Monstera Obliqua Vs Adansonii - How to Tell Them

Monstera Obliqua resemble Monstera Adansonii in appearance. They develop holes inside the leaves that are similar in shape, and the leaves themselves are narrow rather than oval or arrowlike.

The Obliqua's leaves are paper-thin and will often be more of a hole than a leaf, whereas the Adansonii's leaves are typically thicker and have a subtle texture to them.

How Do You Identify a Monstera Plant?

As the most prevalent member of the Monstera genus, you're probably already familiar with the Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa). The Monstera Adansonii (also known as the Monkey Mask), which is rarer than the Swiss Cheese and has holes inside the leaves rather than splits along the edges, is a specialty of Bloombox Club.

Recent debate has centered on the authenticity of the incredibly rare Monstera Obliqua plants that occasionally appear in plant stores. It would be unexpected given what we currently know about these plants for them to start showing up in retail establishments.

Genetic testing might be necessary to determine whether or not they were genuine if the fraud problem got really bad.

Differences Between Monstera Obliqua and Adansonii

The Monstera Obliqua and Adansonii varieties have striking similarities during the first few years of growth, leading the majority of people to confuse the two. As they mature, the distinctions only become more pronounced.

Unlike the Monstera Obliqua, which has thin, paper-thin leaves, the Monstera Adansonii has thick, leathery leaves. As the plants age, additional physical variations, such as the size difference, become more obvious.

In comparison to the Monstera Adansonii, the Monstera Obliqua has a much slower rate of growth and is smaller when fully grown.

Again, the Obliqua variety also produces leafless runners, also referred to as "stolons," which, in their natural environment, can reach lengths of up to 60 feet.

In addition to being expensive and rare, the Monstera obliqua variety is notoriously difficult to care for or maintain.

This is due to the plant's delicate leaves, which are easily harmed by the impact of direct sunlight or prolonged exposure to LED grow lights, which demand an environment with a humidity level of 80%.

The Monstera Adansonii variety, in contrast, has slightly rougher and thicker leaves.

While its humidity levels are close to or above 60%, like the Obliqua variety, its leaves will be harmed by excessive sunlight but not as easily as the latter.

Fenestration Shape and Size

Swiss cheese plant refers to a genus of plants called Monstera.

You will be aware that they have more than lived up to that moniker if you have ever encountered a species of plant from this genus.

A Monstera has numerous holes of varying sizes dotted throughout the foliage.

The holes on the monstera leaves have a scientific name, and that's fenestrations.

The Monstera plant is known as the Swiss cheese plant because of the irregularly sized holes on its leaves.

By examining the fenestrations, you can distinguish between the Obliqua and Adansonii with ease.

Smaller and narrower fenestrations are more typical of the Adansonii. When the Adansonii is young, they resemble almost slits rather than holes.

Its fenestrations never get too big, even as the Adansonii ages. Smaller holes are scattered across each leaf and they are longer than they are wide.

In contrast, the Obliqua has substantial fenestrations. Monstera Obliqua has the largest fenestrations of any Monstera species, by far.

Given the size of the perforations, it's not unfair to say that the Obliqua has more open space than leaf.

Given how little there is to the leaves, they are very brittle.

The fact that even an Obliqua must mature into its fenestrations must be made abundantly clear. These enormous holes won't likely be visible until the plant has reached maturity or is very close to it.

Leaf Edges

You can keep researching these Monstera plant species' leaves to distinguish one from the other.

The leaf edges should be checked next.

Even though this is a more subtle distinction, if you held up a true Obliqua and an Adansonii, you would notice the leaf edges are different.

While the Obliqua grows leaves with traditionally wavy edges, the Adansonii grows leaves with traditional straight edges.

Leaf Size

Do you still have a problem deciding if you have an Obliqua or an Adansonii? The size of the plant's leaves may be a giveaway.

To avoid being repetitious, I must emphasize that your plant must be mature for leaf size differences to be particularly noticeable.

It is obvious that young or still-growing plants will have smaller leaves, making it more difficult to differentiate between species using leaf size alone. However, when the plants are fully grown, their sizes will differ greatly from one another.

The leaves of the obliqua are not particularly big. The Obliqua's leaves are frequently measured in centimeters, which reveals a lot.

Obliqua leaves range in size from 10 centimeters (3.93 inches) to 25 centimeters (9.84 inches), on average.

Larger still is an Adansonii leaf. Since a mature leaf is between 20 and 30 inches long, there are no centimeters involved.

Your ability to distinguish between an Adansonii and an Obliqua should be straightforward once both of your plants are fully grown. All you need to do is grab a measuring tape and determine the size of the leaves.

