Find Your Ask the Expert: lucky bamboo is putting out a nasty smell like dirty aquarium water.
i have had them @5 years and they are @4′ high, curly, and now some leaves are turning yellow, and 1 stalk is drying up
Location has not changed in 5 years and I change the water several times a year, now the water is turning black
THANKS Patti
Reply:
You are getting either a fungal, algae or bacteria build up. Wash the container with hot soapy water and rinse thorughly. Fill with fresh distilled water. Wipe down all of your Dracaena sanderiana (lucky bamboo) and look for fungal lesions on the stalks. Remove any stalk that has any indication of disease. If the lesions are only in one area and you have healthy stalks above or below the lesions, you can start a new plant. I would not start the new plants in the same container.
Good luck and keep me posted.
Does the fungus look like little clusters of small beige raised spots?
Yes it can look like beige clusters on the stem. An insect called scale can also look like beige clusters on the stem. You can tell the difference by flicking the cluster off the lucky bamboo stem. If it is easily removed, it is probably scale. If it seems to be part of the stem that it is probably fungal or bacterial.