Dracaena sanderiana - received too much sunlight!

[renae]

Hello, I'm new and my name is Renae.

I have a "lucky bamboo" plant that I've had for several years. Recently I've moved to a new house, and my mother put the plant on a window sill that gets a lot of direct sunlight. Well, I found her (the plant) and put her in the bathroom where she'll get much less sunlight.

The only problem is that half of the stalk (The side that was facing the window) has turned a very ominous shade of yellow. The side that faced indoors looks healthy. Many of the lower leaves have turned yellow and fallen off.

I'm sure you are all sick of answering "lucky bamboo" plant questions at this point. But do you think that with some fertilizer (do you have any specific recommendations) and care it'll bring itself back.

Note that it is in water/pebbles, like they all come. It's been in this thing for probably years at this point. Do you feel that I should repot it in soil?

Any advice is appreciated, as this plant holds sentimental value and I would hate to lose it. Thank you in advance, an I promise to make my next posts something more worth while!

[mosscampion]

Welcome Renae!

Since the direct sun caused the yellowing, let's hope that the move helps. Lucky Bamboos can't handle that much sun.

Have you ever fertilized this plant? Lucky Bamboo's are pretty sensitive to minerals (esp. fluoride and salt), so it's best not to fertilize too often. In fact, I've only fertilized mine once in the 1.5 years I've had it (I'm of the opinion that if something is working well, don't mess up a good thing and since fertilizer can hurt, I held back). A sign of too much fertilizer is also yellowing leaves. If you've never fertilized, then perhaps you can consider it, but I'm not sure if this will cure the yellowed leaves from too much sun. I'm guessing the plant just needs to rest and recuperate in its new location.

As far as soil vs. water goes, I've recently tried an experiment with mine. I had 2 stalks and so I kept one in water and I potted the other in soil. So far, no conclusive results, but my inspiration to do this came from other people's advice that it was a good idea to get it into soil. Additionally, my plants were not growing at all potted in water. I chose the stalk to be potted in soil based on the roots: one stalk had lots of great roots and the other (the one I put in soil) had like 4 tiny roots so I thought getting it in soil would encourage new root growth, and later, new leaves. If you do go the route of soil, then be sure to use a coarse, well-draining mixture, preferably one that doesn't already have fertilizer in it.

Good luck with your plant!