So..

I think mom should try something new with it. One stalk has died, she still has one. Just in fish tank gravel and water.

Any suggestions on what to use?

I have it all, pumice, turface, pearlite, bark, and granite, spag. moss..

in water as the instructions state, just isn't working.

Jodi~ Mom got a huge kick out of us two..Our name for one/spelling.. and our likes.. She swears she only had me, no twin..LOL!!! ;)

Thanks,
From me and mom!

JoJo

I haven't grown LB for years, but if I were to do it today I would likely try hydroculture. This method has then growing in a turface like material with water *below* the roots and then the water wicks up the material to the roots.

Jane

Are you suggesting She plant it in turface and only put water in say a inch or so deep?

Also any liq. ferterlizer? I don't see how it can live with just water and be healthy.

or would a little bark or spag. peat moss be better than a liq. food?

I will see her on sunday and would like to get the materials to her.

Thanks again so much for your help!
I really appriciate it!!
JoJo

There are a number of methods one can choose from with hydro culture, but they all boil down to their being a layer of water below the roots. The roots are growing in a 100% inorganic media that wicks water up to the roots.

The way I do it is to use a clear glass container filled with hydroton (available at hydro stores) and then add an inch of water. When the water is gone (easy to notice since the container is clear) I add more.

Yes, you would add fertilizer to the water. It's pretty much the same thing as growing in a potting mix in terms of the other plant requirements (light, nutrients). Because there is no soil buffering one needs to be careful with the amount of fertilizer used. Starting off with something along the lines of a 1/10th strength dilution would be preferable and see how the plant reacts. It's also necessary to 'flush' the container periodically as this method has no means of getting rid of excess salts.

Certainly there are other valid growing methods, hydro culture is simply something I find interesting for houseplants. It removes any potential for rot issues or common pest issues like fungus gnats. It's also neat in that the roots are visible.

I am not a fan of growing directly in water when that water is not aerated. It certainly can be done that way, but it's difficult to get plants to genuinely thrive when the roots are in water without a source of oxygenation.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend Turface for hydro culture because it's particle size is small. Hydroton comes in a larger size and the pieces are usually roundish. This leaves lots of empty space between particles and this is where the water is. Turface, due to small particle size would not allow the same volume of water to be present which just means you would water more often.

Also, don't be afraid to just grow it 'normally'. While LB is commonly sold/grown in water, it's not a water plant, it's just a remarkably tolerant plant of some adversity. In fact growing in water is likely the most difficult way to get it to thrive long term as plain water is unable to 'buffer' things like fertilizer so it's easy to overdo it and common things in water like chlorine and fluoride will immediately have an adverse effect on sensitive plants (LB is sensitive to both in my experience).

I will look into a few things and see what we come up with.

Maybe a mix high in peat and Bark?

I may pick me up a few plants and try different ways too. :)

I just don't see where just water could be very healthy, so I will see about growing it "normally"

I know we have very hard water, so maybe that is part of the problem. She has lost 2 just in water, so it can't hurt to try something new. :)

Thank you!
JoJo

Maybe a mix high in peat and Bark?

You could, but I don't see what advantage peat would offer in the case of a houseplant. It will increase water retention, but is that likely to be necessary indoors? The peat is more likely to lead to fungus gnats and potential rot issues.

Just my 2 cents.

What would you suggest as something to grow it normal? Ive never had any luck with house plants, and am new to Al's ways.

I have pumice which is fairly round.

also, to go the normal way, would that be in a pot with or without a drain hole?

I see what you mean about peat and the darn gnats! I had a bout with them in the summer using comercial cactus mix! Kinda forgot about them. Ugh! not fun! So will skip the peat. ;)

JoJo

As far as a recommended mix, why not give the 5-1-1 and gritty mixes a try and do a side by side comparison?

Other things to consider if you have had a difficult time with houseplants would be available light. There are some plants very well suited to the low interior light levels, but many plants sold as houseplants really need a maximum amount of light indoors. This means very near a window and with some, artificial lighting is all but necessary. I would give the LB a spot near a sunny window. If it's on a plant stand with artificial lighting it should also do well.

