignoring Drainage
You must have drainage holes in your pot. You may have a favorite pot that doesn’t have holes but it should only be for decoration.
Your actual growing pot needs to have drainage. Always. No exceptions. A Monstera cannot grow in a pot without drainage holes.
Panicking and Overcompensating
If you see one yellow leaf and immediately change your entire watering routine? That’s just panicking and will usually makes things worse.
Plants sometimes drop old leaves naturally. One yellow leaf isn’t a definitive sign of a crisis. Wait and see what happens before you make any drastic changes.
What About Misting?
Quick side note since people always ask: misting doesn’t replace watering. At all.
Misting can increase the humidity around the leaves temporarily, which Monsteras like, but it doesn’t really help with hydration. The roots need water, not the leaves.
I will mist mine occasionally because I enjoy doing it and it keeps dust off the leaves but I never count it as proper watering.
Some people swear by misting and others think it’s pointless or even does more damage than good (it can make fungal issues more likely if you overdo it). I’m somewhere in the middle – it’s a nice supplement but definitely not essential.
Final Thoughts
The main thing you need to do is learn to read your Monstera in your environment. Doing things like the finger test, the weight test, watching for its signs all matter fat more than sticking to a strict watering schedule.
Your Monstera needs water when the top 2 to 3 inches of soil are dry. When you water it do it thoroughly until the water drains from the bottom holes. Then leave it alone until it’s dry again. That’s really all there is to it.
Everything else comes down to your own situation. If your plant is in bright light, warm temperatures, low humidity and a terracotta pot? You’ll a be to water more often. If it’s in low light, cool temperature, high humidity and a plastic pot? Then it’ll be less often.
Your Monstera wants to grow and do well. All you have to do is pay attention and react at the right time and in the right way. That’s not complicated – it’s just different from the usual rules we follow.