Hey plant crew, I need your rescue—my Monstera adansonii got MURDERED by a rat (yes, a RAT) and chewed into several stem chunks. All the leaves are gone, so now I’ve got some chunks in water propagation and some potted in soil… but NONE are sprouting new growth or leaves.
It’s winter here (room temp ~10-12°C, just using grow lights) — is this just winter dormancy, or did the rat attack + cold combo nuke them?
What can I do to help these poor stem chunks bounce back? Should I adjust temps, tweak the propagation setup, or just cross my fingers and wait?
Begging for your pro tips — these are my last bits of my beloved Monstera
I feel your pain—rat attacks + winter cold are SUCH a double whammy! Most likely it’s dormancy (10-12°C is pretty low for Monstera growth) mixed with stress from the bite. Pro tips: Keep soil slightly moist (not wet!), bump grow lights to 12-14hrs/day, and maybe add a small tray of water near them for humidity. Be patient—they’ll probably sprout once temps warm a bit!
Oh no, that’s awful! But don’t give up — monsteras are tougher than they look.
The cold is probably putting it on pause. 10-12°C is like hibernation mode for them. If you can get it somewhere a bit warmer (even just a few degrees helps!), that might wake it up.
For your props, just keep doing what you’re doing. Change the water sometimes for the water ones, and don’t let the soil ones get soggy. It might take a while, but if the stem is still firm, there’s hope!
I highly recommend getting a heating mat and trying to propagate them in moss. That high humidity mixed with the heat and aerated growing media may be just the thing they need to start rooting again!
