DIY Network

Growing Bamboo Indoors Bamboo is easy to grow and provides an exotic look. From "Dirt On Gardening" episode DDOG-109

Light and moisture are key to success with growing bamboo.

Bamboo is a hardy and attractive plant that's one of the easiest exotic plants to grow inside your home. With the right care, it does well planted in containers. There are two basic categories of bamboo: tropical and temperate. The tropical types are the ones best suited for indoor growing.

Bamboo Growing Tip: Want a low-growing variety of bamboo? Pleoblastus distichus grows to a height of only about six inches.

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	Bamboo thrives best in large containers.

Choosing a Type of Bamboo

Take into account whether the bamboo is natively tropical or temperate. Generally, tropical bamboos grown indoors adjust to the indoor environment with less trauma and acclimate more easily than the temperate bamboos.

Choosing a Container for Bamboo

Bamboo grows quickly, so use a container large enough to have a space at least two inches between the edge of the root ball and the side of the container. Squatty, tub-like containers are generally better than tall, deep ones because of the root structure of the bamboo plant.

Consider using rollers under your bamboo pot. These plants get large quickly, and this will allow you to move the heavy pot around easily.

Planting Bamboo

Bamboos are really no different from the more "usual" houseplants and require the same basic amenities, including a well-drained and nutrient-rich soil. To increase humidity, place containers on a bed of pebbles with a little water under them, or use humidifiers to create an atmosphere of moisture. Grouping plants together accomplishes this easily.

Keeping Bamboo Healthy

To keep bamboo healthy indoors, be sure to provide plenty of light and water. Misting the plants occasionally with a spray bottle is another way to keep the plants happy, and it helps alleviate dust build-up.

Not only do plants need water, food, and light, they need care. Supplemental lighting is easy to provide and can create an appealing ambiance as well. Don't limit yourself to those industrial fluorescent tubes. Wide-spectrum and "grow" bulbs--that provide the range of light needed by plants--can be incorporated into a variety of fixture types.

The key to keeping bamboo beautiful is an occasional "manicure." If you are growing a taller bamboo for its strong vertical culms (the proper name for the stems of woody grasses; it becomes a cane once it's cut), then regular thinning and pruning will keep the bamboo plant looking its best.