My monstera dropped 3 leaves in one week and I almost gave up on it

Abby Campbell · 2026-09-28T23:30:05.009159+00:00

I keep my monstera in the corner of my bedroom in Portland near a west window, and two weeks ago it started dropping leaves, three in seven days. I panicked and thought root rot, so I pulled it out of the pot and the roots looked fine, which confused me even more. Then I stuck my finger down in the soil and realized it was bone dry way deeper than I thought, my cheap moisture meter was reading wet because of a crusty top layer. So I started bottom watering in the sink for 20 minutes every 9 days and stopped trusting that little gauge, and it pushed out a new leaf on day 12. The new leaf is only about 4 inches but I stared at it like it was a prize tomato. Has anyone else had a moisture meter lie to them, and what do you use instead?

miller.avery9d ago

Ha! @jordancoleman called it, that meter only knows the crust.

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kim_nelson9d ago

How deep are you actually sticking your finger when you check? @miller.avery seems to just go by feel too, but I'm never sure if two inches down is telling me the truth either. Do you wait until the soil is dry at the bottom of the pot or just a couple inches down?

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jordancoleman9d ago

Shoot, your meter wasn't lying, it reads the top crust, not the dry stuff below.

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