Monstera obliqua - Napo Form
Monstera obliqua Miq. · Napo Form Monstera Obliqua
Typical UK price
£5
Limited data
Price by size
- Sold, 90 days
- 1
- Middle half
- -
- Last sold
- 3 Sep 2026
- On record
- 3
Cutting/cormEstimate
7cm1 sold
12cmEstimate
MatureEstimate
- Sale
- Typical
- Middle half
- Estimate
for a 7cm pot
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About Monstera obliqua - Napo Form
The Napo Form of Monstera obliqua is a hemiepiphyte native to the humid, lowland to lower montane rainforests of Napo, Ecuador. It thrives in warm, shaded understories with high humidity and filtered light, ascending slender supports with aerial roots. This form is distinguished by its elongated, oblong-elliptic leaves with multiple irregular perforations. It represents a cultivated locality form, valued for its unique fenestration and airy structure.
Native range
Napo, Ecuador; cultivated locality form
Classification
- Genus
- Monstera
- Family
- Araceae
- Type
- Wild
- Growth habit
- Hemiepiphyte climber
- Form of
- Monstera obliqua
Morphology
- Leaf shape
- Elongated, oblong-elliptic
- Leaf length
- Indeterminate, generally elongated
- Leaf width
- Indeterminate, generally narrow
- Petiole colour
- Not specified, likely green
- Venation
- Multiple irregular, elongated internal perforations
- Texture
- Delicate
- Variegation
- None
- Growth habit
- Climbing
Recent UK sales
For sale in the UK
By month
| Month | Median | Sold |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | £5 | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | £8 | 1 |
| May 2026 | £30 | 1 |
Before you buy
- Genuine Monstera obliqua leaves are extremely fenestrated (70-90% hole coverage) and paper-thin/near-translucent. Thicker, less extreme fenestration is almost always Monstera adansonii
- Look for leafless exploratory stolons on the plant or cutting. True obliqua produces these before leaves; adansonii does not
- Ask the seller for the specific locality/collection origin. Reputable true-obliqua sellers can usually name it; generic 'obliqua' listings with no origin are a red flag
- Given the price involved, request close-up photos of an actual leaf held up to light before buying, not just a listing photo
Monstera obliqua - Napo Form care
- Substrate
- Very open, chunky epiphytic mix: sphagnum moss, fine orchid bark and perlite. True obliqua roots are fine and easily suffocated or rotted in dense substrate.
- Watering
- Keep consistently and lightly moist; the paper-thin leaves have almost no water storage capacity and desiccate quickly, but waterlogged roots rot just as fast.
- Humidity
- 75-95% is non-negotiable. This species is essentially impossible to grow well outside a closed, humidity-controlled enclosure or greenhouse in a UK home.
- Feeding
- Very dilute liquid fertiliser (quarter strength or less) no more than once a month, since this is an extremely slow-growing plant with minimal nutrient demand.
- Repotting
- Rarely: disturb the root system as little as possible; repot only when the container is genuinely outgrown.
Common problems
Leaf desiccation / crisping
Cause: Humidity below the 75%+ this species requires
Fix: Move into a sealed cabinet or greenhouse. Open-room humidifiers are rarely sufficient for true obliqua
Stem/node rot
Cause: Overwatering combined with dense substrate or poor airflow
Fix: Repot into a very open mix, improve airflow, and reduce watering frequency while keeping ambient humidity high
Mislabelled purchase
Cause: The overwhelming majority of plants sold as 'Monstera obliqua' are actually Monstera adansonii
Fix: Verify fenestration ratio (70-90% hole coverage), leaf translucency, and presence of leafless exploratory stolons before paying true-obliqua prices
Gear for this plant
- Coir Moss Pole, 120cm (4-Pack)Coco coir totem for climbing aroids to root into as they grow upward.
- Natural Rooting Powder, 3 x 75gRooting hormone powder for stem and leaf cuttings.
- Precision Bonsai Pruning Scissors, 200mmFine-bladed snips for clean node cuts when taking a cutting.
- Humidity Dome, Heavy-Duty Germination KitVented propagation dome for holding humidity around fresh cuttings.
How to propagate Monstera obliqua - Napo Form
- Methods
- Node cutting. Step-by-step guide
- Difficulty
- Expert Only. Demands precise humidity, temperature, and light control, often a greenhouse or grow tent. Prone to decline outside those conditions.
- Time to establish
- 6-12+ months
- True from cuttings
- Yes. Cuttings keep the cultivar's character.
- Notes
- Notoriously difficult and slow to propagate; single-node cuttings are the norm, and rot rather than rooting is the most common outcome without near-sterile, high-humidity propagation conditions (sphagnum in a sealed box or in-vitro tissue culture).