a0c8c
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Lucky Bamboo Help!

I was helping my wife clean the kitchen when I noticed this:

[img]https://i47.tinypic.com/206klzr.jpg[/img]

I have no clue what the white stuff is, but I'm sure it's bad. The plant looks great but I don't know about this stuff. I only use spring water in it, so I know it's not minerals from the tap.

So far I've washed off the dracaena and washed the rocks and pot with soap. Anything else I should do?

serial_killer
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It looks like some sort of mold, I am having some problems with my lucky bamboo so right now too (I found this on a search) so I might not be the best person to give advice but...

You can cover the pot with a piece of dark paper to block the light, thats a trick to stop algae but it might help the mold too, IDK. Also instead of soap I always use H2O2 (hydrogen Peroxide) to clean anything that has to do with my plants, you can even add a little bit of it into the water as a preventative thing.

I hope you don't mind but I am going to ask my question in this thread to avoid clutter in the forum, since its about the same plant.

My leaves are starting to turn a lighter color, not yellow yet but I'd say their on the way, really light green. It has a well developed root system and I keep it in a vase willed with Hydroton (expanded clay pellets, a medium used for hydro) and water filled to about an inch above the roots. I use pH corrected RO water and superthrive, changed weekly. I found via google that light color leaves are either from to much sun, not enough food (specifically Nitrogen) or the roots being to developed to live in water.

I'm worried about the last one, should I trim the roots up a little? I have been foliar feeding it a very diluted fertilizer, only 1/8 the recommended strength, along with my other plants that are thriving.

a0c8c
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I too have lighter color leaves, but I doubt it's from too much sun as it's on a shaded window sill. Maybe I should trim my roots, thought about doing it anyways. I wouldn't ferilitze yours, everytime I have they've died. They don't need anything but water, adding nitrogen has always killed them, and I added very very little.

serial_killer
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Thanks I'll stop with the nutes, What about the superthrive? Its not a fertilizer or food, its only Vit B and a hormone to reduce stress, I cant imagine it hurting any plant.

I'm about to trim my roots and see how it does, whats the worst that happens, I have to cut the stalk and start all over.

a0c8c
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Let me know how the trim goes, and I might follow suit. I'm not sure about superthrive though, never used it.

serial_killer
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I trimmed the roots today, I'll let you know how it turns out. I also cleaned it really well with H2O2. I found part of an old rubberband intertwined with the roots, must'a been how they made it.

Do you pH your water before you use it?

[img]https://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq247/1badv8dime/DSCN0647.jpg[/img]

Excuse my dog's butt, she wouldn't move.

serial_killer
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Update- I clipped almost all the roots off, its been 9 days now, and the plant is doing great, almost all the leaves have started to darken back up and the little bit of roots I can see are already showing new growth. I also cleaned the medium really well, used H2O2 and shook it vigorously till it turned a dark cloudy brown/gray color then rinsed again with water.

I'm feeding superthrive at 1/2 strength and pH'd water only, no food.

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rainbowgardener
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I'm not sure what you mean (must be because I'm a dirt gardener) when you say " do you pH your water" "using water that's been pH'd" Acidified? Neutralized? Tested?

serial_killer
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Plants can only uptake nutrients and sustain life with water that has a specific pH range. They prefer the water to be acidic, between 5.5 to 6.8 with 6.0 being about perfect for most plants. Distilled water is exactly 7.0, 6.9 and lower means its an acid, 7.1 and higher means its a base. There are commercially available products to lower (or raise back up if you go to low) the pH of the water, weather you are just watering with it or growing in it. I however prefer to use Sulfuric acid (battery acid) diluted to 6.25% (1 part acid to 15 parts distilled water) because it is more effective at lowering the pH, more stable at maintaining the new pH, and the plants can use the sulfur. Plus one pint of it will make 4 gallons of home made pH adjuster for the same price of 1 pint of the pH adjuster products at the store.

My tap water comes out at 8.5 (very hard water) so I pH my water (lower it to 6.0) before using it, if the tap water here was closer to 7 I wouldn't bother with water I was using just to water with because soil lowers the pH from contact, not enough to correct my hard basic water problem though.

Hydro is another story, not only do you have to keep your pH perfect (5.8-6.1) you also have to worry about parts per million, I have a Hanna meter that measures pH and PPM by measuring EC (Electrical conductivity) which can then be converted to PPM.

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rainbowgardener
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Thanks! Learning all the time! It never really occurred to me to test my tap (I.e. hose) water. I know my soil tends to be basic 7.5 - 8 and I try to acidify it some, especially for all my woodland wildflowers, but it never occurred to me that I could be making it worse with the hose water.
Hose is put away for the season now, but in spring before I start watering, I will test it. Could be another reason that everything did well this rainy season, not only more water, but lower pH water, since I needed to do very little watering with the hose.

a0c8c
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I water all my indoor plants(theres not that many) with spring water from the grocery store. This includes my Lucky Bamboo. Guess I'll be trimming some roots, as I've got a nice big messy root system that could be getting in the way.



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