Comments on: Help me grow the indoor bamboo garden of my dreams

Question: Help me grow the indoor bamboo garden of my dreams

agent99 — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:07:23 -0800

I'd like to grow bamboo in a container indoors (I have a sunny south-facing window that it can live in front of). Any advice about the best varieties, how to get it to grow tall, and where to get a plant (I'm in NYC) would be much appreciated. (NB: I am NOT looking for info on "lucky bamboo" plants, I want the real thing)

By: whiskey point

whiskey point — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:49:45 -0800

I bought my stuff for my plant at Ikea a while ago. I got a square clear glass vase (about 6-8 inches tall, ~4 inches wide and ~6 inches long, $4 bucks), a beautiful, healthy bamboo plant with some sweet spiral action (3 bucks or so) and a bag of medium sized polished stones for about 3 bucks. I stuck the bamboo in, put the rocks in around it, and filled it up with water. It's been growing really well, and I haven't taken the best care of it. The leaves are healthy and I believe it's growing taller. Good luck!

PS: One of my friends had one, and it started looking not-so-great. He purchased some Ortho brand liquid plant food, and it perked right up (in case you ever have problems).

By: mathowie

mathowie — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:10:24 -0800

I would guess that bamboo plants from NYC nurseries would be really expensive, so you should probably look for a bamboo farm online that sells them by mail. Even my local nursery sells single bamboo plants in five gallon containers for up to $100 or more, and I can get the same plants online for $30-50 each. I get all my hardy outdoor (non-invasive) bamboo from a farm that sells online from Southern Oregon (I'm in NW Oregon) and they can ship whole plants in a box just fine. I know there are bamboo farms in Massachusetts doing cold-hardy varieties (I've seen ads in garden magazines I read) and I'm sure down in the Carolinas there must be farms selling online. I'd suggest some google searching for bamboo plants (general varieties like "golden bamboo" will probably work fine in a container with adequate water and soil). You can probably save half the money that way.

By: agregoli

agregoli — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:53:45 -0800

whiskey point seems to be talking about lucky bamboo. Doesn't real bamboo need a much deeper pot? (I'm sorry for no info, I'm interested in this question as well).

By: limeonaire

limeonaire — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:08:52 -0800

Agreed, I believe whiskey point is referring to lucky bamboo, too.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:27:05 -0800

I'm not sure of the best place to buy bamboo in New York - but I can suggest these varieties for indoor uses.

Alphonse Karr - nice looking, but requires high/bright light
Buddha's Belly - very drought tolerant, does fine in low light
Arrow - does well in lower light
Dwarf white stripe - only grows up to 2-3 ft and does well with moderate light

You'll definitely want to do a little research on the care of whatever variety you get for it to grow optimally. Bamboo is a grass as I'm sure you know so it's not supposed to have permanent leaves - if your leaves start looking scraggly, just hack it off and you'll have a much healthier and nicer looking plant.

Hopefully that helps you out a little bit - or gives you some leads to do some more research.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:36:18 -0800

Ooooh! I found you a great link from the American Bamboo Society (of all things!) Growing Bamboo Indoors - they have care instructions, background info, general tips and some great recommendations that I forgot.

By: nikksioux

nikksioux — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:43:52 -0800

Seconding the Ikea. I bought three "sprigs" of bamboo over a year ago, put them in a glass container with rocks, and water, add water every few days, and it has done wonderfully virtually by itself!

By: nikksioux

nikksioux — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:45:18 -0800

Sorry, maybe this is "lucky bamboo", I don't know the difference.

By: agent99

agent99 — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:51:34 -0800

whiskey point & nikksioux: the plant that looks like bamboo and grows in water, sometimes in a spiral, is not bamboo at all, but Dracaena sanderiana, sometimes called "lucky bamboo."

By: X4ster

X4ster — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:33:34 -0800

Thamnocalamus tessellatus is an African bamboo. It's a hardy clumping bamboo rather than a runner. Available here for $29 for a 1 gal. size

By: vers

vers — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:48:28 -0800

I think you already have some great resources, but I just wanted to mention Burt's Bamboo, whom I've ordered from and been quite pleased with in the past. There's also a list of species for indoor container growing on their site.