How to build an indoor garden with monstera and snake plants

If you want an indoor garden that looks considered rather than accidental, two plants will do most of the work, and the reason they work together is that they are opposite shapes with nearly identical needs. A monstera sprawls sideways with big split leaves and a snake plant goes straight up in hard vertical lines, so one fills a corner and the other fills the gap beside it, and both want the same light and the same free draining mix.

Step 1. Pick the spots first, then buy the plants

Monstera wants bright indirect light, so a metre or so off a window with good light, or beside one with a sheer curtain. Snake plants will live almost anywhere and only grow properly in medium to bright indirect light, so give them a decent spot too rather than treating them as filler for the dark corner.

Walk around the house first and find two or three positions that get real light, because that is what limits the whole plan. Buying the plants first and then hunting for somewhere to put them is how people end up with a monstera in a hallway.

Step 2. Pots that work, not just pots that look good

The pot decides the look, so pick what suits the room. Terracotta suits a warmer, older house and it breathes, which helps if you are a heavy waterer. Glazed ceramic in a plain colour suits a newer room. A woven basket looks great and is a cover rather than a pot, so the plant still needs a plastic pot with holes sitting inside it.

Whatever you choose, there has to be a drainage hole somewhere in the system and a saucer under it. Then tip the saucer out after watering, because a pot standing in water will kill either of these plants faster than forgetting them would.

Step 3. Get the mix right

Monstera takes a premium potting mix with a couple of handfuls of perlite stirred through for air. Snake plants take a cactus and succulent mix, because they want it sharper and drier. It is two bags rather than one and it is the difference between a plant that grows and a plant that rots quietly from the bottom.

Step 4. Water them differently, on the same walk around

Check both with a finger before you water either. The monstera gets a drink when the top 2 to 3 centimetres are dry, which is roughly weekly in summer and fortnightly in winter. The snake plant waits until the mix is dry the whole way down, which can be a month in the cold months, and it would rather be dry than damp.

Step 5. Keep the leaves clean

Monstera leaves are big and flat and they collect dust, which blocks light and dulls the colour. A wipe over with a damp cloth every few weeks keeps them glossy and keeps the plant working. Snake plant leaves need it less often, and a dry cloth run up each leaf does the job.

Step 6. Styling, which is mostly about height

The trick is varying the height rather than adding more plants. Stand the snake plant on the floor in a tall pot and put the monstera up on a low table beside it, or the other way around, and the difference in level makes two plants read as a group. Odd numbers sit better than even ones, so a third smaller pot at floor level finishes it off.

Keep the pots in a common material or a common colour even when the shapes differ, because that is what stops a collection looking like a collection of leftovers.

Troubleshooting the two of them

• Yellow monstera leaves. Too much water. Let the mix dry further between drinks.
• Brown crispy monstera edges. The air is too dry. Move it out of any draught and stand it on a pebble tray.
• Solid monstera leaves with no splits. Young plant, not enough light, or both. More light and more time.
• Soft mushy snake plant leaves at the base. Overwatering. Let it dry right out, and check the roots if it does not firm up.

Shop related products

• Brunnings Premium Potting Mix 36L. The mix for the monstera.
• Brunnings Cactus and Succulent Potting Mix 5L. The mix for the snake plant.
• Brunnings Perlite 5L. Stir it through the monstera mix to open it up.
• Maxicrop Indoor Plant Food Concentrate 250ml. One gentle feed that suits both of them through the warm months.

Did you know we also stock the pots and the finishing bits in the shop, including terracotta pots and saucers, plastic saucers up to 500mm, hanging pots, and decorative pebbles in black, snow white and multicolour for topping a pot off. None of that is on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.

The mixes and the plant food are in the garden centre, and if you bring the pot in we will match a mix and a saucer to it.

More from the garden

• How to care for a monstera and get the split leaves
• Where to put a snake plant so it actually grows
• How much light do indoor plants actually need

Two plants and three pots will do more for a room than ten plants nobody has the time to look after. Ask me in the shop, I am usually there.

Cheers,
Candeece