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Monstera don't want potting soil. They're aroids, and in the wild they grow as hemiepiphytes: NC State Extension notes that monstera starts life as a terrestrial plant and turns epiphytic once it reaches a tree it can climb, rooting into bark fissures and trapped organic debris. The closer your substrate gets to "chunky organic matter draining fast," the better the plant does. This guide pulls together what NC State Extension and the University of Connecticut Soil Lab say about monstera's needs — plus three specific products you can actually buy on Amazon today, and a DIY mix you can put together yourself.
A note on scope: this is a research-based roundup. It draws on extension and university sources (NC State Extension and the UConn Soil Lab) and on manufacturer product descriptions. The products and the mix have not been tested hands-on.
- Best for
- No-DIY option
- Drainage
- Excellent out of bag
- Notes
- Bark, charcoal and coarse perlite
- Best for
- DIY growers
- Drainage
- Best possible
- Notes
- Full control over drainage
- Best for
- Amendment / top dressing
- Drainage
- Neutral
- Notes
- A small organic fraction, not a base
| Pick | Best for | Drainage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Better-Gro Special Orchid Mix | No-DIY option | Excellent out of bag | Bark, charcoal and coarse perlite |
| DIY Aroid Mix (4-ingredient) | DIY growers | Best possible | Full control over drainage |
| Wiggle Worm Worm Castings | Amendment / top dressing | Neutral | A small organic fraction, not a base |
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Picks are editorial; prices and availability vary.
What "the right soil" actually means for monstera
Three properties matter, in this order:
- Drainage — water should run straight through the pot, not pool. A soggy aroid is a dead aroid.
- Air to the roots — chunky material (orchid bark, perlite, lava rock) creates the air pockets that match what aerial roots find on tree bark in the wild.
- Slow nutrient release — a small amount of organic matter (worm castings, compost) feeds the plant between fertilizer applications. Too much organic matter holds water and compacts.
Standard Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix fails on all three. It's peat-heavy, holds a lot of water, and compacts over time. This is why the single most common monstera death is "I barely watered it but it died" — the plant drowned in soil that never dried out.
The optimal soil pH for monstera per UConn's plant pH database is 5.0–6.0 (slightly acidic).
The three picks worth buying
Why Miracle-Gro fails for monstera
Standard Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix is what many new plant owners pick up at a big-box store. It's cheap and works fine at first. Over time, the fine-textured mix compacts into a dense block that holds water around the roots. Your monstera then either:
- Sits in wet compacted soil and develops root rot — the most common monstera death.
- Drowns slowly while you swear you barely watered it.
The fix isn't to water less. It's to repot into a chunky aroid mix that drains fast. After repotting, you can water on a normal schedule because the soil doesn't trap water at the roots.
The DIY recipe, step by step
This mix suits monstera, philodendron, and pothos.
Ingredients (one-time purchase)
- Plantonix coco coir (5-pack of bricks) — inexpensive. Each brick expands to about 8–10 quarts when hydrated.
- Better-Gro orchid bark mix (8qt) — inexpensive. Use as your chunky base.
- Espoma Organic Perlite (8qt) — lasts a long time.
- Wiggle Worm worm castings (30lb) — bulk bag.
Mix ratio
The sources this guide draws on don't give a tested ratio for an aroid mix, so no fixed recipe is given here. Follow the principle above: keep the mix chunky and fast-draining with orchid bark and perlite, use coco coir to hold some moisture, and add only a small amount of worm castings, because too much organic matter holds water and compacts.
Mix in a bucket. Dry-mix first, then add water until just barely damp — not wet. The mix should hold its shape briefly when squeezed and crumble apart immediately. If water comes out, you went too far.
A note on coco coir: rinse the brick once after hydrating. Coir can carry leftover salts (mostly sodium, potassium, and chloride) from processing, and a rinse flushes them out. The rinse is for salts, not pH.
What to skip
A few mixes show up constantly in plant retail and are not worth the price for monstera specifically:
| Mix | Why to skip |
|---|---|
| Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix | Compacts over time. Holds too much water. The starting point for most monstera root rot. |
| Fox Farm Ocean Forest | Excellent for vegetables and heavy feeders, too rich for monstera. The bat guano, fish emulsion, and crab meal feed faster than aroids can use. |
| "Tropical houseplant mix" generics | Marketing label. Read the bag — most are repackaged Miracle-Gro-style peat mixes with a leaf graphic. |
| Pure sphagnum moss | Great for propagation, not for established plants. Dries unpredictably and lacks the nutrients an established monstera needs. |
| Pure perlite | Drains perfectly, but no nutrient retention or organic matter. The plant survives, doesn't thrive. |