Lucky bamboo

My lucky bamboo "uped and died" as they say in my town; don't know what I did wrong.

was it on water or soil?

It was in water, and I had them in several different locations and they slowly died off, all but one and it don't look so good.

hmm. then I dont have no idea. somebody`s have put them on soil and I have heard that then they have died....
but in water?...

Roz,
Don't know why either but I have a few pieces you can have it you want them.

Thanks, Glory, but Jan, my dd, gave me some of hers; now if they die too, I am in big trouble, my luck ran out!

Roz don't tell me that I thought it was easy to grow. At the hospital where my FIL is. They have it everywhere and Heather feel in love with some that had Spiral pieces so I just got her some from ebay. I haven't got it yet but sure hope she can keep it alive. She is not the most attentive plant caretaker. lol

Roz, you are so good with plants that there must have been something wrong for this to happen. Wishing you luck with the new pieces. I've not grown bamboo. To dry up here and my watering skills leave a lot of be desired sometimes.

Mystic, they tell me that they have to turn it every day to make it swirl like that; that would really be some job, but I like it too; my dd, Jan, gave me a lot, so maybe it will stay alive.
Brugie, the lucky bamboo is the kind you keep in a vase inside and it grows in water, on the other hand, maybe I am real wrong, cause mine died. I changed the water often, and did not keep it in hot sun, and it grew for awhile, then just died.

Roz, do you have a water softener? My friend found out that it killed more plants using that water than regular untreated water.

Know what, Brugie, I think that is the answer. Not a water softener but bottled water; Had some that somebody left and did not finish, so I poured that in the vase thinking it would be better than my well water. That may be the problem.

I planted mine and it is growing good. It was starting to turn yellow so I figured it was going to die anyway so that is what I did. It's been growing about a year in a pot.

Roz--I don't really change the water in mine. I have mine growing it those round pebbles. About evey 6 months or so I take everything out of the clear vase and wash it off then add water to right above the rocks. I use rainwater. It's weird the thing was growing really tall leaves-- then my DH had a pay drop now the leaves have slowed down.hmmm maybe they do reflect you money situation.

am almost certain that MaVie said don't change the water, just add to it. Lost mine anyway after about 8 months.

tiG--Mine is over 3 years old. Must be the neglect and RW.

I don't know, I neglected mine pretty good! LOL!!! I love them, but somethings I've decided I just can't grow. Would love to seee pictures though, it's nice to know someone has luck with these:)

I have the spiral (3' tall) and the smaller ones. They have been thriving for over a year in filtered water which I change weekly.
You can see the small ones in the window and just the stem of the tall one next to it. It twists right at the very top which you can't see in the pic.

Maybe with the new batch my dd gave to me, I can make it live this time. I will try what everybody suggests. thanks.

Is the bamboo actually a dracaena? It sure doesn't look like bamboo!

It actually does look like bamboo up close dennis although very green, it has the circular rings periodically up the stem like a stand of bamboo in the wild.

it is a dracena Dennis, but you would swear it is baby bamboo:)

So, do these twist naturally, or do you have to turn them ocassionally to get the twist in them? I just bought mine yesterday.

Brugie,you have to turn them.
They grow toward the light-so be sure to turn them at least once a day.

Okay, I figured I had to do that. Now, if I can just remember to do it on a daily basis. I'll probably have the strangest looking lucky bamboo in the country.

Roz I got mine today.I got it fixed in a panda pot.Heather loves panda's.I figure it will be a nice surprise when she gets in from work tonight. Now I hope she can keep it alive. lol The picture is not good.

I love the little panda pot! The bamboo looks great. Can you imagine remembering to turn something every day, like they have to do to make it curl?

You have to give it fertilizer water. I have had mine for 4 years in water and I don't change the water. I just fertilize it on a regular basis just like you would do with any water culture. The Chinese man that I bought mine from gave me a little bottle of "special green colored fertilizer water" and told me to use a few drops weekly. I have long ago switched to the regular fertilizer watering solution that I use on all my green non-blooming house plants.

I never fertilized, and changed the water, so they is probably what happened to mine.

Roz... u are not supposed to changed water!!! add water only, but never change the water. place on a well lighted window but no sun. do not worry, i made the same mistake, 1st time i bought them.

Roz, mine died too. Sitting in water, added to never changed, they just uped and died.

I change the water on mine at least monthly and they have thrived for a couple years. I use filtered water.

change the water? don't change the water? now I'm confused lol...and scared I'll kill mine

I have never changed the water in 4 years so for what it's worth, that does work.

I now have new lucky bamboo, so I am going to put them in two different vases; change the water in one and not in the other. What do y'all think about adding drops of houseplant fertilizer?

I use hyponex and just mix it according to the directions. I store it in a little glass jar and water it with that once a week. One thing that will kill the bamboo quickly is letting the water get low in the container.

Roz are you going to add the fertilzer to the one with the water that will be changed or the one that will not? so many options, not enough bamboo:)I think I'm going to not change it like Elena does hopefully that will work for me too and it's not just the luck of bamboo

Gee, they must have this from one coast to coast. We have so much of this now in California. They even sell it planted in dirt in beautiful Chinese urns. I really do not think it will spiral if you turn it everyday. Don't you think they twist it around some sort of column when it is young and pliable?

I had a few of the tall spiral ones for ages until I got sick of it. Oh no.......do you think that means I will be unlucky now?

here's a url about lucky bamboo. site is very eratic. if nothing shows, click on Free Source, then Lucky Bamboo ... http://www.bambooflooring.net/luckybamboo/luckybamboo.php

otherwise here is the brief into on the site... i have to quote their info since am not sure if the site will show at all... "Dracaena sanderiana, commonly known as Lucky Bamboo, is an important plant in Asian culture. Symbolizing good fortune, it's a popular item in times of celebration like Chinese New Year and when entering into new business ventures and it fit for gifts & premiums . As a tropical plant, you'll need to keep it indoors in bright light. In
centigrade, the best temperature is 20 to 30 degreese. If the temperature is lower than 15 degrees, you have to keep it in your room. Place it in a vase with shallow water
(no more than 1/2 - 3/4¡±) add the water once a month (Please note don't change water, just add water). Lucky bamboo doesn't need food or any other pampering. But you
may apply compound fertilizer or nutritional liquid to it if you like. If there are leaf spot or root rot or stem rot, you may spread it with 100 times of Boredeaux mixture. The
insect pests are Trips Insect and Scale Insect whom can be killed with Rogor. But don't worry, it is seldom happend. It's truly that easy."

i had the site bookmarked before. when i click on it, it only showed a blank page.

here are choices on how they design this plant these days... http://www.dracaena-sanderiana.com/products.htm hope this helps.

WOW quite the sites. So is that basket alive and stays alive? That would be fun. Here we have lots but none of the real fancy ones. HD also has tons of that money plants, braided and unbraided. If you get that one does it mean you will get money? Maybe I should buy a few of those. LOL

Thanks for the sites Ma Vie!

Kell,

here the 99 cents Chinese store have them, and much, much cheaper. try to expedite the Chinese stores around u, am sure u will find the prices far more reasonable, and u will have bigger selections. oriental groceries also sell them. good luck. my pleasure Kell :)!