Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) and pests?

[lizlucas]

I am not an experienced bamboo grower, and I recently noticed that one of my bamboo shoots has grown very pale in color, and its leaves have begun to turn brown and curl at the edges; additionaly, the rocks around it have turned black and it appears to be almost rotting at the bottom. Upon doing reserch, I learned that bamboo does not like direct sunlight(it had been sitting in a window) and I have moved it since, but the problem is still going on. I water it often, and it is indoors, so could a pest be the issue? I appreciate any advice that anyone out there can offer!!

[Mark Meckes]

Hi lizlucas,
I don't think what you have is real bamboo, but what is called `Lucky Bamboo'( Dracaena sanderiana ) It is a marketing name ( Sell Lucky Bamboo - Get Rich -Be Lucky!) Actually it has a lot to do with various interpretations and different meanings that has made it popular.
The fact that it can be grown in low light, that the stem can be contorted to different shapes for living arrangements, that it's easy to root and that it's pest are minimal (thrips, scale...) and especially that it looks bambooey, with it's noded stems, enable promoters to cloak it with all the fine virtues that are bestowed upon bamboo.
Alas it's a pseudo bamboo (pretending to be bamboo)
So if your luck doesn't pan out with lucky bamboo, may your dreams and aspirations become realized instead!

Your problem sounds like some kind of stem rot. If the top part of the plant still has life you could cut off the rotted portion and see if the top portion will root.

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Below is some info of interest, but probably more then you wanted to know...

Here's a page from the site of WinnipegFlowers with well presented basic info about Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana)
Lucky Bamboo: History, Meaning and Care (http://www.winnipegflowers.com/Bamboo/lucky%20bamboo%20care.htm)

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Regarding pests...

In this article by Christine Kindl of the Tribune Review
Lucky bamboo' sprouts good karma (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/style/homegarden/greenthumb/s_112968.html), she says...

"Pests seldom bother lucky bamboo, but they have plagued its importers.

Some lucky bamboo grown overseas was shipped in containers of water, a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Now the plants — grown mainly in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong — must be inspected and treated with pesticides when they arrive at U.S. ports. These days, most make the journey not in water, but in moisture-retaining gel.

And since October(2002), all importers must obtain permits and plant-health certificates for shipments of lucky bamboo. In response, a number of growers have set up shop in Florida and California."

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Here's the Center for Disease Control press release (July 2, 2001)regarding this..
Embargo on Importation of Dracaena Shipped in Standing Water (http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r010702.htm)

[lovethatpterodactyl_]

I'm growing a single lucky bamboo stalk, well, three small stalks. Two of the stalks that have been grown at a spiral are getting small, hard baige colored lumps on the under part of the stalk. Is this natural or is my plant infected by bugs or whatnot? There is also a little scarring on the leaves.

[Mark Meckes]

Hi, if they can be rubbed off, then they are probably a scale insect.
If not, then they may be root or sometimes leaf/branch nodules the form around the nodes.
With many tropical house plants that grow in humid environments, aerial roots can form around branch/node junctures.
They don't necessarily need to be growing in soil or water.

Hope this helps,

Mark

[lovethatpterodactyl_]

They can't easily be rubbed off. You have to basically.. pick them off. They're similar to a scab because when you remove them you can see the raw inside part of the bamboo. I didn't want any eggs hatching in my room :p, but they dont look harmful.
Thanks alot.

-Erin

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Erin,
Here's a picture of what a pit scale looks like, though if you have scale it may be a different type, as this scale mainly likes to feed on specific Bamboo species, and I don't know if it likes to feed on non-bamboo plant species.
Is it similar to this?
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/541/thumbs/B-oldhamii_ScaleFTG031016-059F.jpg
see larger pic (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=1011&cat=541)
Bamboo scale - Asterolecanium bambusicola (?) on Bambusa oldhamii

Apart from picking them off manually, other methods are to dab them with alcohol and a cotton `q-tip', or to spray with insecticidal soap, or soapy water. One should test on a leaf part to make sure that the plant doesn't get affected, (burnt leaves) as some houseplants are very sensitive to insecticidal sprays.

Mark