Your "bamboo" looks like some variety of Dieffenbachia. I'd remove all the damaged foliage keep it warm and out of direct sunlight. It likes high humidity so you might want to mist occasionally or keep on a pebble tray but allow the surface of the soil to dry between waterings. I'd feed every few weeks with a diluted all purpose fertilizer. Good luck. It's a fairly resilient plant and should do well with a bit of care.

Make sure there are no bug issues and repot into a well-aerated, fast draining soil. Bare root the plants first. If you live where it's warm (above 55* at night) the plant should go outside out of direct sun and wind after the repot for fastest recovery.

Al

I re-potted (bare-rooted) two of those Dieffenbachia into a gritty mix.
Both are doing well, but they don't like to dry out...learned that via leaf-loss....

Aside: When I re-potted my buddy's plant, I found a CHICKEN BONE in the bottom of the pot!

Josh

Thanks for the quick responses. You say to bare-root the plant. This means to remove all soil from the roots when you re-pot, correct? And by a fast draining, well-aerated potting mix, you are referring to something similar to the legendary gritty mix or 5-1-1 mix, correct?

Thanks!

Al

I don't generally promote the recipes that I post, choosing instead to suggest a durable and well aerated soil that drains well. It just happens those soils are designed to fit that criteria. Either of those soil recipes would work very well for houseplants, with the gritty mix getting a definite nod as the superior of the two for long term plantings. Good luck.

Al

Ok, thanks. I will figure something out and keep you posted with the results.

Al(an) :)

Please do. :o)

Al(an)

Well I hate to be a bummer, but those plants look diseased & dying. I'd be concerned that whatever they have might spread. I'd toss the whole thing & spend my enrgey on plants w/ a better prospect of success.

I don't know why folks insist on rescues like this. These are common, ordinary, easy to replace plants. Such a waste of time & energy on something struggling at death's door.

Fertilizing ailing plants is a waste; fertilizers is best when applied to healthy, actively growing plants.

It's the challenge. ;o)

I'm not really reading 'disease', as in a fungal or viral infection. To me, it looks like over-watering or a high level of soluble salts in the soil, or a combination of both - both cultural issues and both easily fixed. I guess I'm just used to some plants being really ugly for a while before they turn into something beautiful (bonsai), that a (temporarily) ratty plant doesn't bother me in the least. Just think of the sense of personal satisfaction you'd get from turning those plants around ....

This gives me an idea for a thread. ;o)

Al

What?! No comments about the chicken bone?

Years ago, upon repotting several old plants inherited from MIL, I recovered handfuls of old Limoges china shards, beautiful beach glass, and other little treasures from the bottom of the pots. No bones from chickens, though. lol

Yeah, it is the challenge. That and I don't have the $$ to buy plants, so everything I own is either adopted or sprouted from food leftovers.

Besides, the ivy is bouncing back very nicely. I think that I should be able to save the bamboo too.

OK, but pls. could you stop calling that plant Bamboo? It's a Dracena of some sort (unfortunately maybe related to the "Lucky Bamboo" which is also a Dracena & not bamboo).

It's just that after one hangs out here a while one gets to HATE continuing to (knowingly) use wrong plant names.

I DO understand the challenge, just think in some respects life is to short for that.

On the other hand, the only AV I have ever gotten to bloom was a horribly ill candidate (cost 99 cents) having a leaf & a half, that I liken to a person surviving in cardiac ICU.

I gave that plant some care & TLC & sometime later on a gray & snowy day Sunday morning in January in NYC, I came into the kitchen for a cup of coffee & there on the kitchen table, blooming in bright blue violet was my little AV w/ a few flowers; so pretty & I felt so very victorious. Yes, I DO remember the challenge.

(That was the first & only AV I've ever bloomed tho' I propagate them splendidly & give them away to folks to get them to bloom like my sister, who only gives them benign neglect & consistely gets blooms - go figure.)

That plant with the Ivy is not a Dracaena. I'm pretty sure it's a Dieffenbachia picta Exotica.

My 2cents - I had a Dieffenbachia which got pretty gangly and I didn't like the half-dead look so I cut it way back, to about a 3-4 inch stump. It resprouted and was looking great.......until it got spider mites...but that's a whole different story.

Neither the Ivy nor the Dieffenbachia like direct light. What direction is the window they're in facing? I'd say East is probably best. Don't let them dry out completely and I'd keep a close eye on them as I've noticed (at least for me) that Ivies can be hardcore spider mite magnets. I've lost several to them...so many to the point where I don't grow them anymore. The Ivy can also be cut back to make it bushier as well. I'd also withhold on fertilizer until you see healthy new growth on both plants seeing as how they're in the same pot.

Best of luck to you. I agree there is a kind of special pride in bringing plants back from the brink and turning them into beautiful specimens.

Thanks for the correction BG, I mispoke, yes it's a Diff, not a Dracena, but again, most important it's NOT bamboo.

"It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right." Molieresize>

Lol - I just discovered this little pearl today and emailed it to myself from work. I never dreamed I'd have a chance to use it so soon. ;o)

Take care.

Al