You’re a dedicated monstera owner, but now your lease is up, you’ve bought your first house, or you’re finally moving to your dream city. And you need tips for moving with your monstera NOW.
How do you prepare your plant for such a big change? How do you safely pack and transport your monstera? How can you help your monstera recover and settle into its new home?
Moving with houseplants can be challenging, but here are our tips for moving with your monstera plant, whether you’re moving across town or cross country.
Table of Contents
Before the Move
The best way to prepare your monstera for a move is to make sure that it’s in the best health possible. This means proper watering, plenty of light, and the right nutrients to support strong stems and roots (which will help your plant transition!).
If you have some time leading up to your move, fine-tune your care routine to help your plant get “in shape” for the move.
Don’t miss these monstera care guides!
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How to Water a Monstera: The Ultimate Guide
Water the plant a few days before you leave to make sure it isn’t thirsty, but also to give the soil enough time to dry out a little so it won’t be a watery mess in your car or moving van.
During the move
Now for the tricky part: the actual move!
By car
The best way to transport a monstera plant is in a car. If your plant is small, you may be able to simply place it on the floor of your car or in a basket in the backseat covered with a light sheet or butcher paper. If your monstera plant is large and/or has a support, you may need to lay it down in the backseat or cargo area.
To do this, tightly wrap the pot up in plastic wrap to keep as much of the dirt inside as possible. Then lay out a sheet, tarp, or blanket in the car where you plan to put your plant. You may also want to lay down pillows or small boxes to support your plant, especially if it has a moss pole.
Carefully tip the plant on its side, moving leaves out of the way as necessary to prevent them from getting crushed. Finally, loosely wrap or cover the plant with a light sheet or paper to prevent sunburn.
While you’re driving, try to avoid blasting air from the AC or heat directly onto your monstera leaves. The sheet or paper can help with this, but try slanting the vents away from the plant to be safe.
If you’ll be in the car for more than a day, you may want to bring your monstera inside wherever you’re staying.
By moving van or truck
So what if you have to put your monstera in a moving van?
Your biggest priority is to prevent your plant from getting crushed, so you’ll want to put your monstera in a sturdy box with enough headroom for the leaves. If your plant is very tall or wide, you might need a dishwasher box, tote, or another large container to protect it. Make sure that your box or container has some holes so your monstera can breathe!
When you put your monstera in the container, pack pillows, foam, or tightly packed newspaper around the pot to secure it and prevent your plant from sliding around in the box. Pull the leaves upward and loosely wrap the leaves in packing paper to cushion them as well.
You can also remove your monstera from the pot and rinse most of the soil from the root ball. Before packing, spray the roots with water and bundle in wet paper towels and loosely wrapped plastic wrap.
Monsteras do best with moderate temperatures, so if you think your moving van will get very hot or very cold, try loosely wrapping the box in moving blankets to provide some insulation (though not so tightly that it blocks airflow).
When you pack the van, try putting your monstera’s box on top of other items to prevent it from being crushed underneath or between something.
Your monstera should be okay for a day or two in a moving truck or car. If the journey will be longer than that, plan to bring it inside where you’re staying and, if you’re shipping with bare roots, open up the box and respray the roots.
After the Move
Once you’ve transported your monstera plant, it’s time to get settled!
No matter how carefully you pack and ship your monstera, there will probably be some damage. You might lose a few leaves or break a few stems, and that’s okay. Once your monstera is established in its new home and is happy with its care, it will start growing again and replace any leaves that were lost.
The most important thing is to get it back on a consistent care schedule. Here are the most important steps:
Find a spot with lots of light.
Place your monstera in an area where it will get lots of bright, indirect sunlight. If you shipped with bare roots, plant it in a pot that’s about 2-3 inches larger than the root ball and in a pot with plenty of drainage.
Prune any damaged leaves or stems.
Remove damaged areas so the plant can focus its energy on new growth rather than on supporting parts that are no longer functioning optimally.
If the leaves are in good shape, you may be able to trim the ends of broken stems and use a little rooting hormone to propagate and make more monstera plants!
Water your plant.
If your monstera is thirsty, give it a nice drink. If you repotted your bare-root monstera, give it a good watering.
Hold off on fertilizer.
Your plant just went through a huge change and will probably experience some shock, so don’t fertilize while the roots are so sensitive. Wait about four weeks before resuming your fertilizing routine with Monstera Plant Food.
Give it time.
Your monstera may look a little droopy for a week or more as it gets used to its new space, but with consistent care, it will perk up! Just give it time and love, and you and your monstera will soon be happy in your new home.
