These sculptural houseplants with eye-catching shapes, swirls, or braided stalks, can frequently be seen in office buildings, businesses, homes, and on desks for good feng shui. They can also be trained so that stalks grow straight as an arrow and adorned with smallish, simple floppy green leaves.
Most Lucky Bamboo comes from Taiwan or China, where they’ve grown the plant for centuries, and they know how to twist and curl it properly to make the most beautiful and functional bamboo products.
Though the plant looks like bamboo and grows as fast as bamboo, it’s actually not related to it at all, and is actually more of a succulent. Be aware that this plant is not lucky for pets because it’s toxic to cats and dogs.
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Lucky Bamboo Care
Lucky bamboo is a good luck charm, bringing good fortune and health to those who own it. Your lucky bamboo’s number of stalks can help predict your future. For example, four stalks mean prosperity, while eight stalks represent growth and development.
Lucky bamboo is nearly indestructible. However, it does require certain conditions in order to thrive. These include proper lighting, water, potting soil, fertilizer, and temperature.
Beyond that though, there is little you can do to truly kill off a Lucky Bamboo plant, which is great news for new plant owners or forgetful water gardeners. If you want to take your chances and try to shape the plants yourself, it will take a lot of time and patience.
Light
Lucky bamboo enjoys the brightness of filtered sunshine and they appreciate it best when placed in the shade. If you don’t have access to a shady place to grow lucky bamboo, then grow it in a bright but indirect light.
As the plant stretches, or the green fades, you should provide more light.
Soil
Growing Lucky Bamboo is easy, too! Lucky bamboo thrives well in well-drained, rich soil. As a houseplant, it can thrive when housed in pebbles or a vase filled with water, and its growth is steady, but you may need to give it extra water if it starts to look dry.
Water
Water is a vital element for lucky bamboo. It keeps them healthy and strong. You should water them with bottled or distilled water, or tap water that has been left out for 24 hours to allow the chlorine to evaporate.
Lucky bamboo seeds grow into lush, bright green plants that are easy to grow. The stems are yellow and green. Lucky bamboo is a tropical, fast-growing grass from Asia, and is also called Chinese bamboo, lucky bamboo, Indian bamboo, lucky grass, lucky tree, and luck herb.
Temperature and Humidity
Lucky bamboo prefers warmer temperatures, ranging between 65 degrees Fahrenheit and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t live in an area with those ideal conditions, just make sure you give your lucky bamboo enough water to survive and thrive.
Fertilizer
Lucky bamboo loves low-light conditions and will grow well in partial shade, but needs bright light if you want to enjoy its beauty all season. If you’ve got enough sunlight, however, and just want to enjoy it in full bloom during the summer, lucky bamboo makes an ideal ground cover plant.
Pruning
Despite its complex appearance, lucky bamboo is not pruned and shaped the same way bonsai are pruned, with plant wires and judicious trimming. Pruning is an important part of keeping your lucky bamboo healthy. Over time, most plants will become top heavy, or intricate shapes will begin to lose their form. Trimming helps keep that under control.
It’s generally not a good idea to cut off the main stalk of lucky bamboo. Instead, use sterile scissors to clip the offshoots back to within an inch or two of the main stem. This will encourage new growth from the base.
There are many ways to encourage the growth of lucky bamboo, from pruning to lighting your plant at night. It’s best to rotate the plant stalks in front of a bright light to encourage the growth of the plant.
Professional gardeners have to be extremely patient and pay attention to their plants. They can grow them in three-sided boxes, but it can take months or years to get the shape they want. It can be done much quicker and more easily at home with some practice and attention to the plants’ growth rates.
Propagating Lucky Bamboo
Lucky bamboo is a plant which can propagate itself. It’s easy to propagate at anytime and you can even propagate it for the purpose of giving an auspicious gift. This is a good idea for someone you care about.
Take a stem cutting off the main stalk with at least one leaf joint, and trim the leaves so the growth nodes are exposed. Put the bare cutting into a jar or a bowl that’s half-filled with distilled water and keep the cutting in the solution for two days.
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Water should be kept clean and fresh as you watch for the development of red roots. When the roots appear, put them in a decorative vase with water and pebbles or a pot with soil.
Common Pests
This is an easy-to-grow and very common plant that you can treat the same way you treat any other plant. Just remember not to fertilize it as often.
Look for mealybugs, aphids, and mites. Wash the entire plant with a very mild dish soap and water to remove bugs, and any moldy spots.
Common Problems With Lucky Bamboo
Lucky bamboo has its own unique problems to watch out for as it grows, but they are mostly associated with the water that’s used to keep the plants healthy. Here are some common problems and what to do if you find them.
It’s essential to take care to keep the water in your home clean, especially after heavy rains or floods, and to use the right kind of water that can eliminate the following potential problems.
Browning Leaf Tips
Browning leaf tips are a sign that the chlorinated water in the container has contaminated the water in the pot and is leaching into the soil.
Remove dead leaves from the water so they do not rot because this will introduce bacteria. A: Add your keywords in the “title” and “description” to get noticed by more people.
Black Roots
When you look at the root of a lucky bamboo plant, it should be red or orange. This means that there’s no signs of disease. If you notice any black roots, you’ll need to carefully remove them by cutting them out with a small clean snips.
Algae
If you notice a thick layer of algae in the water, it’s probably because the plant is potted in a clear vase. The algae will continue to grow until the plant’s roots are exposed to sunlight, which stimulates the growth of the algae. The solution?
If you have a persistent algae problem, consider using an opaque container.
Yellow Leaves
Yellow leaves on lucky bamboo usually indicate that the plant is receiving too little sunlight. Move it to a shadier location and add a few more hours of sunlight per day.
Brown Leaves
Brown leaves on lucky bamboo usually indicate dry air or polluted water. You can raise the humidity level by spraying the plant regularly. Make sure you’re using the appropriate quality of water in the container, as well.
Mushy Stalks
Mushy stalks are a symptom of dead roots, and this indicates that the roots are beyond saving. Removing the stalks will help prevent other stalks from rotting and turning mushy.
Lucky bamboo needs to be watered every week to keep its roots healthy. It’s a good idea to have it growing in good-quality water.
Lucky bamboo needs only average-quality water to live. How fast does it grow? Lucky bamboo grows moderately fast. It can grow around 20 inches in six months. It will likely grow to a maximum indoors of 3 feet, but sometimes lucky bamboo houseplants grow to 5 feet.
Lucky bamboo is a type of plant that grows at an average pace, growing to only about 3 feet tall. It can last for many years and is perfect for indoor gardening.
Lucky bamboo is a short-lived plant, living for about one to two years. If you want to give your plant more time to grow, move it to a larger container or potted in soil.