The indoor bamboo or Pogonatherum paniceum is a bushy and exotic plant. Easy-care and shapely, it is suitable for everyone without a green thumb and will become a fast-growing eye-catcher.
Table of Contents
temperatures
Consistently 20°C to 25°C should prevail at the chosen location. Even in winter, the thermometer should not fall below 16°C. The room bamboo is best kept in the living room, constantly heated offices in the kitchen or bathroom. At the last two locations, the sweet grass benefits from the humidity. Because in addition to brightness and warmth, this also plays an important role in the choice of location. Here it has – apart from the optics – another thing in common with the bamboo.
A draught-free window sill or a place in the conservatory are ideal.
Substrate
With the substrate, the room bamboo is again easy to care for. Ordinary potting soil is sufficient. However, this should be of very good quality, pre-fertilized and permeable.
If rich garden soil is used, it should be loosened up with sand or granulate.
Coconut fibers are also suitable.
maintenance
As already mentioned, the care of Pogonatherum paniceum is very simple, regular watering and fertilizing – that’s all the room bamboo basically needs.
An occasional cut if necessary and an annual repot complete the care plan. Because you hardly have to pay attention to any special features, even children can easily take care of this simple houseplant. So if you don’t have a green thumb, this is the best way to go.
watering and fertilizing
The indoor bamboo likes it moist. Even a brief lack of moisture can cause considerable damage, which can then usually no longer be compensated. The root ball must therefore never dry out.
Watering is therefore of great importance when caring for the Pogonatherum paniceum.
The following points must be observed:
- Supply small amounts regularly
- Use low-lime water, such as rainwater or stagnant tap water
- Avoid waterlogging
- Keep the substrate evenly moist
- Water at least once a week, more often depending on humidity and temperature
- Shower occasionally or spray with a plant sprayer
Fertilizing is almost as important as regular watering. Because the room bamboo has a fairly high nutrient consumption. In addition, many substances are washed out of the substrate due to the heavy watering. It is therefore advisable to fertilize Pogonatherum paniceum every two weeks or at least once a month.
Commercial fertilizers for green plants are suitable for this. This is best used in liquid form and added directly to the irrigation water. In this way, it is distributed quickly and optimally throughout the substrate and, in concentrated form, cannot burn the roots.
This fertilizing behavior should be maintained from spring to autumn. Because even if the room bamboo is constantly warm, the light conditions change in winter. As a result, the plant automatically goes into a resting phase.
To cut
The room bamboo or the Seychelles grass, as the pretty green plant is also called, keeps its bushy shape by itself. A regular shaping cut is therefore not necessary.
However, the grass can certainly be trimmed, for example to fill up a bouquet of flowers or to shape the houseplant itself as desired. You don’t have to set a specific time for this.
Only in the hibernation should one avoid a too radical cut, because then it is not so easy for the Pogonatherum paniceum to recover or to develop new shoots.
The exceptions here are an infestation with pests and diseases or dried-out stalks. These should be removed promptly to prevent progression.
repot
Because the room bamboo is poured frequently, even the highest quality soil is used up quite quickly. In addition, Pogonatherum paniceum forms dense root networks that fill the pot in a very short time and can become knotted.
It is therefore necessary that the plant is repotted once a year. The best time for this is spring.
There are a few specifics to note here:
- Choose a vessel that is only a size or two larger than the current pot
- Completely remove old soil
- Rinse the root ball and cut off knotted root areas if necessary
- Choose fresh substrate either as a pre-fertilized variant or enrich it with fertilizer
- Water the room bamboo after potting and moisten the stalks again with a plant sprayer
The time of repotting can still be used for propagation.
multiply
The room bamboo can be propagated in two quite similar ways. The annual repotting in spring is ideal as a time.
The first option is to remove root runners. However, these can be difficult to find in the flower pot. But if you reduce the root ball anyway, you can put strong side shoots in a glass of water. However, success is not guaranteed here.
The second and much simpler variant is dividing the plant. The root ball is first freed from the substrate as described above and then cut through the middle or torn apart. The best way to do this is with scissors, with which you can gently separate the roots. After this propagation, the indoor bamboo is placed in separate pots and thrives as usual without any further action.
Propagation by seeds
The indoor bamboo can bloom or form spikes. In these, the upper section is fertile – i.e. fertile. The one below doesn’t.
However, these rarely occur. And only if Pogonatherum paniceum is optimally positioned and cared for. Even then, ear formation is not guaranteed.
