Find Your Ask the Expert: Lucky Bamboo stem has turned black!
Hello, I have had a lucky bamboo plant for about 9 months and I have some questions. 1) Several months ago, one of the stalks began turning yellow and has since turned black. I am fairly sure it’s dead, but have been worried about removing it as the rest of the plant seems more or less ok. Should it be removed and if so, is there a way to do this without disturbing the rest of the plant? There has even been new growth which was a very pleasant surprise! 2) I have noticed that one of the stems seems to have a dry, yellow top. I’m not sure if I should cut this one and where? 3) Finally, if I am cutting and removing damaged stems, would this be a good time to re-pot the entire plant? Is it too cramped in the small, decorative vase? And would this be the cause of the yellow tips on some of the leaves? Please help this wonderful little plant. I’m usually terrible with plants, but this little plant seems to keep living even depite of me! Thanks in advance! Grace
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- Lucky Bamboo
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- Multiple Lucky Bamboo Stems
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- Lucky Bamboo With Black Stem
Grace,
You need to remove the lucky bamboo stalk that is black. To do this you might need to remove all of the pieces and untied the string – but I would try to do it without disturbing all of them first. If you have to remove all of them, you might also need to untie the string. Once you have removed the dead piece of lucky bamboo lightly tie the other pieces back together and return to the original container. Lucky bamboo likes to be crowded so I think your container is fine. Just make sure that you keep it full of water – Distilled water is best.
As to the stem that has a yellow tip, leave it alone for now. If the yellowing begins to spread, you can take care of it then.
You might want to read our Caring for Lucky Bamboo page. It has some very valuable information.
Please keep me posted.