Monstera deliciosa brown leaves

by Christina
(London)

Hi! My beautiful monstera has been developing these brown areas in 4 of their leaves. I recall noticing that they were like this when they arrived, but it has definitely been spreading through the leaf.

I heard on a TikTok that one of the best tactics to enjoy happy, healthy plants is (and I hope you allow me the rudeness) to “leave them the fuck alone”, as nutrients are being moved from the diseased leaves to the plant. But in this case I fear it might be a fungal infection, and I would like to spot what kind of ailment it has.

I water the plant every 10 days more or less. I did fertilise it today with BioBizz Fish Mix (by mistake, I didn’t notice) and I hope it isn’t detrimental for the plant, although it’s putting out new growth right now

What say you? I really hope you don’t tell me it has a fungal infection because I don’t want to get rid of it omgggggg

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Apr 23, 2021

Actually...
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

It's worse. This looks like typical bacterial damage. The only thing you can do now is to remove the damaged leaves right at the base, and put them in the garbage to dispose of them. Keep a close eye on it, and if more form, you may have to get rid of the plant, as it could spread.

You may be able to keep it in check by never allowing the leaves to be wet, only watering the soil.

If the plant gets stressed by being too cold, or dries out, this can cause it to be susceptible to bacterial blight. The best way to combat it is to make sure the plant gets the very best care.

I agree to some degree with your finding on TikTok, (I usually term it 'putting the plant on ignore') but in this case you need to do something to prevent the infection from spreading more widely.

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