New to Bamboo! - 'Lucky Bamboo'

[Jayneblonde]

Hi everyone - I am new to this forum and am new to keeping bamboo - have been given a small pot containing stems of bamboo which sit in a kind of sponge arrangement... the stems 'step' in height from about 3" at the base to about 6" in three seperate tiers... i have removed the ones that looked mouldy and very dehydrated (black with a kind of mould on them) and i just wondered:

How much water to give them?
Do i need to take them out of the pot and clean it out everyso often?
Do i need to give them any plant food, if so what?

ANY advice is greatly received!!!

xxx

[bambookid524]

I don't know what kind you have/ Can you post pics?

[CaroleMeckes]

(sounds like this may be "lucky bamboo")
http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?p=2346#post2346

[bambookid524]

Thats what I was thinking but wasn't sure from description.

[Jayneblonde]

will try to take pictures, it is at work so will have to use the mobile phone to take some! they are all held together by silver wire type things - most strange, never seen anything like it! x

[bambookid524]

OK it is definitely lucky bamboo. Not real bamboo.

They would do fine it you just make sure the roots are in water, change the water in their pot every so often. (You don't really need to, but sometime the pots get mold.)

Don't need plant food. They will do fine with only water.

[Jayneblonde]

Hopefully i have managed to upload a pic! - and i have! let me know for definate! thanks for your help guys x

[bambookid524]

OK that is definitely Lucky Bamboo, (Dracaena Sanderia) a form of Water Lily.

All that plant needs is lots of water.

It is kind of cool because if you cut a branch off and put it in water or soil it will root within two weeks.

Good luck with it.


-Steve

[stevelau1911]

Here is my lucky bamboos planted with potting soil about 4 months ago. I keep them outside underneath my sunflowers for partial shade, but they haven't grown at all and turned a lighter green.

Does anyone know if they are supposed to do that? Has anyone had success growing lucky bamboo?

[CaroleMeckes]

I have only really heard about growing "lucky bamboo" in water - not in soil.
Carole

[stevelau1911]

The last time, I did grow lucky bamboo in water, but the sticks eventually turned yellow and rotted.

My guess is that the water was too cool, and that killed the roots. If all of the ones I have now make it through the winter, I'll try putting half of them in the ground with partial shade, hoping they will make some progress.

[CaroleMeckes]

I hope you are planning to bring them inside for the winter if you want them to survive.
Carole

[stevelau1911]

Of course, I plan on putting in all my potted plants by the first frost, and stack a few feet of wood mulch on bamboos.;)

[stevelau1911]

Its zone 6A here, and usually gets as low as 3-7 degrees at night coldest, so I'm taking every precaution I can to keep all my plants.

[CaroleMeckes]

Here (http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/luckybamboo/msg0721033910266.html) is a link to a interesting article at the Gardenweb about growing lucky bamboo in soil.

Carole

[stevelau1911]

It is pretty hard to grow lucky bamboo since you can't use tap water right away, need a specific type of soil, sunlight. I should be happy my plants are still alive. Its worse because I live in a cool climate, but thanks for the link.

I was wondering. Carole Meckes, by looking at your flora, it looks like you have massive groves of bamboo. How much of it do you grow?

[CaroleMeckes]

I had the good fortune of purchasing a house in 1991 with an established Phyllostachys aurea grove. (I estimate the grove was started in the 1950's.)

It was an instant love affair with bamboo and I started to learn about taking care of the thicket.

When I met Mark Meckes in the year 2000, he transformed the grove and cleaned it up and thinned it out. At that time I had a few other bamboo species.

He added a lot of different species and posted this list: http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2272

(the square bamboo which I added in 2008 did not make it - it would have been wiser for me to put it in a pot till it got better established instead of putting it in the ground - as it was a young plant that I dug from the edge of a grove).

Part of the aurea grove is on level ground but most of it is on a steep hill on the adjoining lot which I purchased in the mid nineties so that I could preserve the bamboo landscape. I'd say I have about 1 3/4 acres inside the city of Austin.

It is my joy to have such a grove to tend to right where I live.

Carole

[stevelau1911]

50+ species is a lot. I only have 3 not counting my mexican bamboo, or dracena which are not guaranteed to make it through the winter here.
If my plants survive the winter, I wouldn't mind getting a few more species, especially walking stick bamboo.