Lucky Bamboo

[Jaseon]

Anyone with experience, and care of this plant?

 

[tiger15]

You can grow it with stem in water, leaves out of water. Submerged leaves will eventually brown out and wither. I secure it with suction cup to the glass, and looks wonderful like green bamboo with emerged leaves growing slowly in dim ambient light.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

You can grow it with stem in water, leaves out of water.

Grows fine like that. It isn't really a Bamboo, it is <"Dracaena sanderiana">.

cheers Darrel

 

[mort]

My experience is chuck it in and forget about it, it's about that complicated. They can grow very large if given the space and they grow a nice orange root system.

 

[tiger15]

My experience is chuck it in and forget about it, it's about that complicated. They can grow very large if given the space and they grow a nice orange root system.

Not as easy as you think. It appears easy only because it lasts a long time before dying if the condition is wrong. I’ve killed a few in the past from full submergence, too much direct light, and not changing stagnant water. Once yellowing starts, the decline has no return. It’s the first time it does great in my aquarium because the stem is in oxygenated nutrients rich water, and the emerged leaves in low ambient light. I have it for several years, and the emerged leaves and submerged stem are lush green, so photosynthesis must be occurring both above and below water.

 

[mort]

It will die from full submergence yes and any plant will likely suffer in stagnant water but I've had no issues with it in anything from jars in full sun (you do get the leaf tips suffer) to a once high tech tank where it grew above the lights. I might have been lucky but only remember one growth point dying off and that resprouted from lower down. I only bought the plant once so it's ten years old, or at least the parent plant was. I gave most of them away to diversify the emergent growth I have but kept a few leggy ones (they can get really leggy in lower light situations, especially when you don't look after them very well) so I could hide the stems but still have the foliage poke out from behind nicer stuff.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I’ve killed a few in the past from full submergence

It will die from full submergence yes

The growing point definitely needs to be above the water level and any leaves that are submerged will die.

but I've had no issues with it in anything from jars in full sun (you do get the leaf tips suffer)

I had one like that for a couple of years, one of my children has it now, but I don't know if it is still in the land of the living.

cheers Darrel

 

[Jaseon]

My main take away is that the plant does well with just the stems submerged.

Im asking for my farther in law who wants a Betta set up with bamboo, and happened to get reading about this plant which seems to fit the bill with what he has in mind.

Cheers.

 

[mort]

They generally sell the plant in tiny little pots of water with an oriental flavour. I think mine originally came from a diy shop and I quickly disposed of the pot and put it in a bigger container because if I can't see the waters gone down then I know I won't keep it topped up.
You can get them in different stem lengths from tiny 3-4" sections which have been neatly tied together, to longer one. I think mine were about a foot and they went into a ten inch high tank and just sat on the substrate level so the growth tip was 3-4" above the waters surface. I liked the security of having the roots on the substrate, plus it hid the roots more, but they are happily with just their feet dangling in open water.