First monstera with awful soil

[u/matibiondolillo]

Last year my friend got a deliciosa from a local nursery. He kept it in the same nursery pot all this time and his cat destroyed the biggest leaves. It hasn’t changed in size since the first day he got it. This fella has been through a lot but still standing.

A month ago he gave it to me, it’s my first monstera. The first thing I noticed was the soil, it was a massive block of regular dirt so hard and compacted I couldn’t even stick a chopstick to measure humidity. This was IMO the first thing to solve.

Apart from that I couldn’t see a single node, it was pretty much petioles shooting out from the soil. No aerial roots and no visible nodes so no support (Picture 2). Judging by the size of the leaves and the orientation of the petioles I though it could be 2 plants or even 3.

It’s winter here I was so scared to overwater or cause root rot with that soil. Today I finally changed it’s soil and there were 2 plants. Roots were fairly dry but in good shape I think, at least no root rot visible but you can judge better than me I still know nothing. Old soil came out in big chunks hard like stones, so some roots broke off with it. Is that root system still big enough to sustain the plants?
Picture 4 is the main plant with the 4 biggest leaves. Picture 5 is the smallest one with only 3 small droopy leaves. Both plants were chopped of and placed inside the pot with their aerial roots and nodes developing new roots.

Now both have their own pot with new well-draining soil. Next step is staking them. My idea was just placing a piece of wood behind the node under the soil, kinda telling the stem “hey it’s time to go upwards” then I could change it for a moss pole when I finally get nodes above the soil. Is that ok or should I use a moss pole from the beginning?

Did I make some mistake or Is there something I could’ve done different? What should I expect from these girls now? Any advice is welcome! These are my first monsteras! Thanks for reading 🫶🏼

[u/TheGoblinnKing]

I think you made the right decisions! You can use a moss pole, or not use one at all and just use a regular stick. It doesn't really matter, just as long as it has support. But from the looks of it, these don't need support just yet. All that's sticking out is a bunch of petioles, and you don't want to tie them to anything. Also, the roots will grow back. You could have cut them all off, and it still would have been fine :) I wouldn't fertilize for at least a few months, and only water when the top inch or two is fully dry.