There is a LOT of information left out in your description which is necessary to make any suggestions. How do they look "paltry"? Did the foliage on the plants begin to show diseases and fall early (summer)? I know the weather across much of Texas has been Hades on earth for the past few years and rain hasn't come in sufficient or even near normal quantities. Have you supplied enough water to supplement the lack of rainfall? Are the plants growing near walls, patios, concrete side walks or a drive way where they will receive a lot of reflected, radiated heat? Might you be able to photograph them to show the conditions in which they grow and what they look like? They could be severely water stressed. They could be severely heat stressed. They could have been accidentally exposed to chemicals like weed killers. You could have insect issues which are causing them to suffer to the point of looking awful. They could be suffering from disease issues which also could cause the problems. It's also possible someone has damaged them with a string trimmer while edging the garden. Hopefully, photos will help. Kim

I agree. Are you sure they're not on the stem too? I'd carefully wipe the entire plant (top & undersides of foliage, stems and pay careful attention to the junction of the stem and leaf) with cotton balls soaked in diluted isopropyl alcohol. Then rinse with clean water. You might have to repeat the alcohol in about a week. Scale are difficult to get rid of as they are only really susecptible to pesticides while in the immature mobile stage so physically scraping off the sessile adults is the best way to get rid of them.

Wait. Don't disturb them yet. They may have just leafed out with stored energy as Countrygirl said but if they are rooting you don't want to break any of those tiny roots by trying to re-pot them. You want a nice big healthy root ball before you do that. I like to use clear plastic cups for my cuttings so I can see when they are rooting. I wait until the cups are full of roots before I move them up to bigger pots.

Hi Jenna! I wasn't able to save my plant :*(, but I did grow more from cuttings. In hindsight I think it was scales and then the scales compromised the roots causing air roots to grow. If I could have my time over I would have tried Yates Scale Gun. I had to use it on a portulaca recently, and I have a lot of trouble with pesticides killing the plants instead of the pests, but the plant has never looked better. I really wish I'd come across it sooner :(. I hope that helps and you're able to save your bamboo :)