Caring for lucky bamboo

December 3, 2022 10:52 AM

I found a lucky bamboo in a dumpster about a week ago. It was covered in yellow leaves but still had some green. I left it outside in the rain and sun for a week. Its soil has been drenched the entire time.

It hadn't perked up yet, so I looked it up online. I learned that I've been doing it wrong. This plant needs indirect sun and to be watered like once a week. I brought it inside this morning and trimmed off the yellow leaves. I haven't noticed any funny smells, but it does have white mold on the soil. My goal is to revive this plant so I can adopt it out to a good home.

1. The pot has one of those "get your water level just right" meters built in, and I have put the pot on a plate of water. But if the soil is already drenched, is this a good idea?
2. Should I just let it dry out and it will be ok?
3. Do I have to do anything about the white mold?
4. Anything else I should know?

- My budget is $0.
- My goal is to invest as little effort into saving this plant as possible. But I do want to do what it takes to save this plant.
- I don't want to propagate it and save its babies. This plant still has life in it.
- I have* no other plants, so I'm not worried about this plant having a disease and spreading that to other plants. *for some definition of have that respects that the plant is its own being.
- Repotting is my least-favorite plant chore, and I don't have any potting soil anyway
- have access to small river rocks and could probably scrounge up a jar if needed

Bonus: tell me interesting facts about lucky bamboo that I haven't already found through clickbait 101

posted by aniola to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Let it dry out, for sure. Once it's dry, or at least the first inch or so of soil is fully dry, you can start watering it again.
posted by In Your Shell Like at 1:32 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: That addresses points 1 & 2, thanks! Do I need to do anything about the white mold?
posted by aniola at 4:24 PM on December 3, 2022

You can replace the soil - it won't take much. Maybe a neighbor has a few cups of potting soil you can borrow?
posted by nkknkk at 4:47 PM on December 3, 2022

Best answer: Before doing anything else, let the whole thing dry out completely by popping it out of its container and setting it upright somewhere sheltered where it has indirect sun and good air circulation. After that, you can assess its needs better. Scrape off the mold. Any blackened roots or parts that seem rotten? Cut those off with clean, sharp scissors. Does it smell fishy or ammonia-y after a few days? Add a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide to a cup of water and use that to water the plant every other time it seems dryish. Just mix it fresh each time you use it, since it breaks down very quickly. After that, just be patient and see what happens.
posted by corey flood at 5:20 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Can you post some photos? (You'd upload to a site like imgur and then post a link).

I wonder if what you're identifying as mold could be mineral build up on the soil- they look similar. Bamboo doesn't really recover past a certain point of damage, but it also re-roots really easily. So the right answer may actually be to cut the damaged parts right off the plant, close to a node, and just re-root the ok parts in a glass of water.

But seeing some photos would really help, it's hard to diagnose plants verbally.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:48 PM on December 3, 2022