I have a Bamboo plant with a yellow leaf. I've had the plant for 2 years and originally it had 3 stalks. I keep it in my bathroom where the light is on only when someone is in the room. The window is shaded by a carport/breezeway, so it gets very little light.
About 8 months ago one of the stalks had a leaf turn yellow and eventually the entire stalk turned yellow, so I pulled it out and threw it away. The remaining stalks seemed okay until now.
I read today that per Ellen Brown, your Green Living and Gardening Expert, I should be watering the plant with filtered water, but I've always used tap water. Is this the problem? My refrigerator has a water filter, would it be okay to use that water? Or should I get a Brita Pitcher?
Please advise me how to save my plant. Thank you very much and God bless you.
Hardiness Zone: 6b
By Beverly from Clarksville, TN
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Yes, it's the tap water. Buy some good bottled water, don't use brita, it's junk. I have had & sold those reverse osmosis systems, for over 25years. Brita sucks.
What I would do is, pour fresh water on it & change it everyday for a couple of weeks. You need to help flush out the bad stuff from the tap water. See in tap water they put ammonia & chlorine in it. Separate, these can be used by the plant for fertilizer, but when they combine them, they make chloramines, which is a completely other thing & the plants can't use them. Plus tap water is really hard & plants like soft water, like rain is.
I don't know if it would work, but there are a couple of things you might try, while you flush out the bad stuff. I don't know how much water it takes to water these plants or to cover their roots, but to say 1cp of water, add maybe 1/16th tsp vinegar, or maybe less. Soft water is on the acid side (low Ph), this will make it more acid. It also breaks down the hard minerals in the water. Also, I have a potato vine on my front porch & it's huge, but occasionally it starts to get yellow leaves & will drop a ton of them. When this happens I add just a drop or 2 of household ammonia to the water. Now my watering can holds about 1-3/4qt of water, so u can figure out the dilution if you want to try it. It greens up the leaves in no time at all. I only do this for one or 2 waterings in say 6 months, but it works well. Sometime plants need nitrogen & ammonia is exactly that. Don't use this on flowering plants, only foliage plants.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
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What is causing the tips of my inside bamboo plant to turn yellow?
By jessica moss from Durham, NC
They don't like water from the tap. You need to use distilled, or better yet and more thrifty rain water. (10/09/2009)
By zan
(submitted via email)
About the bamboo leaves turning yellow, it could be the soil is not
healthy and is depleted of its nutrients.
Dortym (10/10/2009)
By Sally
I have twisted bamboo sticks that were gifted to me. For a few days they were greenish, but now the leaves are turning yellow. There are no new leaves growing. One of the sticks has no leaves on it. Please tell me how can I save it.
By kuljeet from India
Yellow leaves are caused by too much fertilizer or too much light. Yellow stalks are usually caused by too much fertilizer. Changing the water was the best way to handle this problem. However, the damage may have been too far gone by the time you changed the water.
You have two choices:
Try using bottled water. My Lucky Bamboo died when I used tap water when living in the South. I was told to use bottled water, and it worked. (08/06/2009)
By Janet
I have had lucky bamboo for years. I keep it in my bathroom for the moisture. I was told to water it with rain water, not tap water. Everytime it rains I catch water and put in the container. I have many plants I have cut off from the original plant. I have no yellow leaves. Try this, it might work for you. (08/06/2009)
By Peggy McBEe
Be sure you trade out the water and rinse off the roots to remove slime etc. Soak it in water, leaves and all, with a few drops of bleach to remove any bad bacteria. After all slime and rotted root are removed, this plant can be rinsed in a light soak of dish liquid and "rinsed well".
Dish liquid actually gives plants a nice shine. This is a low light plant. With new water and sheltered light mine does well. (08/11/2009)
By Linda
