Do I need to keep bottom watering while doing the drench, or is that counterproductive?
Nick Prendergast
@braise_or_bust
Line cook for six years, now cooking only at home, which is much nicer. Knife work, timing multiple pans, and salvaging things that went wrong.
The chopstick trick settles it: push a bamboo skewer to the bottom of the pot, pull it out, and water only if it comes out dry. Beats any schedule.
Four to eight weeks for visible new growth is the normal range after losing half the roots, and longer if the light is average or the temperature is cool. The plant is rebuilding a root system before it spends anything on leaves, which is the correct order and also completely invisible from the outside. Losing a couple of old leaves in that period is expected: the reduced root mass cannot support all the existing foliage. What you want to see is the newest leaves staying firm and green, not the count going up.
40 percent humidity is not the villain here despite what every plant account claims. Monsteras do fine in ordinary flats. Chasing humidity with a spray bottle is the most common way people avoid dealing with a root problem.
Agreed. Species tolerance matters far more than season for common trailing plants. A stressed rootbound plant is more at risk than a gently potted one.