Though the Swiss Cheese Plant is quite popular for its unusual cut foliage, you can also grow it for something else! Yes, for something that you can actually relish. Here’s all you need to know about How to Grow Monstera Deliciosa Fruit.
Monstera Deliciosa Fruit
Monstera plant is not edible, but it does produce a delicious fruit that can be eaten when ripe. However, you have to be careful and let it ripe fully because the unripe one is loaded with oxalic acid, which can cause irritation in your mouth and throat.
What Does Monstera Deliciosa Fruit Tastes Like?
The fruit is quite refreshing to eat and has creamy, white flesh. It tastes like a cross between apple and pineapple. Please make sure to remove the outer covering before you take a bite!
How to Grow Monstera Deliciosa Fruit?
The plant generally starts to grow fruit when it becomes a little mature, not before 2-3 years of its initial growth. However, do remember that not every monstera grows fruit and if yours does, consider yourself lucky!
1. Provide Plenty of Filtered and Indirect Light
For flowering and producing larger fruit, the plant needs a combination of filtered and indirect light to grow healthy. Avoid keeping the plant in a completely dark or shaded spot and ensure it is exposed to filtered or mild sunlight for some time during the day.
2. Keep Track of the Timing
The plant usually starts to fruit after it sets flowers. There is no specific blooming period in the wild, but it generally does more in summers. After the flower, the fruit will appear, which can be anytime from spring to fall, depending more on the climate.
Keeping track of this time ensures you start to feed it properly 1-2 months prior and also expose it to more light to increase the chances of fruiting.
3. Take It Outdoors
The plant is NEVER going to fruit if you are going to keep it indoors in low light. The plant loves to be in warm surroundings, receiving bright indirect daylight, something it can easily get in a garden.
4. Imitate Its Native Environment
If you live in a warm tropical or subtropical climate, then you have a chance of a higher success rate with the plant growing the fruit. Monsteras are native to tropical forests, and mimicking the similar growing requirement will significantly increase the chances of it growing a fruit.
5. Feed It Right
Giving a boost to the plant will trick it into producing fruits. It’d be good to feed the plant with a balanced liquid fertilizer, diluted to half of its strength, at least once in 4 weeks.
How To Eat the Fruit Safely?
When the fruit is unripe, it is loaded with oxalic acid and can even burn your throat and mouth. It is important to know when to harvest the fruits.
The fruit takes the form of a spadix and has green scales on the outer covering. When the lower side of the scales starts to turn yellow, you will know that the fruit has begun to ripen. When the scales start to peel back, cut the fruit from the stem using a sharp knife. At this point, you can wrap it in a paper bag for a few days to help it ripen more.
Note: Make sure to pick off any black flecks you notice and throw them. The black flecks are the calcium oxalate leftover and can still cause that irritation, so be sure to discard them.
Benefits of Eating Monstera Deliciosa Fruit
- Some Mexican natives prepare drinks using the monster fruit to treat arthritis.
- This fruit can provide a mix of useful nutrients for the body.
- Athletes drink smoothies prepared from the monster fruit as it is rich in vitamin C and potassium, which boosts energy and stamina.
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