Ribbon Plant aka "Lucky Bamboo" does well outside

I bought lucky bamboo in a water vase with rocks , the stem was mushy and light green, leaves were yellow and at the end brown, roots were white and mushy.

I was told to keep it near indirect light and change water weekly. After finding out it wasn't a water plant at all and isn't even Bamboo I transplanted it to well drained soil and gave it some all purpose plant fertilizer. It started getting greener in a week and leaves began growing slowly, you could tell the neglect had stunted it greatly and it will take time to recover.

I read that these plants do well outside during warm weather and to put them in a semi shaded spot, for me that was under large shrubs that blocked direct sunlight but allowed filtered sunlight in. Here the plant got fresh air, regular watering and clean leaves, and all natural debris mixed in with the soil that turned into great fertilizer. The plant shot up about 3 inches in a month and the stem got a dark green and very firm, no more mushy stem and leaves were dark green and shiny! On really dry weeks I always watered it but if we had rain I waited a few days as the soil stayed moist.

When fall began and I knew it would be below 65 F I decided to bring it in. I rinsed off the entire plant with water and re potted it in a non draining pot with good quality seed starting potting soil, reason for this it would dry out too quickly indoors. I carefully make sure its not sitting in water but it loves soil moist to the touch and misted weekly with a spray bottle.

I now have new shoots growing from under the soil and side shoots on the stem the plant is thriving, I'm going to keep putting it out each year during warm months the plant loves this!

Sounds like you're having a lot of fun with your 'bamboo!' I put my plants outside for summer too. D. sanderiana is usually used as LB, so probably the ID of your plant. Know that they are sensitive to tap water chemicals. Water sitting at the bottom of a pot without a drain hole can cause roots to rot. Drying out quickly is good, from the standpoint of the plant. If you are unable to water often, that would not be good. Is your plant variegated or with plain green leaves?

That is true for many house plants: A summer outside, often in the dappled light of a tree can do wonders for them.

There are some house plants that really require high humidity, so those might not work. They usually come from tropical rain forests with daily rain.
There are some plants that are very specific about their temperature (minimum and maximum) so these would need some careful monitoring.

It is all green except 2 variegated leaves. I also have another plant I bought variegated.

The water I use is filtered in water purifier so that solves that. The water doesn't really sit the soil dries quickly and is moist to the touch but not soggy, I water again when the top soil is dry to touch.

I put all house plants outside for summer- if I left a few inside I would forget them. My lucky bamboo D. s. also now has new firmer shoots. I think it will become a very nice multi stemmed plant.

Sounds great, Keith! Enjoy! You too, Sally!

Diana, so right about dappled light. Our pecan tree threw its' leaves down really early this year, I had to move a bunch of plants because the lovely dappled shade suddenly disappeared! There was still about 2 months of outside time for plants at that point.