Monstera deliciosa ‘Cheesecake’
Monstera deliciosa ‘Cheesecake’
Have I posted about this plant before? I don’t think I have… I’m not even sure I’ve mentioned it yet. I’ve always lusted after a variegated Monstera but they’re usually so so so so expensive …scroll down to the Monstera listings and be sad). As luck would have it I was able to find one when I wasn’t even looking for one! About a year ago I went down to one of Chicago’s best greenhouses for houseplant lovers, Gethsemane Gardens (actually they’re pretty much the best for plant people in general, great prices on lots of weird things! I’m not even being paid to say this and anyone who actually knows me knows that I can be quite the greenhouse snob). I was really there looking for a variegated indoor Yucca (they didn’t have any at the time :( ) but over in the corner with all the other Philodendron and pothos I spied one lone variegated Monstera tucked into a corner with some ‘Prince of Orange’ Philodendron. After my initial excitement a sense of dread set in…Oh god what is this going to cost…well the second happy surprise, it was cheap! Like $20 or so for a 6″ pot (which is cheap when you see that GHworks is charging $95 for a cutting). So that’s my long and pointless story about what has since become one of my favorite houseplants (it has everything I love: Obnoxious variegation! giant leaves! it’s easy to grow! I can take cuttings of it!) I suppose since it’s been 900 years since I did a plant care post, let me tell you about the care my plant has been receiving so you can get some idea of the care your Monstera ‘Cheesecake’ would enjoy.
Light: I’ve got mine in a corner between a North and West window. It gets bright light pretty much all day with some direct sun after 2. Because it’s variegated I wouldn’t recommend putting it in a south window, but I suspect an east window would work out just fine. A North window resulted in leggy growth for the month I had it there so I wouldn’t really recommend that. I haven’t tried it in a room across from a sunny window but I would guess if you had a really bright room it would be just fine.
Water: I go light on the water. Most of my experience with Monstera and Philodendron is that they rot really easy if you keep them too wet. Mine gets watered about once every two weeks even though it’s fairly rootbound
Fertilizer: I fertilize it about once every 3 months or so with a basic 10-10-10. I tried fertilizing it more but I got some burnt edges so I stopped with that.
Humidity: I haven’t been doing anything to supplement humidity and my plant seems to be doing just fine.
Other special considerations: This plant grows long clinging roots that will stick to any surface they get their hands on so I’d hesitate putting this too close to a wall, especially if you’re a renter because it could cling and peel off some paint. The plant does seem to grow better when it’s clinging to something so it might be to your advantage to put a 2×4 in the pot for it to climb up
The Midwestern Jungle 
How do you not have a variegated Yucca already?
I do *now* but I never really NEEDED one. I’m actually kind of over the one I have, I wish it was one of the mid-vein variegateds not the yellow edge ones…
Oh, I want one! I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one (except in blog posts, so either you posted about it before or mr_s did.)
I’ve always wanted to find a variegated monstera like yours, been trying to find one for a year. Nice plant, it looks very happy in its spot.
Thanks! It’s certainly a charmer
Is Jamaica Gardens (sp?) off of Dempster in Morton Grove still a thing? I remember back in the day I used to love going there for unusual houseplants. But I haven’t been there in over 10 years, so I have no idea. But I remember they had a nice collection of houseplants I would lust after. Similarly, when I lived up North I used to visit the Gethsemane greenhouse a lot, so I can vouch for Tom not being a shill for the store as it is pretty spectacular.
I wish Jamaica gardens was still around! I hear about it all the time. It closed down about a year before I moved here :(
Can I have a small cutting from this plant. This would make a great birthday present to myself as my birthday is next Wednesday. You can email me at twhiteartist@gmail.com thank you.
Unfortunately it’s still a very short plant and I’d be unable to take cuttings right now (the stem is only about 4-5 internodes long). I will keep you in mind if it ever gets to be something big and cutting-able.
Tom, I just saw your post on PATSP about loquats. I go to Texas every April and eat a ton of loquats, bring the seeds home and plant them. I usually trade the plants a year later on GardenWeb. If you want a box of the fruit, I’ll be glad to get some for you this spring and just charge you for the shipping.
Ohhhhh dear. This could be dangerous! If you’d be willing to mail me a few seeds I’d be absurdly grateful (and even willing to mail you cuttings of something in return once the weather warms up in the spring assuming I have anything you’d be interested in!)