Monstera Deliciosa vs Monstera Adansonii
Monstera Deliciosa brings huge, sculptural leaves, while Adansonii offers airy trailing vines. The better pick depends on your space, support options, and how bold you want the foliage to look.
Monstera deliciosa
Monstera adansonii
Monstera Adansonii
workspace_premiumThe Expert Verdict
Leaf size creates the biggest visual split. Monstera Deliciosa grows huge, split leaves that can cover half a coffee table. Adansonii stays lighter and lacier, so it works where you want that Monstera look without a giant floor plant.
Our team sees Deliciosa perform best as a single statement plant, similar to how a Fiddle Leaf Fig anchors a room. Adansonii behaves more like vining pothos, so it shines in hanging pots, shelves, and climbing grids against a wall.
Both plants share similar care, so you can group them with other tropical indoor plants and water on the same schedule. The main day‑to‑day difference is pruning and training, since Adansonii needs more guiding along poles or trellises.
How to Use This Guide
Match your primary use case first, then review the technical specs table. The use-case cards below each declare a winner for specific scenarios — if your situation matches, that is your plant.
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compare_arrowsSpecific Use Cases
The following use cases represent decision-critical scenarios where one option clearly outperforms the other. Each card identifies a winner and explains why — read only the scenarios that match your situation.
A winner is declared for each scenario, but "winner" only applies when that scenario matches your conditions. If neither scenario fits, check the Technical Specs table for side-by-side numbers.
Small apartments
Tight floor spaceWinner: Adansonii
Floor space is the limiting factor for Monstera Deliciosa in most apartments. The plant eventually needs a wide pot and room to spread, so it crowds narrow rooms and bumps into furniture once the leaves reach full size.
Adansonii fits tight homes better because it trails or climbs instead of sprawling. You can keep it in a modest pot on shelves or hanging planters, similar to compact vining variegated pothos choices, without sacrificing that Swiss cheese foliage effect.
paymentsLong-term Economic Maintenance
Long-term costs extend beyond the purchase price. Factor in ongoing inputs — fertilizer, repotting, lighting, and replacement — to get an accurate total cost of ownership for each option.
Both Monstera Deliciosa and Monstera Adansonii are inexpensive to acquire. The real cost difference emerges over time in inputs, replacements, and propagation success rates.
ecoMonstera Deliciosa
- check_circleStarter plants in small nursery pots often run $15–$30, and they size up quickly under average indoor light.
- check_circleOne mature specimen can visually replace several smaller houseplants, saving money on extra pots, soil, and decorative stands.
- check_circleCuttings with multiple nodes root well, so you can create backup plants or share without constantly buying new stock.
- cancelLarge decorative floor pots, saucers, and sturdy moss poles add $40–$100 once the plant outgrows its starter container.
- cancelRepotting into bigger containers every 1–3 years means more potting mix costs and heavier pots that are harder to move.
ecoMonstera Adansonii
ecoSustainability Benchmarks
Thick trunks on Monstera deliciosa mean you keep one plant for many years instead of cycling through short-lived decor. Repotting into quality mix and using good repotting habits keeps roots healthy so you are not constantly buying replacements.
Adansonii earns points by sharing cuttings easily between friends, which reduces demand for greenhouse-grown stock and shipping. Its lighter vines ship in smaller boxes than chunky deliciosa, cutting packaging for anyone who orders plants online from indoor plant sellers.
Both Monsteras like similar water and fertilizer inputs, but a single large deliciosa in a corner usually needs less total plastic, soil, and packaging than several small vining pots. If you want one purchase that lasts a decade, deliciosa edges out Adansonii.
Both Monsteras can live well over a decade indoors with decent care. A long-lived plant means fewer replacements, less plastic waste, and fewer nursery trips or shipments over the same period.
Monstera deliciosa usually needs larger pots every 2–3 years, while Adansonii often shifts more often in smaller increments. Each repot uses more mix and plastic, so fewer, larger repots slightly lower material use.
scienceTechnical Specifications
Leaf size and growth habit drive how each plant fits in your room more than anything else. The table’s height, spread, and trailing rows show why deliciosa behaves like a compact tree while Adansonii behaves more like classic vining philodendron.
Toxicity and humidity lines in the table matter if you have pets or dry winter heat. Both are toxic, so placement advice is similar to Peace Lily, but Adansonii’s finer vines highlight dry-air stress sooner than the thicker deliciosa stems.
Propagation ease and watering lines highlight which plant works better for collectors. Adansonii’s many nodes make filling trellises or sharing cuttings simple, while deliciosa rewards slower propagation with dramatic, large-leafed offspring that anchor indoor plant groupings.
Data Methodology
All metrics represent averages across multiple cultivars and growing conditions. Individual performance varies by cultivar selection, microclimate, and management intensity. Consult our testing protocols for detailed trial parameters.
| Technical Metric | Monstera Deliciosa | Monstera Adansonii |
|---|---|---|