Although Monstera is an easy-to-grow plant, it requires a good growing environment for healthy growth. Thus, you need to choose the best soil for monstera. In this post, I will provide you with some of the well-drained and nutrient-rich growing mixes as follows:
Though there are many soils for growing Monstera on the market, I just recommend these 5 products. They contain many nutrients and water that are enough for the complete growth of Monstera. They also have vital and essential ingredients to retain moisture and drain water. I am sure that you can choose one that meets your needs and requirements. Now, roll down to pick up an appropriate soil.
Here are the best soils for monstera you can buy in 2024:
- Fast Draining: The Next Gardener Professional Grower Potting Soil Mix
- Nutrient-Rich: Miracle-Gro Houseplant Potting Mix
- Best For Root Growth: Jessi Mae Pothos Air Cleaning Plant Soil
- Best For Water Retention: Houseplant Resource Center Premium Monstera Potting Soil
- Light And Fluffy: rePotme Houseplant and Tropical Classic Potting Mix
| 5 Best Soils For Monstera | ||
|---|---|---|
Fast Draining | The Next Gardener Professional Grower Potting Soil Mix | |
Nutrient-Rich | Miracle-Gro Houseplant Potting Mix | |
Best For Root Growth | Jessi Mae Pothos Air Cleaning Plant Soil | |
Best For Water Retention | Houseplant Resource Center Premium Monstera Potting Soil | |
Light And Fluffy | rePotme Houseplant and Tropical Classic Potting Mix | |
Fast Draining: The Next Gardener Professional Grower Potting Soil Mix
- Easy to use
- Lightweight
- Unpleasant smell
If you grow succulents, cactus, and Monstera that don’t live well in an environment with a high water level, you should consider the Next Gardener Professional Grower Potting Soil Mix. When looking at the product picture, do you see many small white pieces? They are 25% perlite in the formulation. This ingredient can improve the drainage capacity of the soil mix; even some people add perlite to the surface of the soil to make it dry quicker than between watering sections.
These white granular pieces have around 6% water, so you don’t have to worry that your Monstera can die because of the lack of water. These pieces will release the water and nutrients that they are holding when the soil becomes drier.
| The Next Gardener Professional Grower Potting Soil Mix Specifications | |
|---|---|
Primary Ingredient(s) | substrate and perlite |
pH | 5.5 |
Highlight Features | 100% organic |
The Next Gardener Professional Grower Potting Soil Mix is a perfect choice for those who tend to over water their plants.
Nutrient-Rich: Miracle-Gro Houseplant Potting Mix
- Light
- Airy
- Sometimes, this soil develops harmless mold.
Growing your Monstera indoors means that your plant might lack some necessary conditions for healthy growth.
The Miracle-Gro soil contains enough nutrients for the convenient development of an indoor Monstera in 6 months, so your plant can still thrive during this time.
As mentioned, perlite will hold 6% of water and nutrients to release when your plant needs it slowly. Besides, this plant also has available fertilizer, coir, sphagnum peat moss, and wetting agent.
| Miracle-Gro Houseplant Potting Mix Specifications | |
|---|---|
Container Size | 8 inches |
Primary Ingredient(s) | perlite, sphagnum and peat moss |
Highlight Features | less prone to gnats Certified by the Mulch & Soil Council |
Miracle-Gro Houseplant Potting Mix suits busy growers who don’t usually forget to take care of their plants pretty long.
Best For Root Growth: Jessi Mae Pothos Air Cleaning Plant Soil
- Rich and earthy soil
- Lightweight
- Easy to pour
- Pricey
According to the information from the manufacturer, the Jessi Mae Pothos Air Cleaning Plant Soil is mixed by hand in each small batch. So, the soil is light and airy enough to allow the root to breathe and absorb water and essential nutrients.
Moreover, this growing mix doesn’t contain any chemical ingredients, so it’s safe for healthy root growth.
| Jessi Mae Pothos Air Cleaning Plant Soil Specifications | |
|---|---|
Primary Ingredient(s) | vitamins and nutrients, perlite |
Highlight Features | good drainage and moisture retention. light and fluffy chemical-free |
The root of the Jessi Mae Pothos Air Cleaning Plant Soil can healthy develop without having any related disease.
Best For Water Retention: Houseplant Resource Center Premium Monstera Potting Soil
- Possible to mix with others
- It works well for Monstera
- A bit heavy
Houseplant Resource Center Premium Monstera Potting Soil is known for its great water retention, thanks to its ingredients.
The aged bark fines with high organic matter content work as a mulch that can improve soil moisture retention and prevent weed development.
The coco coir can absorb 10 times its weight in water to provide your plant with enough water if you forget to water. Plus, re-potting your plant with coco coir can help it recover from a dry condition quickly.
| Houseplant Resource Center Premium Monstera Potting Soil Specifications | |
|---|---|
Primary Ingredient(s) | organic aged bark, coco coir, and perlite, IBI-certified Biochar, nitrogen, phosphorus |
Highlight Features | well-draining soil certified sterile and non-toxic |
Houseplant Resource Center Premium Monstera Potting Soil contains essential ingredients to balance water and air.
Light And Fluffy: rePotme Houseplant and Tropical Classic Potting Mix
- Super light
- Rich in nutrients
- A bit pricey
Please forget hard soils that can kill your plants quickly because their roots can’t grow to look for water and nutrients. The texture of this soil is light and fluffy, so it can drain water and hold moisture very well. It suits people who tend to overwater or forget to water their Monstera.
| rePotme Houseplant and Tropical Classic Potting Mix Specifications | |
|---|---|
Container Size | 6 inches |
Highlight Features | Hassle-Free Blend Rot Resistant |
rePotme Houseplant and Tropical Classic Potting Mix can give your Monstera an ideal growing environment.
