The 100 cmLeaf Project
One indoor-grown Monstera sp. ‘Esqueleto’. One documented attempt to grow a fully hardened leaf beyond one metre.
Open the field record
No accepted ceiling.
So we document the climb.
When this Monstera ‘Esqueleto’ arrived in April 2024, it was a three-leaf cutting with a largest leaf measuring just 15 cm. Two years later, grown indoors in PON in my living room, it has produced an 88 cm leaf.
That raised a simple question: how large can an Esqueleto leaf actually get?
I searched websites, forums, social media and grower groups, spoke to people with mature specimens and even deployed several AI research agents to investigate. Despite all that, I could not find a definitive answer, a recognised record or a properly documented biological maximum.
The Aroid Cultivar Registry describes Monstera ‘Esqueleto’ as producing leaf blades up to 78 cm long and 43 cm wide, a figure my plant has already exceeded. Google’s AI Overview later used my own 77 cm leaf as an example of an “extreme specimen,” although that information was already outdated by the time I found it.
So rather than continue waiting for someone else to establish the limit, I decided to document the attempt myself.
This page follows the journey towards a fully hardened leaf exceeding one metre, recording each new leaf, its measurements, development time and growing conditions along the way. The goal is not simply to grow an enormous leaf, but to create a useful public record for growers, researchers, the aroid community and, apparently, Google.
Nine leaves. One moving limit.
Select a leaf to inspect the measurement. Leaf 28 is a live reading and is excluded from mature averages.
| Project detail | Recorded information | Project detail | Recorded information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acquired | 30 April 2024 | Last repot | 19 July 2025 |
| Starting leaf | 15 cm | Last Chop & Extend | 21 July 2025 |
| Current vine | 95 cm | Total vine | 2.55 m |
Three routes past one metre.
Select a scenario to trace its assumptions. Success means longer than 100 cm after hardening—not a live measurement that merely rounds up.
Observed cadence, with gains easing as the metre approaches.
A feed engineered for the climb.
MON-ESQ-01 grows in PON with a nine-product custom blend: Aroid Iron Enhanced Feed V2.
Aroid Iron Enhanced Feed
Balanced macronutrients, substantial calcium and magnesium, plus enhanced iron and silicon support for a large, actively climbing aroid in semi-hydro.
Approximate share of total nutrients. Select an element to isolate it.
Breakdown is an approximate planning model, not a laboratory assay. The trace pool includes Mn, Zn, Cu, B, Mo, Cl and Ni.
The specimen, frame by frame.
A modular image wall for the record leaf, new emergence and growing setup as the project develops.
Some leaves stop
the room.
A curated signal from growers, friends, Instagram, Reddit and anyone who has met the plant in person.
Next signal: Leaf 28, flat and hardened.
The current 60 cm reading is not a final size. Once the blade has flattened, the forecast will be refreshed and the public record moves forward—one leaf at a time.
Back to top