Hi! I’ve heard about monstera fruits and would like some advices of people who have monsteras about their care, soil, fertilizer, etc.
Monstera deliciosa is used mainly has an indoor plant but they can fruit and i have heard the fruit is quite nice once it rippens.
I just bought 2 plants, one to be kept indoors as a house plant and the other to try in the garden and to see if it thrives outside or it strugles.
The label says to be kept above 12C degrees and i am in zone 9b in Portugal, probably it can or will die in the winter… but ill have my backup indoors.
Any Monstera growers around?
I have Monstera deliciosa here in Miami, Florida. The fruit by the way is superlative. It takes about a year to ripen, but the taste is well worth it. It’s a combination of pineapple, banana, coconut and mango. Very unique flavor. But I thought it was a tropical vine!!!
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Well, i know of 2 outside locations in Portugal where Monsteras are outside, but is further south in Lisbon area
I was curious after reading this post and saw this informative and funny video when the word,poisonous,caught my attention.It looks like after waiting for the outside to just about fall off,the flavor is outstanding.bb
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I saw that video also a few weeks ago.
Apparently when the fruit is ripe its delicious
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it truly is, you just have to catch it at the right degree of maturity, which is a short window period. A bit too much work growing these, especially outside of their natural habitats, and the waiting time from flower to edible fruit is longer than conceiving a human embryo to delivery! Worth trying the fruits though as a one-time experience. It is in the same family as taro(poi), so also has oxalates, which can be bad if you tend to form kidney stones of the oxalate type. The pulp can have a prickly sensation in the mouth due to the oxalates, especially if fruit is not fully-ripe.
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I have some in pots that I grew from seed… no fruit as of yet.
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From what I’ve read,they are difficult to get fruit,as a house plant.bb
All mine are outside, but in pots.
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Sorry to revive an old thread, but does anyone grow these in a greenhouse, who can say what minimum temperatures it can handle?
This is one of those things I used to occasionally eat growing up in Miami that I would love to try to grow in-ground in the greenhouse both for the ornamental value and the fruit, but my greenhouse temperatures are often in the low or mid 40s at night for most of the winter (lowest was 42° this winter). Some things handle it fine (Cavendish banana, ataulfo mango, and the avocados even flowered), but others completely died, e.g., my 5 year old seedlings of Guaiacum sanctum that had survived their previous winters indoors.
So I’d love to add a couple deliciosas, but only if they are likely to make it through next winter.
Most growing guides say no colder than 50°F, but then there are accounts like this of plants surviving colder temperatures closer to my greenhouse:
The aim was to keep the conservatory at 7C which was colder than it had been subjected to before, but being in a poorly lit place had taken its toll, So I cut it back hard. Once again I was amazed that Deli didn’t bat an eyelid about 7C, and moreso the low of just 2C during a power cut in 1988. So Monstera deliciosa is much more cold tolerant than the books said.
I don’t really know the answer to your question, but I do know the average lowest temp in Miami (where they grow outside) is about the same as your greenhouse. Miami will not get as many of those cold nights, though.
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Yeah, the duration of cold is really the issue I think, at least for some plants. The Guaiacum sanctum that died is commonly grown in Miami as a landscape plant, for example. And it’s pretty rare for Miami to get below 50° more than a couple times per year.
I saw the PlantVine website had M. deliciosa on sale for $15 so figured I’ll give it a try.
I’d never ordered from them before, but I do really like that they email you a photo of your actual plant just before it gets boxed for shipping. Looks like a healthy little one!
Figured I’d move this discussion to the relevant thread!
I bought my deliciosa when I posted my last post above, and it looked basically exactly like that when I planted it. It’s done very well so far, but the leaves still aren’t full sized (compared to what they look like all over Miami, at least, it’s possible they will never reach that size in my greenhouse). Here’s what it looks like today:
I was worried it might be borsigiana based on the small leaf size, but apparently these leaf petiole wrinkles are not present in borsigiana, only deliciosa, so it’s probably correctly identified:
No sign of flowering yet, but I don’t expect that for at least a few more years.
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So,if visiting Miami,I may be able to find some Monstera fruit?Is there a best time of year?
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I thought about ordering the fruit but it’s soooo pricey
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Oh yes, they are so widely grown in the city that it should be possible, but the challenge is finding one ripe, as they take 12 months to start to ripen, and then within a few days will be covered with bugs and stuff, so there’s a narrow window to pick them. I’ve heard that they can be picked a little early and counter ripened, but the one time I ate one a little underripe it was terrifying (my mouth/throat became somewhat paralyzed for a couple hours). So I wouldn’t advise picking any that aren’t already starting to shed some of the scales.
I don’t know if there’s a certain time of year that’s best, but I did find a ripe one in the Fruit & Spice Park one time in December.
The price of $77 plus shipping for a single fruit from Miami Fruit is absurd! But I guess they charge what they do because someone will pay.
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Agreed, and it won’t be me haha
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