soft yellow stalks

Having no idea what an "LB" is, I'll merely say that tossing it in the garbage or on the burn pile are good solutions. Since I have no idea what killed it, I'd NOT suggest that you compost it (probably the best "Karma" solution under most cases) because you don't want to contaminate the compost which, in itself, would provide bad Karma for anything planted in it.

I believe what this person is talking about is Lucky Bamboo. If this is the case then the yellowing and bad/ rotting smell is being caused by some type of algae growing in their water. I have had this happen before and if it is caught soon enough ( if there is any green left in the stalk or leaves) you can wash the roots with clean water, complet6ely sanitize the container and any substrate or stones as well. My disposal recommendation for the dead pieces would be the compost pile or the garbage can as Jim mentioned. I would also recommend using the full name of plants to get better response. It took me while to figure out what you were talking about. I don't believe feng shui really covers the proper disposal of dead plants either. Good Luck

Todd

If it is indeed "Lucky Bamboo" (of which that plant is neither!) it is not bonsai and should not be posted to bonsai pests and diseases. Please keep off topic questions for the General Discussion part of the board.

Dracaena sanderiana is better grown in soil, or if you must grow it in water then it needs a complete fresh water change every two weeks minimum.

Oh, aaargh! "Lucky Bamboo!"

Good ol' U.S. Marketing hyperbole, along with "Kia Pets" and "Sea Monkeys."

Lucky or not the stuff gets a bit bothersome. I was given some as gift a while back and have since passed it on to a friend. It just always looked out of place wherever I put it.

I overheard a wonderful conversation between two members of the public in my local IKEA a month or so ago, where this "lucky bamboo" is sold as a bonsai. The conversation was along the lines of "it must be a bonsai because it's small and it's in one of they (sic) shiny pots". The chat then got round to the issue of cruelty (with the female stating that the "LB" would grow to about twenty metres high if it wasn't so cruelly inhibited) before veering off into a decision to buy a fairly hideous s-shaped Ficus because that was a "proper bonsai".
It was a choice between walking away and running them over with my trolley. But as I was carrying glassware I opted for the former.

Quite apart from the "it's not bonsai" aspect, I cannot stand lucky bamboo for the totally irrational reason that it reminds me of asparagus which I couldn't hate and detest more if it were cyanide.

For no reason other than catharsis, I shall tell you that my other flora related irrationality is Hydrangea. I detest this for the very adult and mature reason that it reminds me of the swimming cap my mother made me wear when I was younger but old enough to be very aware of what constituted "cool" and what did not. The swimming cap had rubber "florets" which wobbled about much in the same way as Hydrangea petals do. And it was sweetie pink! Cool? Not on your nellie! It was almost as uncool as the early swimming costumes which were made of that hideous ruched fabric which increased its weight at least tenfold when it came into contact with water. I am sure whole generations of Scottish schoolchildren learned how to swim simply to avoid instant drowning at the hands of their own swimwear. The hydrangeal swimming cap, btw, met its (literally) sticky end when I discovered why manufacturers put the instruction "Do not cover" on radiators. Nothing deliberate about that at all! And this momentous revolutionary strike on my part was followed not long after by a major breakthrough for equality when the powers that be in leisure centres suddenly recognised that, wonder of wonder - who'd ever have known? - boys carried nits and headlice too, and rather than tackle the issue of making boys wear swimming caps "head on" (sorry!), they took the softie route and just made them optional. Pity. I'd have loved to have seen some of the great hairy bears of blokes that frequented the Hector NcNeil baths in Greenock wearing hydrangea swim caps.


Think it's time to move this thread to Off-Topic