A Lucky Bamboo plant is really made up of the cut stalks of a Dracaena Sanderiana and is native to West Africa and Eastern Asia. The Lucky Bamboo plant stalks are usually 4″- 24″in height. Followers of Feng Shui believe that the Lucky Bamboo plant brings prosperity and good fortune to a home or business. If the Lucky Bamboo plant arrangement has three stalks it supposedly brings happiness; five stalks bring wealth; and six stalks bring health. Four stalks are never allowed since the word four in Chinese sounds too close to the Chinese word for death. A Lucky Bamboo plant is considered to be slightly poisonous and should be kept way from small children and especially dogs and cats. Read more about common houseplants that can be dangerous in my book Don’t Feed Me to Your Cat: A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants. If you buy Lucky Bamboo stalks loose and not planted, be sure to keep them in water until you have permanently placed them in a vase or decorative container. If you purchase multiple Lucky Bamboo plant stems that are tied together, do not remove the ties, this stabilizes the plant. Lucky Bamboo plants require very little care and grow practically anywhere as long as you keep the water clean and chemical free. These plants also do well when planted in soil.
Plant Care
Light
A Lucky Bamboo plant can survive in medium and even lower light, but does much better in bright indirect light. Pale leaves indicate the plant is not getting enough light. Avoid placing a Lucky Bamboo plant in the direct sun.
Water
Watering a Lucky Bamboo plant takes a little time and care. Keep the marbles and pebbles in your vase covered with water at all times. Add water to the container weekly to keep the proper level. Once a month remove the Lucky Bamboo plant from the water, rinse the roots, pebbles, and marbles with fresh water, and then put the arrangement back together. Avoid using water high in fluoride or chlorine.
Fertilizer
Fertilize monthly in the spring and summer with an African Violet plant food diluted to 1/2 the recommended strength. Excessive fertilizer causes the leaves to turn yellow.
Temperature
Lucky Bamboo Plants do best in warm temperatures between 70°-85°( 21°-29°C)
Humidity
Basic household humidity
Flowering
A Lucky Bamboo plant produces flowers that only appear at night. The blooms are made up of many small flowers and have a slight scent.
Pests
A Lucky Bamboo plant attracts unwanted insects if placed outdoors but is pest resistant indoors.
Diseases
Lucky Bamboo plants are prone to fungal infections that turn the stalks yellow and cause them to die.
Soil
Lucky Bamboo plants can also be planted in a loose quick-draining soil as well as kept in a vase of water. If using soil always allow the top few inches to dry out before watering.
Pot Size
When planted in soil, move a Lucky Bamboo plant to the next size pot, and nothing larger, once the roots have filled the existing pot.
Pruning
Remove off-shoots to preserve the intricate shape of the plant; new growth develops from these cut areas. You can limit new growth by covering the cut areas with paraffin.
Propagation
Propagate Lucky Bamboo using cane cuttings.
Poisonous Plant Info
A Lucky Bamboo plant has a #1 toxicity level and is considered to be a mildly to moderately poisonous plant, especially to dogs and cats.
FAQ
You can definitely try to cut the stalks of a Lucky Bamboo. and try to propagate the plant, but the success rate is less than 50%. Be sure to use a very sharp knife and cut below a joint in the stalk. Remove all but three or four leaves from the new stems before putting them in water.
Discoloration in the leaves of a Lucky Bamboo plant is usually caused by too much salt, fluoride, or chlorine in the water. Stop fertilizing and try using distilled water.
No, your Lucky Bamboo does not have the plant disease called rust. The roots of a healthy mature Lucky Bamboo plant are supposed to be an orange/ brown color.
A Lucky Bamboo plant will be okay for a while once the stalk turns yellow, but there is nothing you can do to prevent it from eventually dying. Cut off any healthy green shoots on the yellow stem and root them so you’ll have some new Lucky Bamboo stalks, then discard the yellow stem. Change the water your Lucky Bamboo Plant is sitting in and rinse the roots in case the old water had something harmful in it or too much fertilizer has accumulated. When you reset your Lucky Bamboo Plant in its container, use distilled water, be sure the pebbles are clean, and that all of the roots are in the water. Most Lucky Bamboo Plant problems are related to the water. Chlorinated or dirty water kills a Lucky Bamboo Plant.