Lucky Bamboo Dying

Discussion in 'Houseplants' started by aliencam, Jun 15, 2008.

  1. aliencam

    aliencam New Seed

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    Hello everyone,

    I have a lucky bamboo plant that I have had for about 10 months now, the "trunk"(?) is about 2 ft tall, has a spiral at the top, and the leaves extend about 6 inches up from there. I keep it in a tall, thin, square vase about 1 inch wide, 1 inch deep, and 6 inches tall. I keep it with no rocks in just water (about 6 inches of water)

    I have had this plant all year in my dorm room at college, and the leaves have been growing great. However, I believe I killed the plant about a month ago when I moved back home. After I packed everything in the car and checked out of my room (had to hand back the keys) we had to go eat lunch and we couldn't think of anywhere to put the bamboo, so I had to leave it in the car. This was early may, so it was nearly 95 degrees F outside, and it got very hot inside the car. It stayed in the car (in the shade) for about 45 minutes.

    All of the leaves were completely wilted, some new leaves were completely dead, and there seems to be a burn mark on the "trunk" of the pant near the top.

    I have still not been able to recover this plant, it was in a bright room for the first week or so, then moved to a dark room for a few days, and now it is on a bright windowsill (never direct sunlight) all day.

    I have tried putting raw sugar in the water, washing the whole plant, propping up one of the leaves against the window/wall, and changing the water often but it still does not look good.

    about two weeks ago when I went to change the water it smelled absolutely rotten, and the whole part of the plant that was underwater was all slimy, I carefully washed off the slimy part and the roots, and I no longer put sugar in the water. That has not happened again.


    What (if anything) should I do to "revive" it?
     
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  3. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Erm.... I think your Lucky Bamboo has gone to the great plant heaven in the sky aliencam. The best thing you can do for it now is to give it a decent funeral I'm afraid. :'(
    At least if you buy another one you'll know what NOT to do with it next time around. :rolleyes:

    We all learn from our mistakes and I have to admit that I've murdered a fair few plants in my time :oops: so don't feel too bad. :-D Better luck next time!!
     
  4. aliencam

    aliencam New Seed

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    dang that's too bad. Well I'll keep it around until it dies completely, there are some new roots that I noticed this week and I think I see a new leaf, maybe it just won't get any worse.

    Anyway, now I need to find another indoor plant to grow... (indoor so that I can bring it to school with me when I move back in August, and so I don't have to invade any of my parents gardens.)
     
  5. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    I sincerely hope that your bamboo is going to live on for you but I have my doubts. :-? Still you never know as plants always amaze me with their determination to survive. No harm in leaving it where it is just in case it should come back. Do let us know what happens to it won't you?

    Here is a link that might help you along:

    http://www.chiff.com/a/lucky-bamboo.htm
     



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  6. fts123

    fts123 New Seed

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    I was just about to post about bamboo and then I saw your post. Mine did exactly the same thing. I have had bamboo in my bedroom for years now and I have just moved and my bamboo plant has decided to start to turn yellow and the leaves are wilting. I am not doing anything differently to how I was caring for it before...any suggestions as to why this is happening?

    Cheers!
     
  7. aliencam

    aliencam New Seed

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    what I did to kind of recover it was put it completely out of direct sun, but in ambient sunlight all day, I also put it a few feet away from the window. I then added a little bit of sugar to the water every week, and changed the water at least that often, washing off the whole plant each time (sometimes the bamboo gets slimy, I wash all of that off). Of course, I have been away from it for more than a month, so I really don't know how well it is doing now... (I forgot it when I came to college.
     
  8. fts123

    fts123 New Seed

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    Adding sugar to the water...interesting... I will try that! Although, it is looking pretty sorry for itself so I don't know if revival is an option :p
     
  9. jmmv08

    jmmv08 New Seed

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    Maybe you can try adding sugar to the water. Let's see how it works.
     
  10. chio88

    chio88 New Seed

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    That is interesting. It's my first time to hear that sugar can be added to water for plants.
     
  11. aliencam

    aliencam New Seed

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    I believe it only helps if the plant is wilted or dying, not when it is healthy. It does not seem to make plants grow faster or bigger.
     
  12. Peppersage

    Peppersage In Flower

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    A bit of stale beer now and then never hurt neither.

    A cat ate mine, after beating it to death.
     

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