What to Do With Monstera Aerial Roots (Should You Cut Them?)

Sooner or later, every Monstera owner notices them: thick, pale, cord-like roots pushing out of the stem, sometimes several inches above the soil. They can look a little alarming the first time — like the plant is doing something it shouldn’t. It isn’t. Those are aerial roots, and they’re a sign of a healthy, maturing climber. Here’s what they do and how to handle them.

What aerial roots actually are

Aerial roots are roots that grow above the soil, out of the plant’s stem rather than down in the pot. On a Monstera they usually appear at the nodes — the same points where leaves and new growth emerge.

In the wild, this is how the plant gets up into the light. Monstera deliciosa is native to the rainforests of Central America, from southern Mexico to Panama, where it climbs tree trunks toward the canopy — and it uses those long, tentacle-like aerial roots to grip the bark and haul itself upward as it grows. So when your indoor Monstera starts pushing them out, it’s following the exact same instinct: it’s looking for something to climb.

Why yours is growing them

A few things tend to bring aerial roots on, and none of them are a problem:

• Maturity. As a Monstera settles in and grows, aerial roots are just part of the package. More roots often means a happier, more established plant.
• The urge to climb. A vining plant that’s getting tall wants vertical support. Aerial roots are it reaching out for something to hold.
• Humidity and moisture. Aerial roots can also help the plant take up moisture from the air, which is why you’ll sometimes see more of them in a humid spot.

Should you cut them off?

This is the big question, and the short answer is: usually, no.

Aerial roots aren’t hurting anything, and they’re doing a real job — support and moisture uptake. Cutting them won’t kill your plant, but it also doesn’t benefit it, and constantly snipping them off works against the plant’s natural climbing habit.

There are really only two reasons to trim one: if a root has grown long, dried out, and gone crispy and brown, you can remove that dead section; and if a root is sprawling somewhere genuinely inconvenient, a careful trim with clean scissors is fine. Do it sparingly. Never strip them all off at once — you’d just be removing healthy growth the plant put energy into making.

A much better option than cutting is to give those roots somewhere to go.

Train them onto a moss pole instead

This is what aerial roots are built for. A moss pole recreates the mossy tree trunk a Monstera would climb in the wild, and gives every one of those roots a damp, grippable surface to attach to.

The payoff is real: a climbing Monstera with its roots anchored to a moist pole tends to grow larger, more upright, and more dramatically split leaves than one left to sprawl. You’re not just tidying up the roots — you’re encouraging better growth.

Here’s how to guide them:

• Position the pole close to the stem. Sink a packed moss pole into the pot right behind the main stem so the aerial roots have a short reach to the moss.
• Loosely tie the stem to the pole. Use soft plant ties or twine to hold the stem against the pole. You’re aiming the nodes and their aerial roots toward the moss — the roots do the actual attaching themselves over the following weeks.
• Keep the moss damp. Aerial roots grip and grow into moss that stays consistently moist. Long-fiber sphagnum moss encourages strong aerial root attachment, and watering through the pole keeps it evenly wet without daily misting.
• Be patient. Roots won’t grab on overnight. Give them a few weeks of contact with damp moss and they’ll start burrowing in on their own.

If you want the full packing-and-watering walkthrough, our step-by-step moss pole guide covers it.

What about the ones near the soil?

Some aerial roots grow downward and reach the soil on their own — that’s completely normal, and you can simply let them root into the pot when you next water. Others you can gently tuck toward the soil surface at repotting time if they’re long enough. There’s no need to force it either way.

Aerial roots vs. a problem

Aerial roots sometimes get confused with trouble, so a quick gut-check:

• Firm, green, or pale-tan roots reaching out from the stem — normal, healthy aerial roots. Leave them or guide them to a pole.
• Mushy, dark, foul-smelling roots down in the pot — that’s a soil root issue (often overwatering or poor drainage), not an aerial-root one, and worth addressing separately.

If your aerial roots are firm and growing, there’s nothing to fix. They’re one of the clearest signs you’ve got a climber that’s ready to go up.

Give those roots a moss pole to grab onto and let your Monstera do what it was built to do. Ready to get started? Shop the pieces below.