A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Need help with several house plants

#1 Lucky Bamboo - the stalk of one is completely yellow. Is this stalk dead? The leaves are still green. How much water is suppose to be in the container? This plant was given to me by older person who did not like it cause it grew too slow. She was given this several years ago, it is in a vase filled with pea gravel & very little water.

#2 Lucky Bamboo purchased at a flea market was in a clear glass with 3 stalks, rocks, water & something called "ice". The instructions posted on the wall stated to change the water once a week & do not let the "ice" go down the drain. What is this "ice"?

#3 The "potting soil" in potted plants from florists, is it best to get plants out of this stuff as soon an possible? When you water, the water just flows on thru. I am talking about 3 plants (Norfolk Pine & Poinsettias).

I usually have a bright green thumb towards keeping all my plants healthy & happy. It is my 1st time with these 3 plants & I am baffled with them.

m'kay, lucky bamboo can survive in medium light, but its recommended that you give it pleanty. Annnnnd yes that stalk is dead >.o sorry. just cut it off where the yellow part ends, or if the entire thing is yellow, throw it out and put it in a plastic bag first if you throw it in the garbage, cuz it'll smell HORRIBLE.
Water level is as high as you want ^.^ As long as the roots are under water, it should be fine. You can also transplant these plants into soil if you want!

As for potting soil, when the stuff gets really dry and fluffy, you need to soak it. What i do is i put it in a pot and then put it in a saucer of water and let the water get absorbed by the soil. If you have a plant in the soil, that'll probably help it get water.

Hope that helps

~Phoebe

About potting soil... I mix my own, it just gives me something more to do with my plants. I hate pearlite, as it always, eventually, winds up at the top, discolored and looking ugly. I use organic potting soil, grit a/o coarse sand I've sifted and washed from a $3.95 bag of traction sand I get at the hardware store, lava rock sometimes, sometimes some leaf mould scraped and screened from under deciduous trees in the woods, stuff like that. It's not necessarry to do this, I just like to. I would eventually repot your plants into some good standard potting soil.
HOWEVER never change two things at the same time! If these are new plants to your care, get them adjusted to your water, light levels, ... , before you think about changing the soil, too.