Monstera Thai Constellation Care: The Exquisite Variegated Plant

Monstera Thai Constellation is a rare plant made in a tissue culture laboratory in Thailand. Its parent plant is no other than the Monstera deliciosa! The yellow speckles and splashes across its leaves resemble a constellation in the night sky.

The Thai constellation is one of the plant community’s most beautiful and sought-after monstera varieties.

monstera thai constellation plant

Monstera Thai Constellation Care Table

Monstera Thai Constellation Quick Care Guide

  • Well-draining potting mix that is light. A blend of orchid bark, coco cubes, perlite, soil, and worm castings works well.
  • Check the top inch of soil to see if it is dry before watering.
  • Bright, indirect light or artificial lighting with full spectrum if grown indoors.
  • Warm temperatures and high humidity since this is a tropical plant
  • Spring and Summer when you apply fertilizer. Cut the dose in half for Thai constellation plants are not heavy feeders.
  • Only repot when root bound or mix is soggy and heavy prevents healthy growth
  • Prune when necessary or if the growth is slower than usual.

Monstera Thai Constellation Care

Recommended Potting Mix

potting mix

Like all monsteras, Monstera Thai Constellation needs a well-draining potting mix. This epiphyte has aerial roots that absorb moisture from the air, not just the soil. A blend of orchid bark, coco cubes, perlite, soil, and worm castings works well.

Adding perlite and coco peat to your regular garden soil also works fine for the Thai constellation.

Watering Needs

As the Thai Constellation is an epiphyte, it has sensitive aerial roots affected by over-watering, quickly leading to root rot. A fact is that all in the Monstera genus are the same when it comes to root growth and watering.

When watering indoor plants, we recommend checking the top few inches of the soil to determine if you need water, or a great tool is a moisture meter. The moisture meter will help determine the right time to water your plant.

Ideal Lighting

Monstera thai constellation was developed in a laboratory under artificial lighting. Mimicking those indoor conditions is ideal. If no artificial light is not optional for your plants, place them near a sunny window with a sheer curtain or, better yet, in a window made of glass. 

Provide bright, indirect sunlight when grown outdoors or in your garden.

Your young plants will receive enough morning sun outdoors without damaging the leaves. These plants have very stable variegation, and if you decide to move them outside in spring and summer, provide them with a shady spot.

Requirements for Temperature & Humidity

Like the parent plants, the Monstera Thai Constellation prefers warm weather, with temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Any lower temperature will result in slower growth or stopped growth.

Furthermore, you can leave your new plants outside in temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit

These plants cannot tolerate frost. It’s best to keep them indoors if you live in a cool climate. 

We recommend investing in a humidifier or a pebble tray or grouping your Thai Constellation Monstera with other humidity-loving plants.

Need for Fertilizer

The Thai Constellation is a slow-grower than all-green Monstera deliciosa. So, that means they are also light feeders. But that doesn’t mean you should starve them. Don’t forget to feed your Thai, but don’t overdo it. You don’t want to expose the Monstera Thai to fertilizer burn.

liquid fertilizer

During the growing season (Spring/Summer), your Thai Constellation should be fed moderately with an indoor plant fertilizer every 4-6 weeks. Indoor plant fertilizers in liquid form are a convenient way to give your plant the nutrition it requires. Follow the instructions carefully so that you are well-guided.

Fertilizing is unnecessary during the colder months because this can cause health problems. Overfertilization during this season causes burned leaves, wilting, and stunted development.

Propagation Methods

It becomes tricky to propagate the Thai Constellation Monstera as not all parts of the plant can propagate. Furthermore, it will not look like the same plant, as no two leaves are alike. The best way to have more Monstera deliciosa Thai Constellation plants is through stem cuttings.

Rooting Stem Cuttings

  • Take a stem cutting from a mature plant in spring

  • Ensure the cutting has one node and leaf, or it might not root.

As the Monstera plant is susceptible to root rot, you do not want dense soil; you need moist soil. So, what do you use? We recommend using sphagnum moss or perlite.

  • Moisten the growing medium and bury the stem but not too deep.

  • Cover the node and keep your new plants in a humid environment with enough light but not direct sunlight.

  • You can create a dome over the plant using a plastic bag, but avoid touching the plant stem and leaves.

  • Check the growing medium weekly for new growth and water as needed.

Using Wet Sticks

As you cannot grow your Monstera deliciosa Thai Constellation from seeds, the cheapest way is to buy wet sticks online.

The wet stick stems with a node that grows into a Thai constellation Monstera for a fraction of the cost of investing in a new one.

When purchased, you can tell if they are variegated plants or not, as they will have cream-colored markings found on the stem. You can use the method mentioned to propagate your plant with perlite or moss.

