My bamboo plant

[Clovis Sangrail]

I have one plant in real dirt -- a bamboo plant someone gave me when I moved into this apartment, so I kind of feel like I have an obligation to try to keep it alive. 

Then plant and I are coming up on a year, and the little guy outgrew his nursery pot, so I bought a bigger pot and some real dirt and transplanted him a few months ago. 

He is doing well. He gets real sun when I remember to open up the blinds, and he has thrived. 

The question -- What do I feed him? Can I just toss a capful of Aerogarden Juice into his Bosco every so often? 

Or do I need to find some real bamboo plant food for him?



(And no, I will not be opening a vein, but here's a little treat to go with this -- Please Grow for Me .

[blueoak]

I don't know anything about bamboo, but I generally use Osmocote slow release fertilizer on house plants.

[scarfguy]

Aug 26, 2024 11:11:55 GMT -5 blueoak said:

I don't know anything about bamboo, but I generally use Osmocote slow release fertilizer on house plants.

Yes, I don't do dirt but I remember hearing from my wife (60 years greenhouse worker/owner) 

that Osmocote is good stuff.

[lynnee]

Any all-purpose plant food should be fine, Clovis Sangrail. I swear by the MiracleGro crystals that are sold in a square box. You just mix them with water.

Whatever you do, don't transplant Bamboo to a spot outdoors! Bamboo is highly invasive and extremely hard to get rid of once it starts to spread.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Looks like most of these plant food products are designed for people who have more than one plant. And I do not need a product that produces 96 gallons of plant food when mixed with 95 gallons of water.

Even the smallest Osmocote was a 1-pound jar, and it would take forever to use up a box of MiracleGro. 

Then I found these for under 5 bucks. It should last me several years. 

Look OK?




And while we're on the subject of indoor, non-AG plants, has anyone ever grown pothos in an aquarium?

[swimmom500]

You made me get out my planter that had bamboo in it a couple years ago. Unfortunately, I treated it poorly so it said “no lucky bamboo for you” and croaked!

[LoveSalads]

Those plant food spikes have been around for at least 20 years Clovis Sangrail . My mom used those with great success.

Growing pothos in an aquarium would not give an exit to any excess water unless the fish tank has a hole in the bottom for a external filter system. Aquarium and dirt or Aquaponics ¿ It works great for Aquaponics as the roots take up nitrates and other things that are bad for fish. The plant thrives and the fish love it. Ohio fish rescue on u-tube grows hundreds of plants ,pothos and others using the plants to help there massive filter system. If you want to use the fish tank as a sump to hold your roots and nutrients that would probably have a serious algae problem because of clear glass.

[slw]

Clovis Sangrail  --  I could be wrong (and often am), but that looks like a money tree to me, not bamboo.   I use miracle grow plant food that mixes with water for my houseplants. 

[Clovis Sangrail]

Aug 30, 2024 12:32:48 GMT -5 slw said:

Clovis Sangrail   --  I could be wrong (and often am), but that looks like a money tree to me, not bamboo.   I use miracle grow plant food that mixes with water for my houseplants. 

Thanks. I looked up up some pictures on the internet, and I believe you are correct. Arthur looks like a Pachira aquatica (Malabar Chestnut, Guiana chestnut, and half a dozen other names) or a Pachira glabra (Guinea peanut, French peanut, Saba nut). (Thank you, wiki.)

Both are known as 'money tree'. If either one ever flowers, I'll be able to figure it out which one it is.

Not my fault. Someone told me it was bamboo. 

This thing will grow into a 60-ft tree. 

Wiki had some good care instructions, and I was accidentally doing that, which is why it's thriving. It doesn't particularly care for direct sunlight, but then neither do I. It does like the combined light spill of half a dozen Aerogardens.

Wiki says it will like being misted in the winter, so I need ordered a nice mister because it can get pretty dry in Kansas in the winter. 

And Amazon just told me the plant spikes are in my mailbox. 

I will keep you posted, and thanks again, slw , for pointing that out.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Aug 29, 2024 17:11:13 GMT -5 LoveSalads said:

Those plant food spikes have been around for at least 20 years Clovis Sangrail . My mom used those with great success.

Growing pothos in an aquarium would not give an exit to any excess water unless the fish tank has a hole in the bottom for a external filter system. Aquarium and dirt or Aquaponics ¿ It works great for Aquaponics as the roots take up nitrates and other things that are bad for fish. The plant thrives and the fish love it. Ohio fish rescue on u-tube grows hundreds of plants ,pothos and others using the plants to help there massive filter system. If you want to use the fish tank as a sump to hold your roots and nutrients that would probably have a serious algae problem because of clear glass.

About 20 years ago, there was a guy named Wally who posted a website about his apple snails and about using pothos in aquariums. So I tried it in a little 6-gallon Marineland desktop. I put a betta in there, and I bought a little pothos from the flower section of the grocery store. I washed the pothos very, very well, separated it into sprigs, and just tossed them in. They grew like gangbusters. I didn't even have to root them. 

Then some apple snails showed up at the fish store, and I bought one and put it in. Every thing was great until the snail climbed up the pothos to the top of the aquarium and made his escape. 

Never did find him, but we also had cats.

The pothos and the betta lived on, sans snail. 

Note: This was not a 'closed system' like you see being marketed to nimrods with a betta and a plant in a decorative jar. The ones where the fish dies in a couple of weeks because it doesn't really do that well if you don't bloody feed him. I fed the betta.

[scarfguy]

Clovis said, 

"Wiki says it will like being misted in the winter, so I need ordered a nice mister because it can get pretty dry in Kansas in the winter. "

=====

Last year when I fought powdery mildew,  I tried a variety of expensive misters. None of them were worth a damn.  I finally found these cheap ones:

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09MPDFKC3

These work great!  They are made for women's hair care.  Women don't put up with crap when it comes to their hair care.

Sometimes they stop working and you have to pump a lot to get them started again but the mist is really good.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Thanks, scarfguy , but I had already ordered this one because it's old-timey looking and matches my watering can.

[slw]

Aug 30, 2024 14:45:07 GMT -5 Clovis Sangrail said:

Thanks. I looked up up some pictures on the internet, and I believe you are correct. Arthur looks like a Pachira aquatica (Malabar Chestnut, Guiana chestnut, and half a dozen other names) or a Pachira glabra (Guinea peanut, French peanut, Saba nut). (Thank you, wiki.)

Both are known as 'money tree'. If either one ever flowers, I'll be able to figure it out which one it is.

Not my fault. Someone told me it was bamboo. 

This thing will grow into a 60-ft tree. 

Wiki had some good care instructions, and I was accidentally doing that, which is why it's thriving. It doesn't particularly care for direct sunlight, but then neither do I. It does like the combined light spill of half a dozen Aerogardens.

Wiki says it will like being misted in the winter, so I need ordered a nice mister because it can get pretty dry in Kansas in the winter. 

And Amazon just told me the plant spikes are in my mailbox. 

I will keep you posted, and thanks again, slw , for pointing that out.

No biggie.  I recognized it because I have killed probably a dozen of them over the years.      I have this 5' tall one on my patio...