The Sheila Variations

Is it that "lucky bamboo" that you see all over the place?

If I remember correctly, the directions don't make clear that you shouldn't use tap water. If you have a Britta or something, use that. If not and you don't feel like getting distilled water, put tap water in a container and let it settle. It's not perfect, but better than straight from tap to bamboo.

Also, I've found that mine doesn't like light. I keep it away from windows and it flourishes.

I don't know if it is a lucky bamboo, but I do know that it is behaving in a very unlucky fashion.

Okay, so Britta. I have a Britta, so I will use that to water the thing.

It is not in sunlight, because that is what I have heard it does not like. So I've got that covered.

And ... I just fill the container up with water, and leave it ... right? Re-fill as needed?

Maybe it's the whole tap-water thing. Because of where I live, tap water could feckin' KILL ya.

I've heard that you just fill it up with water. Mine seems fine if I forget for a while though.

It's probably the tap water. Mine is nasty too and my bamboo reacted poorly.

Cool. I will Britta-ize my bamboo plant promptly.

Sheila, you might look very carefully to see if there are any bamboo mites. This causes spots on the leaves. The mites can be eliminated with a washing with a very mild, diluted soap. This has to be repeated for a few days. Here's a link:

http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/BambooMites.html

So you're telling me there's a website dedicated to bamboo mites.

I'm 36 and I feel so OLD.

If mites look anything like "s"s, then sorry - I'm gonna have to let the bamboo plant die.

Oh, and Nathan - congrats on winning Best Asia Blog ... yee-haw!

Well, it was just the Central Asia category. I guess I shouldn't be ridiculously modest, but there's not much competition in my niche.

Look likw S's? Not so much...they're really teeny and they have short little legs.

Do the Brita thing before giving significant thought to this, as it is way out of left field.

However, I have a large cactus plant that usually thrives, but the few times I have turned it into a Christmas tree and added electric lights, it very quickly and noticably withers. When I take the electric lights off (leaving the non-electric ornaments), it recovers.

I can only conclude the strong electromagnetic fields can be bad for the health of plants.

(I should add as an aside that I am a member of the Cactusarians, an obscure Christian sect that, among other things, uses live Cactus plants in place of evergreens as Christmas decorations, abhors bologna, and believes that Jesus surfed.)