hello, i just bought a LB and noticed my roots were also red.I put mine in a clear vase with colored rocks.From what i've read DON'T use tap water because it has chlorine and that will make the leaves turn color and weaken the plant.I use bottled water.Or you can fill a jug of water and let it stand for 24hrs.That will evaporate the chlorine out of it.GOOD LUCK.nightsting41@aol.com

Hi m8,

Since ive put them in a glass vase, ive noticed a few normal coloured brown roots coming out. I think the red roots are probably rotten from being in that stagnent gravel.

I meant to tell you guys this ages ago, so sorry if it is too late to be helpful...

When I first read this I thought I'd seen it mentioned that dracena may have color roots. It was in my copy of The New Good Housekeeping Encyclopedia of Houseplants. It says that they may have "yellow to orange rootstock". I noticed this on my own LB's when I moved them to soil; sorta orangey roots. I didn't think much about it then because I knew some plants roots are normally orange, ie carrots anyone? But then this post came up, and I kept meaning to get out the book, get online...

Sorry to say, but I think that the red roots you had were probably healthy. I don't know what to think of the brown roots you mention, as the only truly brown roots I've met were brown&mushy roots = rot.

hey everyone, i had a lucky bamboo given to me almost 2 years ago when i was in the hospital, and it seemed healthy, thick red roots, nice and green n what not. I moved the lucky bamboo into a bigger glass vase about 7 inches tall and filled a little over half with sand, and the rest with rocks. I placed the bottom of the plant in the vase, where the rocks and sand met and filled it with water and its been like that for about 8 to 9 months.In that 8 to 9 month time frame, my cat had a feast on the leavs and ate them all off so i was left with only the stalk and the 2 inch long stem from where the leavs grew. Finally a new leaf began to grow,and today i decided to remove the plant it and put it into soil, and i noticed some root rot and half of the roots that were once there, were gone. The bottom of the stalk is a pale yellow color, a little white, and after taking off all of the rotted roots and everything, i wasent left with much at all. I was wondering if i should put it in water and wait untill new roots grow before i plant it in soil, and how long that would approximatley take. right now its in a cup of bottled water, well anywayse thanks.

hello? ever heard of responding 2 ppl?

First off greengreen, you need to search the forum(s) before you post to see if your question has already been answered. If it hasn't been, the best bet is to post a new thread.
Secondly, if you bury a question at the end of a thread that hasn't been posted to for a month, very few people are going to read through to see a new comment on the old topic. To add to the problem, this is a very small forum which few ppl read, it seems.
Lastly, if you go through the propagation thread there should be some other ideas on dealing with re-rooting/propagation. At the least, you'll need to remove the rotten parts and put the remainder in some kind of rooting media. Water may not be the best for this as it sounds like the problem stemmed from being waterlogged or sitting in stagnant water.

I also have an LB with red roots and I use tapwater and its fine. But, I need some advice on how to plant it

See post above..........