A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Lucky Bamboo

My daughter gave me a "Lucky Bamboo". She told me "No soil, just water". I've only had it for a few days and the edges of some of the leaves are turning brown. Would it be moving it from house to house, too much or too little light? Does anyone know what I can do?

Thanks

Hi and welcome, gmom! It's funny that you wrote about a Lucky Bamboo. I bought one about two months ago when we first moved into our new home. I lightly misted it daily (no watering). For all this time, it was doing great. Just recently, a couple of the leaves turned yellow-tan. I trimmed it up and it's looking better, but not "perky" if you know what I mean.

My guess is your plant moving around doesn't help. I would recommend indirect light and misting only. I'm not sure the root structure on these things is that great. How big is your plant?

I hope we get more advice on this one...

Hi to both of you!

I'm not sure if you know that your lucky "bamboo" is not really bamboo at all, but really a Dracaena? I have had a few for many years now in water. I keep them in low light areas and they have done well for me. Could it be that you put them in too much direct sun?

Hi Gmom,
A friend gave me one of those Lucky bamboo plants about a year ago.A few months ago I put it in what was a glass candle holder.(It's on a stand and the Glass container is large enough to hold a large round candle.)I layered some gravel,then put pretty stones on top.It stands in a corner of my kitchen,no direct sunlight.I ocassionally mist it,and wipe off the leaves with a damp cloth.
The plant seems VERY happy.It has doubled its size.Good luck ! Bren

that's terrific, Brenl. I don't think mine is very happy where it lives. I'm going to try moving it in my kitchen as well!

I have lucky bamboo for about 9 months now.. I bought it at the end of the year deal, all made up in its own container, with about 12 sticks or more.. A few died but now lots of them doubled in size and roots..
I keep mine on the north side of the house, on the refrigerator....It gets no sun at all.. There is a window on its right ...

First time here.

dodge

yes, it's actually dracaena! (not bamboo)

i've got two bunches. one is in stones/water and the other in just plain water. both are in indirect light areas the one with the western exposure does better than the one with the northern exposure. both are healthy and growing.

keep an eye on the water level - if it dries out for too long, you'll see browning leaves.

you can plant it in soil. i've never bothered because they are doing fine in the water (not gonna mess with something that's working ).

Joclyn,

How does it do outdoors? (I'm in florida). Maybe my plant would do better on the patio. I have a NW facing area..what do you think?

nay it doesnt like sun.

Or a lot of light.

dodge

this type of draceana likes bright, indirect light. it would burn if it was directly in the sunlight. if your patio is pretty well shaded - maybe place it so it's near the wall and just gets some residual light - it might do okay.

i wouldn't leave it outside during the hottest and most humid months tho...i don't think it's hardy enough to deal with the really bad weather you can get down there!

i agree with Joclyn

dodge

mine HATES the chlorinated water...so i let a bucket of tap water stand 2-3 days to let the chlorine out if i can't have rainwater

patunia

Your a smart cookie.........

Rain water is the best medicine.. I keep a large plastic Barrel under my one rain spout and use it to water all the plants .........DIp and dump.

I have hard water, from a well......

Good luck and keep us informed..

dodge

yes, i too let my water stand before i put it in any of the planters. can't do that for that outdoors stuff that's in the ground tho...everything manages pretty well tho

I've had a lucky bamboo for about 3 years now. I made the mistake once if putting it outside to get some real sunlight. Not good, it got a little burnt and started to turn yellow. Now I keep it in the corner of my living room where it doesn't get any direct sunlight. It has now more than doubled in size. I have mine in a ceramic container filled with rocks and I top it off with water every day. I use filtered water for mine and it seems to love it. I recently bought two more, with containers filled with rocks and they are doing great. I mist all of my plants at least 3 times a week and it doesn't seem to bother the bamboo.

Mine are in clear shade and no window.. On the refrigerator......
Hard water from the well..........They seem to like that.........

dodge

I don't have much time (on my lunch break at work) so I didn't read all of the reply's so I hope I'm not repeating someone else. But I have a couple lucky bamboo that had a bunch of brown leave when I got it (got it for free) and I had some trouble getting it happy again, but one thing I noticed is that they like to have their water changed, ever since I've been changing the water every week, the roots that used to be rusty colored have turned white and the tips have stopped turning yellow. Hope that's some help.

Thanks

I will check that out on mine.

dodge

i transplanted mine into soil because they said it would last longer. ive had it for about 2 years and then transplanted its 7 stems into soil. it dropped and one stem died but now its doing great!. They dont have to stay in water.

There you go..........i didnt know that either.
Mine is about a year old..........Might try that.

dodge

they can be kept in soil or water.

i've got mine in water - i've got one bunch that i've had for more than 3 years now and another group that i've had for almost 2. both are doing well.

joclyn

Do they stay the same size/

Mine got more leaves, some died..But it had about 15 in the container.

Dont bloom do they ???????

dodge