white substance on Lucky Bamboo

[littlebit]

I'm a newcomer to this site. Help....I love my bamboo (it looks like bamboo to me) but I'm continously having to check the leafs and stalks for this white substance. If I don't remove the white the leaves start turning golden brown and die.
So, I have been wiping away the white substance, but now...I notice the white stuff is down close to the stalk where the shoots start to grow.
I have one container indoors. It has several small stalks woven together. They are set in small stones with only water. The container is clear and aprox. 6x6.
My girlfriends each bought one and theirs were thrown out because they looked so bad! Because I have been wiping the leafs and I also put in the shower occasionally and shower the plant with water my plant looks good. Except it is a constant concern to me.
The place where I bought the bamboo is not there and I cannot find anymore bamboo that is woven together and has this look.
This message must sound strange because I haven't a clue about how to treat this plant., but I'm sure there must be a simple explanation.
I called the MI State Ag. Extension to see if they could advise. No help.
So, please give me advice about what to do before I give up on this plant.....

[Carole Meckes]

It sound like you have what is called "Lucky Bamboo" which is not really a bamboo at all - but is really Dracaena sanderiana.

I'm thinking of seaching for all the threads here about Lucky Bamboo and putting them all into a "Lucky Bamboo" 'subforum' of Growing Bamboo.

Carole

[R e x]

Carole, that actually sounds like a great idea, lol.

Yes, littlebit, you have Dracaena sanderiana. It's a houseplant that many people come here asking about. I think it originated in Africa. Wherever it's from, it's not related to bamboo at all :(.

Some tips I have for you are:
- Change the water every 2 weeks. You shouldn't use water straight from the tap. You can try bottled water.
- If you must use tap water, you should fill a cup and let it sit out for 24 hours. Supposedly, this removes the chlorine and fluorine from the water by allowing the chemicals to go through chemical reactions with the air.
- Make sure the plant has adequate light. It doesn't like to be in full sun though.

[CaroleMeckes]

We now have a special forum for Lucky Bamboo:
http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=169

I've tried to move all the threads about Lucky Bamboo to the new 'subforum' of Growing Bamboo (let me know if you find some other threads that need to be moved to the new area).

When for searching for the word "lucky" here at the Bamboo Forums - there are some unrelated threads that come up - so I've been working on changing the word "lucky" to "fortunate" in some of the threads -

Hope the new Lucky Bamboo Forum will be helpful to those seeking help on their 'pseudo bamboos'.

Carole