However, if these show up, they represent a third possibility of propagation. Once they have fallen off, they can serve as seeds that can be placed in potting soil and grow into new plants. It helps to cover the cultivation vessels with a transparent film and to keep the substrate evenly moist. The film prevents drying out and reduces the amount of water required.
Placed in a warm and sunny location, the first shoots can appear within a few weeks. As soon as these are about 10cm high, they can be freed from the foil and cultivated like the adult plants.
But be careful: the young shoots of the indoor bamboo can contain toxic substances and are therefore a danger to animals and small children. They should therefore be kept out of their reach.
outdoor culture
Pogonatherum paniceum needs a temperature between 20°C and 25°C. Otherwise it cannot thrive and will die or at least be damaged fairly quickly. The exception here is overwintering.
Due to this rather high heat requirement, outdoor cultivation is only possible in summer. And then only if the temperatures do not drop below 20°C even at night.
South-facing balconies are suitable for this, on which the heat accumulates and is also stored in the masonry at night. As soon as it gets cooler, the indoor bamboo has to be brought back inside.
hibernate
As a pure houseplant, Pogonatherum paniceum requires no special preparation and no special winter quarters. As already described, however, the lighting conditions cause the indoor bamboo to go into a resting phase. This change can only be prevented if a special plant lamp is used.
If you don’t want to go through this effort, simply leave the plant in its normal location and adjust the care accordingly.
This includes changing watering and fertilizing behavior. It is also important to ensure that the temperatures do not drop too much. Brief temperatures of 16°C are tolerated, but 18°C to 20°C are better.
Watering in winter
Because indoor bamboo stops growing in winter, its water requirements are lower. Therefore, it no longer needs to be watered too often. Drying out is also to be avoided at all costs during this time. The substrate should be slightly damp but not dripping wet.
Instead of watering twice a week, you can replace one watering with a short spray.
But beware: the low water requirement in winter can be deceptive. If the air is very dry, which is quickly caused by the heat of the heating, the indoor bamboo must of course also be supplied with water frequently. This usually occurs less in the kitchen or bathroom. In the living room or office, on the other hand, it is often the case.
fertilization in winter
Just like watering, fertilizing can also be reduced in winter. If the substrate is good, it can be completely absent, but if wilted spots or discoloration appear, light fertilization should be carried out about every four to six weeks.
Typical diseases and pests
The indoor bamboo is not only easy to care for, it is also extremely resistant to pests and diseases. Nevertheless, it can happen that Pogonatherum paniceum is attacked by spider mites, aphids or rot.
In the case of the pests, it is usually a matter of getting lost or a stopover that the parasites make on their way to other houseplants. They are usually easy to combat with natural or commercially available means.
Rot , on the other hand, occurs if you keep the indoor bamboo too moist and too cool at the same time or if there is insufficient ventilation. If you correct these deficiencies, remove the affected areas and change the substrate, you can usually save the plant. You should pay particular attention to this during the hibernation.
Because Pogonatherum paniceum is so hardy, a persistent or recurring infestation – whether from pests or diseases – always indicates a lack of location or care. It is therefore worth checking the external conditions. A drafty location, irrigation water that is too cold, a washed-out substrate or an environment that is too cold – all these factors can make the indoor bamboo susceptible. If they are turned off, diseases and pests are extremely rare.
So if you observe the required conditions from the start, you will save time and money later on when it comes to care and treatment.
Is the indoor bamboo poisonous?
The adult room bamboo is not poisonous. However, the young shoots can contain toxic substances and should therefore not be accessible to pets and children.
Especially if there are birds or cats living in the household, the purchase of such young editions should be reconsidered. Because they could chew on the straws in an unattended moment. This does not have to be taken into account in the case of adult expenses. With Pogonatherum paniceum, however, caution is advised for another reason.
The stalks as a source of danger
The indoor bamboo forms relatively rigid, sharp stalks and leaf edges, which can cause injuries when you grab them.
Therefore, it should be placed out of the reach of small children. The same applies to cats. Of course, they won’t cut their paws, but they could still have problems picking up the straws. If these are chewed off and swallowed in large pieces, they can become wedged in the esophagus or even in the throat area and are then extremely difficult to remove. If it is determined that the cat is chewing on the indoor bamboo and later shows dry gagging or frequent sneezing, a veterinarian should be consulted. The reference to possibly stuck stalks can help to eliminate the problem in a targeted manner.
Conclusion
As an easy-care green, the indoor bamboo is already suitable as a decoration for older children. And ideal for anyone who doesn’t have a green thumb – but still doesn’t want to do without plants in their own home.
