Swiss cheese vine
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Middling It gives warning, with time to act.
Also called Adanson's Monstera, Cheese Plant, Five Hole Plant and Swiss Cheese Plant.
Swiss cheese vine is toxic
- Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
- Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
- Toxic to people. Harmful when eaten; irritates skin and eyes. Use gloves and protective gear when handling it. RHS
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1B — 10–15°C 10–15 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Loam; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- Harmful when eaten; irritates skin and eyes. Use gloves and protective gear when handling it.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Edges of the leaf blades brown while the middle stays sound
On a Swiss cheese vine the browning starts furthest from the midrib and works inward, and it crumbles rather than smears. The centre of each leaf blade is untouched.
Transpiration rises as the air dries, and the tissue furthest from a vein loses first. Penn State Extension notes there is no single humidity figure that suits every indoor plant, which is why this site publishes a range rather than a number.
Telling it apart: Whether the soil is dry too. Crisp edges with damp soil point at the air; with dry soil, at the watering.
Penn State ExtensionSwiss cheese vine brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Long bare stretches of stem between leaf blades
Nothing browns and nothing drops; the Swiss cheese vine simply makes less, and what it makes is stretched and thin.
A plant stretches when the light is short of what it evolved for. Its source describes partial shade, and a room darker than that sets the vine reaching.
Telling it apart: Compare the colour of the newest leaf with one grown last year. Paler and smaller together is light; paler at the same size is more often feeding.
RHSSwiss cheese vine leggy, leaning growth: causes- Lower leaf blades collapse and yellow within days of a watering
Whole leaf blades yellow at once rather than browning at a margin, and the Swiss cheese vine looks deflated despite soil that has not dried since it was watered.
The source for this plant describes moist but well-drained soil. Compost that stays saturated loses the air spaces fine roots grow into, and those roots die back first.
Telling it apart: Weigh the pot in your hand. A pot still heavy a week after watering is holding more water than the roots are using.
RHSSwiss cheese vine leaves turning yellow: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Swiss cheese vine.
Routine care
- Watering
- To prevent leaf spots, keep water off the leaves and give the plant good airflow.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026In the growing season, water generously and feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser. Give little water in winter.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- Through the growing season, water generously and give a balanced liquid feed each month; in winter water sparingly.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- Stem cuttingsNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Sow seed when ripe at 18-24°C. In summer, root tip or leaf cuttings over bottom heat. Layer in autumn.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Follow pruning group 11.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by fern scale.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Glasshouse red spider mite and scale insects can attack it. Disease is uncommon.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Monstera adansonii, the Adanson's monstera, Swiss cheese plant, five holes plant or monkey mask plant, is a species of flowering plant from family Araceae, which is widespread across much of South America and Central America. Monstera adansonii is classified as a hemiepiphyte vine and can be found in tropical forests with hot and high humidity conditions.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Trop. AmericaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Southern Mexico to Tropical AmericaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Tropical AmericaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- wet tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- climberWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Herbaceous Perennial, Vine; habit ascending, climbingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Climbing, Trailing (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 36–156 in; width 12–36 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 1.5-2.5 metres; spread 0.5-1 metres after 5–10 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers cream/tan, white; blooms in springNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Swiss cheese vine
Other Monstera
More of the Araceae family
Arrowhead plantEdges of the leaf blades brown while the middle stays sound
Calla lilyEdges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
Dumb caneLeaf tips go crisp and brown
Elephant earCrisp margins that appear in winter
Flamingo flowerBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Heartleaf philodendronA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Plants with similar care
BougainvilleaCrisp margins that appear in winter
Creeping figLeaf blade tips go crisp and brown
English ivyCrisp margins that appear in winter
Purple passionLeaf blade tips go crisp and brown
Rubber plantCrisp margins that appear in winter
- No photograph yetLacy tree philodendronEdges of the leaf blades brown while the middle stays sound
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.