How To Choose The Best Soil For Monstera?
To choose the best soil for growing Monstera, you need to answer 5 critical questions as follows:
Will You Choose Organic Or Non-Organic Soil?
Most people are interested in natural and organic soil, so many current manufacturers have added a high percentage of natural ingredients to their products. However, not all soil with natural ingredients is organic.
The soil is non-organic if it is applied through a sterilization process and uses chemicals or any non-organic component. For example, adding chemical fertilizers to organic soil is non-organic.
Some producers destroy pathogens by applying dry heat and steaming while others use non-organic ways: radiation or chemicals like mercuric chloride.
Which Ingredients Does Your Monstera Need?
Like other plants, Monstera requires some base ingredients for healthy growth as follows:
Sphagnum peat moss naturally grows in peat bogs. Its water-retentive properties keep moisture for your plant without being too dry.
Coconut coir was considered a waste product in the past. Now, it helps grow plants because it can retain moisture without compacting. Even coco coir is an optimal growing medium without needing any ingredient else.
Pine bark fines are the combination of needles, spruce trees, pine, cedar, fir, and small pieces of tree bark for better airflow. This is good for root growth.
Perlite looks like Styrofoam pellets, which are created from volcanic rock in extreme temperatures. It can absorb oxygen and retain moisture.
Vermiculite features a texture that is similar to perlite. It can keep the growing mix from being compact.
Other natural ingredients include silt, fine sand, and composted leaves. These can increase the nutrient value of the mix.
A wetting agent (powdered kelp) can absorb and retain moisture. This is useful because some dry growing mixes will resist water absorption.
Is Aeration (Air In The Soil) Important?
Yes, because Monstera doesn’t like a high level of humidity. When your plant absorbs too much water, it will push oxygen out, resulting in yellow leaves. In this case, vermiculite, perlite, and coco coir ingredients can keep your Monstera well-aerated by allowing the water to drain through the growing mix and out quickly.
Finally, don’t forget to choose pots with holes for drainage and aeration.
Does Monstera Love Moisture?
Although Monstera doesn’t like too much water, it must have a certain moisture level to grow well. So, you should choose the growing mix ingredients that can retain moisture after the water has drained away. Perlite, for example, can retain moisture and airflow because its tiny beads will soak up and hold the water, then slowly release when the mixing soil becomes dry.
For Monstera, you had better water until it comes out of the drainage holes. This amount of water is enough until the next watering (around 10-14 days).
Which pH Level Does Monstera Require?
Monstera loves the slightly acidic soil. Luckily, all potting mixes are acidic, but they are different. You need to find the ideal pH level for Monstera.
The pH scale ranges from 0-14. While below 7 is acidic, above 7 is alkaline. And Monstera grows best in the soil with a pH level from 5.0 - 6.8.
Not all producers provide you with the information of pH in their growing mix label, but you can determine this thing through its ingredients:
- Peat moss: 4.5 pH
- Coco coir: 5.2 - 6.8 pH
- Pine bark: 5.0 pH
These ingredients can create a slightly acidic growing environment.
Which Brands Make The Best Soil For Monstera?
In my opinion, The Next Gardener, rePotme, and The Houseplant Resource Center are reliable brands on the market because they always focus on the product quality and produce their soils with passion. If you know other famous brands, please share with other readers and me here:
The Next Gardener
The founder of The Next Gardener is Phillip. As a plant lover, he started selling Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cactus and succulents in different shapes and colors because they are low-maintenance plants.
Now, he has expanded his business with soil. Although Philip has his own professional organic cactus soil, he could still create another specialized soil thanks to experts in growing succulents in Denmark.
Apart from plants and soil, they produced other product lines, such as planters, pots, and gardening tools.
rePotme
rePotme has been started from the passion for orchids. In the beginning, they just tried to find the helpful potting ingredients for this beautiful flowering plant. After a hard time, they have successfully found reliable suppliers, resources, and products.
The Houseplant Resource Center
The Houseplant Resource Center was found by Claire, who is a plant lover. She has her own experience in growing 18 houseplants, and she has applied these things to her products. So, their product quality is always as good as possible.
FAQs
Can I use regular potting soil for Monstera?
Yes, you can. You should mix the regular potting soil with peat moss and perlite for aeration and moisture retention for the best result because Monstera hates too much moisture.
Can you use cactus soil for Monstera?
No. The cactus soil can’t hold moisture too long. It is formulated to use on succulents and cactus that love dry soil.
If you still want to use the cactus soil, you should mix it with peat moss and compost to help the soil retain moisture better.
Is loam soil good for Monstera?
Using only loam soil might make your Monstera drowning roots because this compact potting mix doesn’t give drainage.
How do you know when Monstera needs repotting?
You need to re-pot your Monstera when the leaves discolor or droop because they are the signs of needing fresh soil now.
Although spring is the ideal time to re-pot, you can do it any time of the year.
Should I water Monstera after repotting?
Yes, you should.
Conclusion
It is high in nutrients because this plant grows pretty big. Lacking nutrition can make your Monstera unhealthy.
Ensure to pick up the soil with suitable moisture reticence because too dry and cracky soil can cause stress and lead to some root problems.
Soil also needs to have good aeration. If not, your Monstera will end up mushy and brown roots.
Which solution above works best for your case? Please tell me your experiences by leaving a comment with a picture (your Monstera) in the section below.
Thank you for reading and have a nice day.
