Have you seen water dripping from a Monstera? As if it's s crying. Well the Monstera isn't sad it's a common phenomenon called guttation. Monsters Deliciosa is also called Swiss cheese plant or Salad plant. Monstera can secrete a sap called Xylem sap from the pores called hydathodes in the leaves. The sap can form on the tip of the leaves and the drip. its a natural process of the plant we can not complete avoid Monstera from crying but understanding why it occurs can help reduce the occurrence.
Monstera can produce Xylem sap which looks like clear water but it contains water and minerals. What happens is when there is water in the soil, the pressure in the roots and stems increases. This pushes the Sap up towards the leaves and the the sap gets pushed out of the pores on the leaves. Think of it like when we push toothpaste out of the tube.
If you see this process occur once every few months there is nothing to worry about. If it's occurring once a month it could be from too much moisture in the soil. Overwatering the plant or the soil not drying out fast enough can cause too much water to be absorbed by the plant. Causing the pressure to build in plant from the dramatic increase in water in the plant. To solve this problem try and water your Monstera in the morning as plants use more water in the daytime then night time, reduce the amount of water given at each watering time or check the moisture level in the soil before watering.
Sometimes the Xylem Sap leaves a Whitish mark on the leaves. This is excess minerals in the sap which could be from over fertilising. If you see this stop fertilising your Monstera for 3 month and when you do fertilise your monstera reduce the recommended concentration of liquid fertiliser or amount of solid fertiliser. The Whitish marks left on the leaves can be easily removed by wiping the leaves with a towel and water. This will also help clean the leaves from dust and pest while making the leaves look more beautiful.
Xylem sap and Dew can look and feel similar but it's not the same. xylem sap from guttation is produced from the plant while dew is produced by pest like mealybugs. xylem sap is seen on the tips of the leaves while sticky Dew is seen more on top of the leaves. It's very easy to confuse the two. It's important to differentiate two because if it's Dew want to get rid of the pest immediately.
Guttation and transpiration is also easily confused and mixed up. Transpiration generally occurs during hot temperature when water evaporates from the leaves in the form of vapours. It's kind of like if we splashed water on our skin and on a hot day the water evaporates from our skin to cool us down.
The take home message is that guttation is a natural and harmless process of Monstera and there is no need to worry about it as long as it's not occurring often, plant isn't overwatered or overfertilized.
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30 июл 2024
