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Bamboo

J

JoeC

Guest
hey...first post:) weee
anywayz, i have some bamboo (the lucky bamboo that isnt really bamboo at all) none-the-less i got it as a gift for my anniversary...and its honestly what has gotten me interested in the whole exotic plant world (the rest of my hobbies are expensive and time consuming)
at this point the plant is having a small problem, the leaves are lush green and so are the stems, but the leaves are kind of curling....it gets minimal sun as it should from what ive read.  i use distilled water and keep it plenty full (it sits in just rocks, no soil) i use super thrive hormone stuff and some bonsai fertilizer on the advice of another webpage....its hard to tell if there has been much new growth or anything.....i guess im just curious if anyone knows why it would be curling like that....
thanks!
JC
 
Hey JoeC
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Lucky bamboo is a strange breed
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We've sold it for years, and have seen just about every weirdness possible (so I thought) ... are the leaves curling up long ways... or are they curling up towards the stem... does that make sense?

If the long edges are curling towards eachother, I've seen that ... and noticed that our plants did that when exposed to too much light. But start to watch for yellowing of the stalk... because sometimes when the leaves did something strange like that, the stalk would suddenly yellow and kill the whole piece.

But even if you do see a yellowing stalk, it's not over. You can cut it above (or below) the yellowing ... and put it in water... it'll re-root.

But anyway, seems strange. From what I understand, IndianaGardener in the forums grows a bunch of bamboo... perhaps you should send a pvt message...

Hope this helps!
 
Hi, what'd ya say? I thought I heard my name.LOL

  I do grow several bamboo species, but they're just exactly that...bamboo. I've never grown and don't have a clue about Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana), actually in the lily family and not any type of grass at all. I do wish I knew something to help you out, but it's required growing conditions are likely quite different than my bamboo. I really wish they wouldn't call it Lucky Bamboo. I know you mentioned that you know it's not bamboo, but it misleads so many people. I think it should be called something else, perhaps it's original(?) common name I found while looking up pics to show you. It's name seems to have been Ribbon Plant. I found some info on google for you though, "Environment: prefers partial shade or partial sun to full sun; soil should be moist". "Hardiness Range:10B - 11". "Mature Height:10' to 15' / 3.00m to 4.60m"
Here's a link I found that may help too: http://www.plant-care.com/PlantCareTips/070701.asp
BTW, found no pics of a full grown plant:( I know I did on day, but can't find it now. It was pretty big.
I hope your plant does ok. You can hopefully help someone else too if yours makes it. Have a great day.
Bye for now.
 
Well its curling longways....like a hotdog bun:)
only 2 of the three stalks are doing it
i guess it could be getting to much sun....but i have both my windows covered with sheets (yes sheets...sigh)
the windows werent covered before but a couple leaves started to turn yellow (thus the sheets:)) is it possible its still recovering from to much sun? that was a couple weeks ago and probably only for a few days....
 
Hmm...I grow two D. sanderiana varieties, neither of which is unhealthy. One is the aquatic Lucky Bamboo, the other's in soil, is variegated, and smaller.

JoeC, I'll try to tell you what I know: D. sanderiana is from the Canary Islands and southern Asia, so it probably appreciates warm temperatures, high humidity, and a long photoperiod. Photoperiod is the number of hours per day that a plant recieves light, e.g., a 12 hour photoperiod.

The canes (a clump of nine) are in an undrained container with the water constantly near the pot rim. I do not add fertilizer or Superthrive or anything at all to the water I use, which is distilled because tap water causes an annoying mineral build-up on the pot rim and plant.

Apparently, some people grow the plant in clear glass containers so that you can see the roots. They are wrong--do not do that because algae will often appear in the water, forcing you to clean everything out. Instead use a solid-colored container, preferably not plastic. Also, some people do not fill the container with pebbles, leaving instead a pool of water without a place for sanderiana's roots to take hold. Also, algae is more likely to form in water without pebbles because a lack of pebbles allows the sun to penetrate into the container's water, promoting algae growth.

BTW, I don't use fertilizer on my aquatic sanderiana because 1) it's a hassle 2) the annoying mineral build-up is more severe when you fertilize and 3) the dreaded algae growth is quickened when you fertilize.

My plant (actually, plants) is on a kitchen counter adjacent to a south-facing window shaded by an outdoor roof overhang and a big, annoying Hedera helix. The plant receives filtered sun for most of the day and direct sun for parts of the morning and evening. I know the light is strong because the sanderiana is next to a hydrophytic Spathiphyllum whose vase constantly needs cleaning of the algae (I would instead use a solid-colored container and pebbles as with the sanderiana, but the vase happens to contain Spock, a Betta fish).

The plant is in fairly high humidity, thanks to the transpiration of neighboring plants, occasional misting, the water in its open container, and a nearby ocean.

The plant's health kind of contradicts what I said before about providing high temperatures, etc.: it is thriving despite strong sun and a significant temperature differential from summer to winter (Massachusetts is stranger than it seems).

The plants are around two feet tall, including the leafy offshoots from the canes. About every month, I flush out the container by running it under the faucet, allowing the old, stale water to be flooded away. This, I think, refreshes the plant and discourages algae. The leaves also tend to collect dust, so I occasionally wipe them off with a damp cloth and discourage dust build-up with the aforementioned mistings.

BTW, the most important thing you can do as a plant-grower is buy your plants from a reputable source, such as PFT. I bought mine from a steamy hothouse in a local nursery, but it acclimatized to my conditions quickly.

About hydroponics: hydroponics is when you grow plants in a nutrient solution (i.e, fertilizer-infused water) instead of soil. I don't know if one could consider an aquatic sanderiana to be hydroponically-grown...hydroponic systems tend to aerate water with lots of little bubbles, which promotes plant growth and is not featured in my (and, I think, your) anerobic-watered setup.

Disregard the above paragraph--I rambled and it may not be of interest to you.

Any questions are welcome.

Chris



(Edited by Dionaea Enthusiast at 7:27 am on May 25, 2002)
 
Ok my experiance with D. Sandriana.

We propigated it in a warm humid Green House under about 50% shade cloth. It did smashingly well. I have seen Plants from that place go to near cactus gardins and do fine and others get groun fully emersed in water and do fine, and yet I've seen some go to nearly the same conditions as where they started and spontaneously die. Wierd stuff. I like to grow it on a loose potting mix which I water about like a Philodundren, This should be bad but mine grew well, until I got careless and they got frosted, GONE. I'm in southern California and some times you can leave the darndest things out side, this leads to accidents and empty pots.
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Ghrey
 
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