Strategies for restoring variegation to M. del. albovariegata?
I hope the subject line wasn't too confusing. I had to abbreviate due to space limitations.
Monstera deliciosa albovariegata is one of those plants whose tendency to variegation is supposed to be genetic. That is, even if a plant has apparently reverted to all green, it can return to the variegated appearance.
A long time ago I took a cutting off a variegated Monstera deliciosa. The cutting has been mostly green, but with some hints of its variegated nature (photo at bottom, see red arrows).
I can assure you the plant is Monstera deliciosa albovariegata, in spite of its appearance and entire leaves (no slits or holes). I had it inside for a while in low light, then outside, also in very low light. I moved it into higher light and it has responded with accelerated growth. So hopefully all is fine in terms of general growing conditions. It's growing in a frost free area.
My question is whether there are strategies to try to return to a more obviously variegated plant. I was thinking about chopping it into smaller plants (I could easily see it cut into three pieces) and hope that one of the new shoots expresses more variegation. Any suggestions or comments?
I have a couple other plants showing more variegation. This is just for fun and out of curiosity.
Comments (10)
garyfla_gw
9 years agoHi
Hoipe you get some good answers lol have had the same problem with several types of plants and for me when they lost the variagation it never returned They do change a lot as they mature so maybe there is hope?? garywoodnative
9 years agoI am a couple months late but just saw this. I wanted a variegated Monstera for some time. I finally got one in trade several years ago. It was much like yours with just a line or so of white running up the stem and forming a little bit of white on some leaves that grew up that side of the stem. Like your idea, I just let it grow than cut it into pieces each a node or two long. The trick is to get new growth to grow out of the area of the stem where the white is. If it grows from a green area it will probably be all green.....recut or throw away. Eventually got some growth with nice marbled variegation of a good mix of white and green. The more "marbled", the better chance new shoots will have good variegation. Good luck!!
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Original Author9 years agoI actually went ahead and chopped this up several months ago. There is no new growth on any of the pieces. This is not particularly surprising, as the plant grows pretty slowly in our climate. The guy who is the likely ultimate source of the plant I took the original cutting of told me that if he grows it outside, he gets about one new leaf a year, if I remember correctly. That is in San Francisco. 25 miles South, where it's about 10 degrees warmer during the day in the summer, I think I got about 3-4 leaves over the last year. So I just now took the cuttings inside. A couple of them have buds where there will be new growth, but that's it.
Russ, thanks for the offer, but I already have two of these, growing outside. They are from different local sources, and my question is whether they are the same clone. I'm thinking about putting one in the ground, however I don't know whether that will speed things up or not. I'm in a frost-free area, by the way (at least the previous 3 colder than average winters--last winter was perhaps the coldest since 1990 in the Bay Area).
One of the plants outside (the source of the non-variegated cutting):
russ_fla
9 years agoMark, those two deliciosa 'Borsigiana' specimens don't appear to be from the same clone, given the different variegation pattern on each. I have both types, both are attractive. Regarding your top photo where variegation only appears on one side of the leaf midrib, I have some with this tendency. These large-area-variegation types are more likely to go all-white with no chlorophyll at all, or all-green.
Your 3 to 4 leaves annual growth is similar to here in central Fla. Puzzling regarding only 1 leaf annually in that warmer climate south of you. Obviously growing in the ground isn't helping growth rate there. I think you can get equal growth rate in a pot as long as you keep increasing pot size as it gets bigger. That said, I've have the big deliciosa species get huge with roots literally jammed in a way-too-small pot.
Incidentally, I have a yellow-variegated 'Borsigiana' clone that I could probably share in summer if you're interested. Tendency to go all-green, and the yellow doesn't contrast nearly as well against green vs the white, but it's much less common. Also have two different clones of the big species deliciosa with scattered and larger-area variegation. Various nurseries peddle these under a multitude of different names, but they're basically very old forms of M. deliciosa variegata.
Do you grow philodendrons?
Best,
Russ, central Fla
HU-134998113
3 years agoHello! I know this post is from 5-6 years back. I am getting an albo but came from a reverted mother Monstera Borsigiana. I was wondering if you had any success in the methods you’ve tried in restoring variegation? Any suggestions is highly appreciated!
- Kim
Tony Lo
3 years agoHello,
Sorry for piggybacking on the original post. i‘m trying to find a good Monstera Albo plant or cutting and they are apparently ridiculously expensive. ($300-$450 on Etsy). I can’t even afford that... but I think I may have found someone local that is selling a cutting for $175. So I wanted to make sure I did my research and knew what to look for So I don’t get screwed.
@russ_fla You seem to be very knowledgable about these plants. Would you mind answering a few questions of mine?
-What’s the difference between a regular Monstera, a Monstera Albo Borsigiana, a Monstera Borsigiana Aurea, and a Monstera Marmorata?
-Is the variegation an unstable trait? In any or all of the Monstera Variegatas? either Albo or Thai Constellation? Is it something one has to worry about? A plant reverting back to green? Obviously i would die if I spent $400 on a frickin cutting for it to turn green lol. I’ve heard of plants reverting back to green but I have no clue if that’s only some plants or all variegated plants are unstable and have the potential to do so.
- Is any one variegation pattern better than another? Like is one “Ideal” or more desired or a sign of a better quality plant or more special in any way? ive seen plants where there are whole areas of white, plants where there are splashes of white, once’s with white speckles, or while streaks, and once’s with streaks of white, dark green and light green as if the white layer is overlapping with a green layer.
From what I’ve seen, the “Thai Constellation has yellow streaks and/or specks... so would whole patches of yellow be a flaw?
-is there anything to look for in an Albo cutting To ensure a good quality plant?
-Also, how would you root a cutting? They usually have an aerial root but from my understanding, aerial roots don’t do well in water because the plant didn’t make them for that purpose.
I have recently had a really tough time rooting cuttings for some reason. i’ve tried rooting common philodendrons, pothos, a few African violet leaves, and a couple regular monstera cuttings.. I tried with and without rooting horomone, I tried dip n’ grow and a rooting powder, I tried in water, in water with hydrogen peroxide, in potting soil, and In perlite in every possible combination. I failed miserably at all of them but a few. almost all of the pothos, philodendrons, and all the Monsteras rotted within a few days. The aerial root was always the first thing to turn to mush. Every African violet leaf rotted before any roots showed as well... I’m not sure what I have been doing wrong but I’ve always rooted cuttings just sticking them in water... I thought for sure that sticking these supposedly “super easy to root” plants in some rooting horizons and into water would make them grow tons of roots and be a breeze. i obviously don’t want to buy an Albo cutting and have it rot on me. I’ve seen pictures of rooted cuttings and they seem to grow roots from the aerial roots which goes against everything I heard about aerial roots and defies my experience trying to root plants with aerial roots. I obviously don’t want to spend that kind of money on a cutting only to kill it... so I’m particularly scared and stressed just thinking about the possibility.
If other experienced people have answers, I welcome those as well.
Thanks in advance!
russ_fla