Korean Job Discussion Forums

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

Okay, I just bought this pretty cool bamboo plant.. but I have to say I'm clueless on the needs of a bamboo plant. Does anyone else have one?

Basically the plant is a series of about 15-18 small bamboo poles all in a spherical shape surrounding a spherical object.. they all are cut on the bottom and top.. the bottom has small roots growing into the water.. and the top are capped off by some green plastic (so it doesn't grow that way apparently).. each bamboo branch has an offshoot growing from the side..

Okay.. description over.. how do you take care of these things? Looks like its setup where the roots just grow and dangle in the water.. but doesn't that rot the roots? Or am I wrong? Also, do these need soil or sunlight? or just sit in water? Any plant nutrition additives or anything I should know about, etc?

desultude · Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2003 6:50 am Post subject:

I have one of those that is about six months old. Its still alive and doing well (I can't say as much for the two fish that were swimming around the roots when I bought it.) A couple of times I have tossed in a little fertilizer pill that I got at the plant store. Its sitting in a semi-sunny window, as I don't have direct sunlight. But it grows really slowly!

l0ckx · Joined: 24 Sep 2003 Location: PA, USA

I love plants

okay...a little bit about real bamboo first. Bamboo grows anywhere, in any climate, and it spreads....once it's in the ground you can't kill it unless you dig up the roots and spray root killer or round-up...bamboo grows in soil and like I said can live in almost any climate. We have true bamboo growing outside our house and it even grows with 3 feet of snow!

What you have based on your description, could be true bamboo (but most likely not). I've tried taking cuttings of our bamboo plant and put it in water to see if it will develop a root system, and it just doesn't happen. I've never tried to start the roots in water to see if would shoot up...but anyways...a very common misnomer is that "lucky bamboo" or Dracaena is true bamboo. Dracaena is in the family as true bamboo, but they have different qualities. Dracaena is what you probably have.

the good thing about Dracaena, or any kind of bamboo for that matter, is you don't need a green thumb on any level in order to keep it alive. You could keep it on the top shelf of your darkest closet and as long as you keep it filled with water and it will stay alive. Usually they grow in gravel or sand in a container filled with water. Water is the most vital source to this plant. If you don't give it water, it will die. It will start to turn yellow and pale and die. Also whatever you do, do not keep it in direct sunlight. This past summer I had all my bonsai, cacti, and plants on the porch, and my Dracaena turned completely pale and white....all the leaves shriveled and I almost had a heart attack! Keeping it in the dark would be 100X better than in the sunlight....but a little sun will never hurt!!!

Don't worry about the roots rotting, because they won't...they love water!!! Just because this is a low maintenance plant doesn't mean you can neglect or forget about it! Remember to water because it will go dry fast! Love your plants, take care of your plants, and TALK to your plants!!!! They like it Smile

Peace & Good Luck!!!!!!
Mike

Zyzyfer · Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2003 7:32 pm Post subject:

lockx: Where were you when my herbs died? I had spearmint, applemint, and rosemary, and they all croaked.

I'd especially like to know the real deal with growing spearmint and rosemary.

l0ckx · Joined: 24 Sep 2003 Location: PA, USA

I�m very sorry to hear zyzyfer...it's really a shame when your plants/herbs/trees die...

I don't know much about herbs, however I can find out for you...give me the particulars...

Were they grown indoors or outdoors? What kind of soil? What kind of light? What kind of weather? And what sort of weird processes did they go through before they died (i.e. brown, shrivel, pale, etc.)

These are all typical questions you want to ask before you can figure out what may have happened. Plants really are just plants, and they do die. As good of a green thumb somebody may have, a plant could always get a weird parasite or disease which would prevent it from surviving all-together!

The good thing about em, is you can always get more Smile

But still...don't neglect!!! GRRRR

peace,
l0ckx

Zyzyfer · Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2003 9:16 pm Post subject:

Dazed and Confused · Joined: 10 Jan 2003

zyzz,
I've got rosemary and parsly. I've also had basil but it died. From what I know of herbs, you have to give them lots of water and sunlight. They seem to best in the korean summer sitting outside. In the winter you've got to move them inside and keep 'em warm. They also do well if you keep them in smaller pots and trim them on a regualr basis.
As far as you herbs shrivelling up and dying, it sounds like you got one of those big worms that look like naked catepillars. They went through my parsly this summer. They got my basil last year. You have to spray them with herbicides. I'm usually against the chemicals as I use my herbs for cooking but these buggers had to go!
good luck on the next try.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

l0ckx · Joined: 24 Sep 2003 Location: PA, USA

well said dazed and confused Smile

I agree...maybe you didn't water or sun them enough...you should NEVER let the soil go bone dry, it should always be moist.

Tiger -

They will live fine if you keep them in the water. They will never rot. the point of the gravel and stones is for the root system to just build around. The gravel offers no nutritional value to the actual plant. However, it does look nice to have a couple of bamboo shoots in a pot without seeing the root system.

Usually they are sold as individual shoots, and then you can put them in gravel and rocks.

Another tip is when you keep them in water all the time, calcium and other mineral deposits will start to form around the actual bamboo and the pot. This is fine. It will just look like white solidified rings of junk. It does not hurt the plant, but looks quite unsightly. If you want you can remove it by rubbing it off gently. I will usually take mine out of the gravel and wash everything out while removing the deposits. Depending on the water quality you will have more or less deposits. And one more thing. Don't worry about the water. Unless it has poison in it, this plant really won't care what kind of water you give it...tap, bottle, distilled, etc.

good luck!!

peace,
l0ckx

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

By the way, I've had the bamboo plant growing for two months (which is definetely a plant record for me). No green thumbs here.

This baby grows easily without sunlight or anything else. I definetely plan to have bamboo wherever else I go in other places.

Just curious.. is there anyway I can bring my bamboo plant on an airplane and bring it home? I'd say definetely 'no' and never saw such a thing, and imagining that it definetely wouldn't be acceptable. But just kind of curious about that.

erlyn · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Location: Incheon, South Korea

I too know the pain of losing a rosemary plant. A couple of years ago, my husband bought me a rosemary bush (shaped like a christmas tree) for our apartment. I had heard that rosemary plants were very hard too keep happy, but I have a pretty green thumb, so I thought I had a fighting chance. Alas, it withered and died, much the same way you described. Turns out I was overwatering it. Rosemary plants like it hot, and above all, dry, which is why they flourish in countries like Spain.

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/rosemary.html

Also did you know that some traditional paella recipes from Spain call for adding either snails, or sprigs of fresh rosemary, but not both? That's because snails that are being fattened for the slaughter for paella are fed fresh rosemary sprigs. Go figure.

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003