You can learn everything you need to know by comparing the size of their leaves!

Leaf Thickness

This final and more subtle difference in foliar structure between the Obliqua and Adansonii. To truly understand how these plants differ, you would need to compare the two.

The leaves of the Adansonii are thicker, probably because it has more leaves overall. The Adansonii has a leathery, rough texture. not at all as delicate as the Obliqua.

Naturally, the Obliqua has much more delicate leaves. Try not to touch them for an extended period of time, and especially not with a lot of force, as they are delicate and almost paper-like.

Growth Speed

Measure your Monstera's growth rate over time if you're still unsure of whether it is an Adansonii or an Obliqua.

Due to the fact that there are much fewer of these plants in existence, this contributes to its rarity.

It's not unusual for the Adansonii to increase in height by several feet in about a month. In a month, I did indeed say.

Even though it grows slowly, the Obliqua does grow. It just so happens that pace is painfully, excruciatingly slow.

It typically takes years to observe growth of several feet from the Obliqua.

This is true even in the plant's natural habitat, which provides everything it needs for growth.

Naturally, I must point out that a plant's growth is not a given. In your house or place of business, you must create the ideal environment for the plant.

If you follow those instructions and are growing an Adansonii, the plant will reward you with quick, abundant growth.

Despite its rarity, caring for this plant can be frustrating because the Obliqua won't.

Runners Or Stolons

Is there any runners on your Monstera? You now know whether you are taking care of an Obliqua or an Adansonii, depending on whether it does or does not.

First, allow me to explain what runners, also called "stolons" are.

Vertical stems are referred to as runners or stolons.

However, stolons can also develop below the surface of the soil, where they are invisible. Stolons typically appear right at the top of the soil.

The node's stolons sprout a number of accidental roots. When a plant is stressed, these roots may develop in non-stolons. However, adventitious roots are a normal part of a plant's growth in a stolon-containing plant.

Strawberry plants are the best illustration of stolons in a plant species. There may be more strawberries as the stolons expand.

Your Monstera is most likely an Adansonii if you don't see any of these horizontal roots. Stolons typically do not form in this species.

Keep an eye out for stolons; the Monstera Obliqua is renowned for producing them, especially when properly cared for.

Price Discrepancy

The price is the last distinction to be made between Monstera obliqua and Adansonii, and boy, are you likely to notice a significant difference here.

The cost of an Adansonii is comparable to that of the majority of other popular indoor plants. You can anticipate paying anywhere from $15 to occasionally $30. It costs not too much money.

On the other hand, an Obliqua will cost you much more than a typical houseplant that you can easily find at your neighborhood nursery or plant store because it is one of the most fashionable and rare houseplants.

How Are Monstera Obliqua and Adansonii Similar?

However, despite the growing differences between the Monstera obliqua and the Adansonii varieties as they mature, there are still some obvious similarities between them, one of which is that they are both indoor plants belonging to the same Araceae family.

Additionally, they do best when exposed to bright indirect sunlight and thrive in abundant natural light.

In other words, they are both susceptible to the damaging effects of direct sunlight, which can burn and destroy their foliage, causing their leaves to wilt; hence, the need to keep them out of the sun.

Both plants require regular watering. To prevent root rot, for example, their soil must be kept moist but not overly soaked in the summer.

Both also need adequate drainage holes underneath the pots or containers so that extra water can easily drain from the roots of the plants.

At some point in their cycles, both varieties also require repotting. Despite the fact that it may take some time (the Obliqua can take considerably longer), they will eventually outgrow the pots. Additionally, both require an all-purpose liquid fertilizer with an NPK ratio of 20-20-20 that is applied at half strength.

Although you can prune off their dead leaves to help control their growth, both varieties are slow growers and do not require routine pruning. After that, both plants need propagation to increase in number, despite their minor differences in the process.

What's Better About Monstera Obliqua?

There's this general myth that the Monstera Obliqua has "90% holes and 10% leaf." Only mature Peruvian forms of obliqua are typically affected by this.

There are additional varieties of Obliqua that have few, if any, holes and are typically found elsewhere in South America.

Obliqua isn't in any nurseries. Because they are so expensive and are typically traded between private collectors, obliqua is an intriguing idea. As the saying goes, "Good things are not inexpensive."

What's Better About Monstera Adansonii?

The Monstera Adansonii grows at a much more pleasing rate and makes for a much better houseplant. In addition to being more affordable, less difficult to locate, and simpler to maintain or care for, this variety will make you happier.