Growing Bamboo Indoors

The bamboo plant is a type of woody grass. The species grow in a range of sizes, from dwarf to giant, and varied bamboo growing regions, from icy mountainous habitats to muggy tropical climes. Among the many splendid qualities of the bamboo plant, is that it is the fastest growing woody plant in the world, and has the ability to grow in harsh conditions. As there are over a 1000 known species of bamboo, no one set of rules can apply to growing bamboo indoors. However, these are a few guidelines on how to grow indoor bamboo plants.

Selecting a Bamboo Plant: The first step to growing bamboo indoors is to decide what type of bamboo plant you want to grow. The two deciding factors are climate and size. You need to pick a plant that will flourish in the natural climate of the place you live in and also fit into the designated space you have for it. The most popular bamboo plant at present is the lucky bamboo plant, with comes with instructions on growing bamboo in water, as that is almost all the care it needs.

Basic Necessities: Bamboos have the same requirements as most house plants: well-drained and nutrient-rich soil, sufficient light, adequate humidity and fertilizer during the growing season.

Potting: Bamboo plants termed runners, have roots that spread rapidly, and others called clumpers, have roots which slowly expand from the original planting. Indoor bamboo plants are best grown in pots that can accommodate the plants as they rapidly grow. The ideal size of pot is one that has about two inches or more space between the edge of the root ball and the side of the container. If your indoor bamboo plant is a runner with rhizome roots that grow more horizontally, use a wide, tub-like container. However, a tall, deep container would work better for indoor bamboo plants with clumping root systems. As is obvious, large indoor bamboo plants need voluminous containers.

All bamboo plants, after a while, spread within the container and eventually become pot-bound. Thus, they all need periodic pruning, some (such as bamboo plants with rhizome roots) more often than others. When you find that the pot is filed with root and rhizome, it is time to either move it to a larger container, or remove some of the roots (approximately one third of the total) and place it back into the same pot along with fresh soil. Growing bamboo from cuttings is the normal way of increasing your indoor population of bamboo.

Soil: Ensure that the soil a bamboo plant is grown in is not saturated, or over watered. If the soil is saturated, there will be no oxygen, which will cause the roots to rot. The plant should be periodically nourished with high-nitrogen, low potash fertilizer, i.e. water-soluble 30-10-10. Nonetheless, any balanced slow-release N-P-K fertilizer solution will suffice.

Environment: While growing bamboo indoors, you need to try your best to provide it with a climate similar to its natural habitat, ie tropical or temperate. Temperate bamboos are exposed to a cold dormancy in the wild. When it does not receive the same indoors, it often results in leaf drop. This means that the plant is "resting", and will consume less water and lower photosynthesis. Tropical bamboos adjust more easily to the indoor environment. They need consistent temperatures and moisture, and should flourish indoors. One rule of thumb to follow is: the higher the air temperature, the brighter the light must be. If it is humidity you need to create, place the pots on a shallow container with pebbles and a little water. Alternately, you could use a humidifier.

Care: Caring for a bamboo plant means trimming it on a regular basis. A tall bamboo plant will need regular thinning and pruning, by cutting off undesired or wilted stems at soil level. If you want to control the height of the bamboo stem, cut it at the place on the stem just above a branch. For aesthetic reasons, it is advisable to keep the lower portions of the stems bare, by cutting off the branches. Misting the plants is another good practice, which helps with moisture and reduces dust settlements.

Indoor bamboo plants can add a lot of aesthetic value to any room. Growing bamboo indoors can be fairly easy, as they come in a wide variety of sizes and grow in vastly diverse climates. Thus one can can pick a size they want, as well as a species that would flourish in the given environment.