It's 'lucky' bamboo - don't know if it's meant for soil, think it might grow too tall and 'woody'. Probably best in water, change water often.
Is it still lucky if it has been bunged in a pot of soil instead of water? I will pull them out, rinse them off and put them in a vase. Would you add anything to the water? My daughter picked the wax off the top of one piece because her theory was that the wax was stopping the plant growing; now that piece looks like it is dying. This is why I don't do plants.
No. It's obviously an UNlucky bamboo, it met you AND your plant killing daughter!
You could google and find out exactly what you should do if you don't like what I do DO!
I keep mine in tallish bottles, (one per bottle) milk bottles would do - no, not the plastic eco friendly milk pouches, they're too floppy - with about 2 - 3 inches of water just covering the white roots. If you have them on a window sill (NOT hot/bright sunlight) near a sink, it's easy to keep you eye on it/them and when the bottle starts to get a bit of green algae or discolours, tip out the water, quickly rinse the bottle and stick another 2 -3 inches of fresh water. You don't even have to take the bamboo out of the bottle to do this.
I think the wax is to stop the bamboo from growing leaves all over the place and making the stalk look untidy - but google to find out the real reason. I've had some of mine for 6-7 years, but then I haven't tried to murder them with soil or pick the essential wax off them!