A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 lucky bamboo

My lucky baboo shoots have gone yellow and feeble, even though the leaves on top are still green, a second one is turning yelloe from the bottom? it has enough light, not too much, and is in water. Is there a common disease they fall fowl to?

i've also got one that is turning yellow...have no idea why.

I keep all of mine out of any direct light and have never had a problem. My mom had hers in her living room which got pretty btight and hers turned yellow and died. I believe they are more of a shade plant and don't like direct light. Maybe try moving it to another area that gets less light and see what happens?

Mine doesn't get any light at all... it's actually sitting on top of my piano... it's a very dark green... it's very rootbound though, but that doesn't seem to be stopping it... it's in it's little pot that I bought it in..

I'd try moving it out of light, and maybe waiting for it dry dry completely before watering it again... I let it dry out, than fill it with water[and the water sits there], then when it drys out, i just water it again... works for me?!...

Here's what mine looks like:



Good luck!

they can be in indirect light.

the one i've got a problem with is normally in a north facing window - was fine for almost 5 years in that spot. since it started having a problem i've brought it down to the kitchen where the other one is - and i put it in a different container as the one it was in had some algea growing in it...i don't know why the algae started growing -- AHH HA! just had a thought...i know why there's algae in the other container!!! a tree across the street fell down in a storm during the summer...guess that window gets more light than it used to!

ahh, nice to have the mystery solved! i hope that stalk survives!!

anyhoo, if you've got the plant in water only, then you should never let it get bone dry...that will cause the leaves to yellow up from lack of water.

If the stalks have gone yellow, they maybe dead. Especially if they"re squishy and begin to grow mold. Don"t worry Dracaenas (which the lucky bamboo is one) can have their moments. These plants easily rot from water-logged soil or stagnant water. If your lucky the sprouts may re-root themselves in the dead tissue of the stalk. If not death maybe around the corner.

I read someplace recently that they can only live with *just* water for so long and then you should put them into soil... hm.. have to see if I can find where I saw that again...

-Manda

probably read it here. if you add fertilizer to the water (or do what i've done, use water from the fish tank to refill it) you can keep them in water a long time. otherwise, planting them is almost always best.