Understanding Monstera plants’ cold tolerance
In their natural habitat of Central and South America, Monstera plants are accustomed to warm, humid conditions and do not typically experience extreme cold. However, as popular houseplants, they are often grown in a range of indoor and outdoor environments with varying temperature and humidity levels.
Understanding a Monstera plant’s cold tolerance is therefore extremely useful to protect a plant from damage during a cold season.
Factors that affect a Monstera plant’s cold tolerance include its age, size, pot size, and the type of soil it is planted in; however a general rule of thumb is to keep Monstera plants in temperatures above 35 Fahrenheit (2 Celsius). Any colder than this could risk the water inside plant cells freezing which may cause the cell membrane to rupture and lead to cell death.
Younger, smaller plants tend to be more sensitive to cold than older, larger plants. Similarly, plants grown in small pots may be more prone to cold damage than those grown in larger pots, as the roots have less room to spread out and absorb warmth from the soil.
From our experience we’ve left healthy mature Monstera deliciosa plants in air temperatures of 32 Fahrenheit (0 Celsius) for a couple nights running and observed no ill effect. A week later as the below pictures show the same plant was left to experience temperatures of 23 Fahrenheit (-5 Celsius) and it got smoked!
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