Not enough light is kind of a slow, silent killer of plants. They start out looking just fine, put out new growth, have no problems and then 'suddenly' they start to decline and there seems to be no cause and no cure. For plants light=food. They can continue to function normally without food for some time, but eventually they run out of reserves.

What a lot of folks do, often without realizing it, is bring home a plant and let it grow well for awhile and then replace it when it inevitably dies. This is certainly fine to do, but for those interested in actually keeping a houseplant alive for many years I would focus on a no compromise soil and ensure adequate lighting.

Outside it's usually a poor soil that does plants in, but indoors it's both poor soil and inadequate lighting.

I will tell you a funny (to me) story about one of the largest, lushest lucky bamboo plants I ever saw. It was at a Chinese place I frequently eat lunch at. It's behind the register area and gets no window light and isn't anywhere near the floro lights. I have gone to this place for years and was just in awe of this plant as well as how it could do so well under the conditions. One day I asked the owner (who also usually is working the cash register) how they kept it alive so long. Her answer: We just buy new ones when they don't look so good anymore. LOL, that works!

The comments about the sensitivity to chlorine and esp the no buffering for the fert makes sense. B/c when the stocks died, they died fast (over a week period). Which might have coincided with the two times I foolishly added too much MG plant fert immediately after a water change.

I assume transplanting the new stocks would be easy enough?

I assume transplanting the new stocks would be easy enough?

Shouldn't be a problem at all.

Some tips I can offer are,
No longer than a month water change the pots to include a pot scrubing air and sun drying the rocks (why he does this I have no idea) You can find ( he has brown coloring ones from Viet Nam) "river rocks" at most fish tank areas of a pet supply stores.
Trim back yellowing leaves at angles as if it where a batter at the plate ( Three cuts and then it's out)as close to the stalk as you can get. A new foilage will be seen very soon after the forth and final cut.

When it comes to LB the thing to know is they get most of there nitrogen they need from the air. Green Green is a very mild liquid fertilizer you can add to the pot water ( I have no idea how much or how often to use)They do better in darker areas of lesser sun light, go real easy on the inside Summer AC. (He tucks his in the lowest light corner spot of our porch during our Summer AC season.)

If you grow LB in water or soil lossen (even better to toss them in to the trash IMHO) the gold wraped bands on the stalks as they will scare the stalks and do even more damage to them later. If you have glued rocks just break the pot into pieces and replace the rocks and pot.

I have never seen a soil grown LB it would be nice to see what they look like after a couple/few years I wish you the best of luck on your "odd new to me" growing technique.
Left: LB 15 years of age
Right: LB is 6 years old
Center: Lotus something * from a Secret Santa 2009

Funny Story Justaguy! You know, that's how they do it at Disney land. Saw a documetary.. they go through every few days. yank the not so good and re plant.

Water may be a big problem too. I will have her let it sit for awhile to get the chlorine out. And talk to her about fert. and light.

I really appriciate your help!

cebury~ hello! I'm glad you are getting something out of this too~ :)

Mike, we'll write later. ;) got your email.

newbud_grow~ Thank you for taking time to post those beautiful pictures and join in with help! Those are so pretty!

Have a great day!
JoJo

About 5 years ago, I bought 5 little Bamboo pieces at the mall... just as a novelty item. They were nice for a while, but never seemed to grow very much. I changed out the water often, and added a tad bit of food every once in a while, but I think they'd have done much better if I had potted them in a more bonsai-like medium.

They'd most likely have grown new roots with which to colonize the medium, and to intake what they needed. Water doesn't give much in the way of support, or nutrients, and even though the roots they had were acclimated to water, it's not a thing most plants can survive in for a long time.

Mine eventually died... like I knew they would. They were small and inexpensive, though... and just a novelty.

I like JustaGuy's suggestion... that sounds like a nifty way to grow them.

She still insists she only had me..LOL!

I am going to get hers growing in the gritty mix, and get me a few to try different ways. They sell them here at our 99 cent stores.

JoJo

I'd give the gritty mix a shot, too, and see how they like it. They'll need time to grow some new roots and adjust, but I think they'll be fine in the long run.

If I weren't so over crowded with bulbs and other plants, I'd get another little handful of the Bamboo pieces from the mall... but at this point, I don't know where I'd put them. Every space that can grow anything is already taken!

Al

Al