WE RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

  1. Mix 25% chunky perlite with 75% sphagnum moss and wet it to squeeze out the excess water.

  2. Add the soilless mixture to a container and set your wet stick in it with the node covered.

  3. Cover the container to help retain heat using a plastic bag with some slits cut at the top for air circulation.

  4. Place the pot in a warm spot with bright indirect light.

  5. Keep the mixture moist but not wet.

You can expect your new Thai constellation, to develop new roots with a baby leaf in a month.

Growth Zone

usda map for guide in growing monstera thai constellation

The Monstera Thai Constellation is ideally grown in USDA growth zones 9b through 11.

Potting Thai Constellation

Monsteras grow slower than most plants and do not need repotting often. You can easily remove it when kept in a plastic pot to check for root rot.

The best time to transplant your Thai Constellation is spring, the start of the growing season. You can refresh the potting soil and increase the container size by one inch.

For young Monsteras, you can place them in the same pot after cleaning and only freshen up the soil. Another notable thing is providing your Monstera Thai Constellation with a damp sphagnum moss pole or a coco coir pole to climb.

Pruning

Trim unruly, broken, or discolored leaves to keep your plant healthy and promote new development. Because it is a sluggish grower, a Thai Constellation plant should only be pruned once a year, in the spring or autumn.

Pro tip: Always cut slightly above a node or as close to the main stem as possible with a sterile and sharp knife or scissors.

Monstera Thai Constellation Plant Varieties and Similar Plants

Monstera Deliciosa Albo

monstera deliciosa albo

Monstera deliciosa albo is a variegated deliciosa with the same fenestrated leaves; only it has a cream or white variegation.

Monstera borsigiana

monstera borsigiana

Monstera borsigiana is a smaller Monstera deliciosa subspecies. It grows more quickly and has fewer leaves than the true Monstera deliciosa. The plant’s size is varied and dependent on the growth environment. On average, an indoor plant grows to fewer than 2 meters.

These plants, on the other hand, grow taller in the wild.

Variegated Monstera adansonii

Variegated Monstera adansonii is a tropical plant that is extremely rare compared to the original monster adansonii which is all green. Beautiful holes appear on green leaves with light to white variegation. This climber usually reaches 6 to 13 feet and requires a support pole.

Monstera standleyana 

monstera standleyana

Monstera standleyana is a climbing plant with small oval, glossy leaves sprinkled with white and cream variegation. A climbing Monstera would benefit from a trellis; a brass plant support would be ideal.

Monstera Thai Constellation Plant Diseases & Pests

Pests

Whiteflies, mealybugs, and scale can regularly infest Monstera deliciosa ‘Thai Constellation’ plants. This is owing to the humid climate in which they must exist. These pests are unsightly and bothersome, but they are unlikely to harm your plant in the long run if you act early when you notice them.

To treat an infestation in its early stages, carefully dab away all visible evidence of these pests with a moist cotton tip, cotton pad, or clean towel. Check under the leaves and between the leaf and stem nodes for any bugs that may be hiding.

After that, wash as much of the remaining infestation away using neem oil, soapy water, or, if you prefer, a watered-down household insect spray or detergent. Re-do this treatment until these bugs are out of sight.

Diseases

The first major problem is most frequently associated with root rot. The main indications and expressions of this terrible occurrence are yellow, limp, wilting, and eventually falling off leaves. It could be caused by overwatering, in which the root does not obtain adequate oxygen due to being submerged for too long.

So the first thing to remember is that you don’t overwater your Monstera thai.

Frequently Asked Questions

In the Monstera genus, 45 species of plants, most tropical, come from Southern Mexico, with leaves looking like Swiss cheese. Still, when it comes to variegated cultivars, there are three, one of which is the Monstera deliciosa.

These plants only happen with random or intentional mutations in a lab. You find two kinds of Monstera deliciosa variegated cultivars, the variegated Monstera Thai Constellation and the Borsigiana Albo Variegata resulting from tissue culture.

The Monstera Albo cannot grow from a seedling as it is a unique mutation hence only a single clone exists from the mother plant. The plant has large bright leaves with cream-white spots and is more challenging to care for.

Neither is it a stable variegation grown through propagation, and it is costly to buy compared to the Thai Constellation Monstera.

If you have a true Monstera variegated plant, you can prune the plant to where there is more variegation. Doing this helps increase the variegation growth as the next leaves will also be variegated.

Many people confuse the Thai Constellation with the split leaf, as both have large leaves. The only difference is that the Thai Constellation has variegated foliage and belongs to different plant families. Both have the common name Swiss Cheese.

The Thai Constellation is a climber, and you can train it using a moss pole when it matures.

No, the plant does not like to be root-bound and will need a larger container as it grows. But they are slow-growing plants and will not need repotting often.

Your plant needs consistent bright indirect sunlight but not direct sunlight that can damage the leaves. We recommend an east or south-facing window to receive dappled sunlight throughout the day. It is the best spot for not receiving direct sun.

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