Identification: Please help ID and save this plant!

Hi I am actually a UCSD student in California and I keep this plant in my dorm room. Earlier in the year I would water about once a week and it didn't seem to need much watering or light. I could be wrong though.

However the past few weeks i just completely forgot to take care of it at all! As a result it is dying horribly, the leaves are turning yellow, the stems have become shriveled and have been losing color. Also, at the top of the stems, there are holes and it has become really dry and brittle, which is why I'm scared it's already too late for it.

The plant is actually composed of multiple stems bound to each other by a golden plastic ribbon (however since the stems have shriveled, they have lost volume and the ribbon comes off now). The pot is actually filled with pebbles rather than soil. You can see the state of the plant through the pictures.

Please help! Anything is appreciated!

 

Hi there ..

that is Called a Lucky Bamboo plant .. ya might aslo want to chek for spidermites on it .. u can mist it and if u see a webbing u can just rinse it off under water .. also here is some other care for your plant ..

change the water every couple of weeks, making sure the water has had a chance to stand 24 hrs to rid of the chlorine. If you have a well system that is fine, or use rain water . Even distilled water will do fine.

Cutting off the damaged part is fine.

and dont put it in bright sun . filtered light is fine ...

god luck with it

Marn

 

Hi MoogleTheSly,

Your lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana not a true bamboo) is not looking too happy. What I see though is that one of the canes is yellow (maybe more), this one may die, but the others look green and fairly healthy. You will have to remove the yellow one if it wilts and browns or looks like it is starting to decay because it will rot the others. This is one of the easiest plants to grow. It will survive for years on water alone. I imagine you have already changed the water. Do this every two weeks. It will be better to use rainwater or bottled water; lucky bamboo are sensitve to flouride buildup. They are not too fond of the chlorine in tap water either; chlorine can cause browning of the tips. You should rarely (like only after a few years) need to fertilize (with mild organic fertilizer). You would know it need fertilizer by a general yellowing of the plant. I don't think your plants need fertilizer. most of them are green. It would only stress the plants further.

 

Hi again, thanks for the input guys. I've posted another picture, this one has a better perspective on the three of the six stems at stake. You can tell they are the most unhealthy ones becuase one is extremely yellow (in fact it is completely yellow as far as I can see). The other two have become very discolored and one is REALLY shriveled, so should i remove those two discolored ones and try to continue sustain the yellow one?

Sorry about the blurry picture, but I hope you can see the three stems that are at stake.

Also, bottled water is kind of expensive for me, do you think I can use one of those portable water filters to filter tap water and use that instead?

 

I think I would remove whatever is turning brown and wilting.

 

u should b able to leave your water out for 24 hrs just sitting and it will b fine ..
and yes remove the yellow brown ..usually when anything goes yellow or brown it is the end ..

good luck

Marn

 

Thanks again guys, I only have one more question, in all honesty, do you think the plant will ever reach the same thickness it had before? All of the stems have reduced in size to some extent, and before they were thick and plump.

 

Time will tell. I think there are several plants there and some are lost so it may not be as full as before.