White Powdery Stuff May Cause Lucky Bamboo To Be Evicted

Ask the Expert: My Bamboo seems to have this white powdery stuff at the base of the leaves (and stalk). I wash it off but it just comes back. What could it be? Should I discard this entire plant? Cynthia

Cynthia,

Could the powdery substance be more of a sticky cottony substance? There is an insect called Cottony Cushion Scale that can effect lucky bamboo. Although it doesn’t look like a typical insect, it is an insect with a complete life cycle. Since it has more than one phase to its life cycle, you may be eliminating only the adults; thus causing a “re-occurrence”. You will need to clean, both, the container and the lucky bamboo. Use soapy water to clean the container and any pebbles or rocks. Rinse the container throughly. Take a wet soapy rag and wipe the lucky bamboo stalk from top to bottom; then take a clean wet rag and wipe the lucky bamboo again. Place the lucky bamboo back in the container and fill with distilled water. This process should remove the eggs and the adults, therefore stopping any re-occurrence issues. If you have a particularly difficult infestation of cottony scale, you may need to use insecticidal soap. Best of luck.