What is the best way to grow this type of plant?...

Hi Opal26 - thank you so much for replying with such good advice on how to grow bamboo. I really appreciate it. My bamboo is in a relatively good sized clear glass decorative bowl. Currently, I have it in our bathroom. That is because our cat likes to eat the leaves off of any plant I might have in our house!... including, of course, bamboo plants. Ugh! I love having plants and flowers in our place but I never know where to put them so that our kitty cat can't reach (now that is a difficult task considering how high she can jump). Anyway, it was a housewarming gift from somebody for us. It has nice seashells in the bottom, no rocks or marbles... just the shells. Somebody told me once that you are only supposed to put enough water in the bottom to only cover the roots... not any higher or the stalks will rot. Do you know if that is true? I also heard once that when you water it, the water should be pretty cold. You said that you spray them also... I have never heard of doing that with bamboo, so thank you for the advice. I assume it is good for them since you say that your bamboo does very well. Thanks again!

Bamboo's love water! They thrive on it! Be careful about what plants you have around kitty. Some of them are extremely posionous so you should always check to make sure that they are ok. You can check them out on the ASPCA or one of the amimal sites to make sure.

Thanks for the advice on how to grow bamboo indoors RedFeather as that is where I am growing mine! I guess several people thought I was asking on how to grow it outdoors, not indoors. Oh well. I did not know that I should use bottled water though so that is very good information for me as I have always just used tap water and they do not do so well. I have never put them into dirt however since I heard about that already, thank goodness. I will try the bottled water idea and see how it does. I will let you know if it makes a difference. Take care and thanks again!

Thanks tigerdragon - Actually, I have the bamboo plant as a house plant inside. That is why I was asking what is the best way to care for it. I do know that it grows outdoors in the wild in the right climate but not around where I live.

Thanks agihcam... I appreciate your information on it liking wet soil. I do not think (I hope) that I do not have to worry about snakes. I am not planting it outside of my home. It is more of an ornamental plant inside in a small glass bowl with small rocks inside. Someone gave me the one I have now as good luck for moving into my new place. I hope it gives us good luck!

Thank you CJay77 - the one I have is an indoor bamboo plant and I have also heard, like you said, that they are supposed to be good luck. The leaves are relatively small, just a couple inches in length. I will have to change the water again since you said it should be changed at least twice a week. I have had this particular one for about a month and I have only changed the water once so far, so I guess I better do it again right now. It is also being kept in our bathroom as decoration, specifically because my cat likes to eat my plants so I try to keep it away from her so I put it in our bathroom where she is not (supposed) to be allowed to go as we try to keep both our cat & our dog out of our bedrooms entirely. This, however, does not work all of the time as one of us occasionally forgets to close our bedroom door(s). My cat has already nibbled on my bamboo a couple of times. Of course, it is never "me" who lives the doors open! LoL! Thanks again and I will have to try to think of a better spot to put my bamboo that is a cooler place (that my cat can't reach).

Hi zandi458 - I am not sure what kind of bamboo plant I have. You said you had a japanese kind... I guess I didn't realize there were different varieties of bamboo plants. I am trying to grow an indoor variety, if that helps any. You said that you should remove the brown leaves and trim the unwanted shoots. Do you know what is the best way to trim them? Should I use a pair of scissors or just pluck them off with my fingers? I never know what is the proper way to trim plants. They are all different. I'd love it if I could get my bamboo to grow new shoots and more leaves because sometimes our cat gets to my bamboo and eats off some of them!

Thanks littleowl for replying, even if you do not know anything about how to grow these types of plants, bamboo. I appreciate that you thought enough to answer my post anyway. Thanks again. Take care. ~ koalatbs

Hi Tamara - I appreciate you replying anyways. I have never been to the U.K. before. I would love to go someday. I live in the U.S. and have only been out of the country a couple times and that was to Canada very briefly years ago. I cannot wait to do more traveling eventually. Anyway, in growing bamboo, I was specifically referring to just the indoor decorative variety, not outdoor bamboo plants. I'm sure that you can buy them in the U.K. too for your home if you wanted to. I like how they look as they are a unique plant to me and I've heard they are good luck! I hope, because I could use all of the good luck I can get these days! :)