Despite its name, Lucky bamboo isn’t actually bamboo, but a species of Dracaena. Dracaena Sanderiana to be exact. This native African species makes for an amazing houseplant that’s easy to keep alive, green thumb or not.
I’ll be describing all you need to know about lucky bamboo using the 5 elements of happy houseplants:
Illumination, Hydration, Sustentation, Preservation, Propagation!
ILLUMINATION
Lucky bamboo prefers bright, yet indirect sunlight. It does need sun but placing it in a windowsill or directly in sunlight can burn the leaves.
This plant has incredible endurance and It will also do well in very low lighting, but it may take a little longer to grow than if placed in its most desired bright indirect lighting.
If you want to train your bamboo to spiral then place it in a room where light shines on it from ONLY one side. It will grow towards the light so just keep rotating it to help it form a spiral shape.
HYDRATION
Though these plants are hard to kill, they’re not entirely invulnurable and there are two main mistakes that usually happen when it comes to watering lucky bamboo:
- Using tap water
- Watering too high
Lucky bamboo is especially sensitive to the chlorine in tap water so it’s best to water this plant with either spring water, distilled water or filtered water.
Keep the water level stable. The water shouldn’t go more than 2-3 cm above the upper roots.
SUSTENATION
Lucky bamboo can grow in water or soil.
If you grow it in the soil, make sure to keep the soil damp and water it whenever it looks like its getting dry. Using cactus potting soil is a good choice because it drains well.
My preferred method, and also how you will find most lucky bamboo sold in stores, is in a vase with water and pebbles. The pebbles are used to prop the stalks up, and it is easier to clean when grown this way.
Regardless of the environment you choose for your lucky bamboo, you can use fertilizer. Do not use miracle grow or it may turn your plant yellow. There are special lucky bamboo fertilizers sold and listed below is a link to one of them.
click here for lucky bamboo fertilizer
pro tip: add the fertilizer to the water right after you change it out to give it the maximum opportunity to absorb the fertilizer.
The temperature preferred is 68 – 95 degrees Farenheit (20 – 35 celcius).
This houseplant can adapt to any level of humidity (or lack thereof) and if it is growing in water it actually acts as a humidifier to neighboring plants around it.
Pruning – you can trim your lucky bamboo if you prefer for it to remain a certain length or don’t want it to get too tall. Use a sharp knife and cut right above the sprout. You can use the part you cut to start a new plant (see propagation section below).
PRESERVATION
Usually the first sign of a problem with a lucky bamboo plant is when the leaves turn yellow. If you notice it turns yellow after watering then it is most likely due to the quality of water (proper watering instructions listed above). Another cause is baking too long under direct sunlight. When you start to notice yellow leaves take off all of the yellow part and if the stalk itself is yellow it means it is dead and you should remove it from the rest of the plant or it will spread to the other stalks and leaves.
If your stalk seems overly thin then it could be a result of not enough light OR of too much fertilizer.
Lucky bamboo bought from the store usually comes with wire but its best to take the wire off because it can damage the plant.
Another key tip to keeping your lucky bamboo alive is changing out the water. Some reccomend changing out the water every two weeks and some say once a month. Either is fine I just wouldn’t go longer than a month. If you don’t do this, bacteria or algae can cause root rot. Make a spot on your calender for a certain day each month and when that day comes around if your too busy to do it that day or end up being out of town you can just switch it to another neighboring day but it helps to serve as a reminder just to have it on your calender.
When you change out the water it is also recommended to wash off the plant and the roots before placing it back in the vase with the new water. Also while you do this it is a good time to trim the roots if they look overcrowded or dense. Trim no more than 1/3 of the length of the roots.
If you notice any bacteria or algae growing on your plant or container then you will need to remove the plant and thoroughly wash the container, including the pebbles or marbles you have in the container, even if its not time for your monthly cleaning yet.
Disease/Pests
As mentioned before this plant has high endurance and immunity and is only prone to attacks from pests when it is in an extremely rough state. If proper care protocols are followed this shouldn’t ever be an issue.
PROPAGATION
Separate the stalks of your current plant and gently run your fingers through the roots to separate the roots of each stalk.
Choose a stalk that has at least 2 nodes (the lines separating the stalk into segments). It’s also preferable that the chosen stalk have a decent offshoot (dark green and 4-6 inches).
Trim the offshoot using pruning shears (as close to the stalk as you can).
Peel off the bottom set of leaves from the offshoot (this forces the bottom of the plant to focus its energy on producing roots, and keeps the bottom plant from rotting as it might if the bottom leaves were submerged when placing it in the water). Just do this for the bottom leaves, you can leave the top leaves intact.
Place the cutting in a jar or vase with 4 inches of water (remember to use distilled or filtered water). It is ok to put more than one cutting in a jar together if you are trying to propagate more than one.
Position the jar/vase with the cutting(s) in a location that gets a lot of light, yet not under direct sunlight. Leave there for a month to complete its rooting process. It’s best to change the water out once a week during this process and also remember to add in more water when necessary to compensate for any water that has been absorbed by the plant or evaporated.
Transfer the rooted cuttings to their own jar or vase. Place an inch or two of pebbles/marbles in the vase and then position the new cutting into the stones to keep it upright. Add 4 inches of water.
Care for the new plant as you did for the one it came from (see sections above).
Caution
This plant is toxic to pets so if you have any pets that like to eat plants then make sure you put this one in a place where they can’t get to it!
It seems like a lot when you read all of this but really once you get in the groove of it and know what your doing it truly is one of the easiest plants to care for and one of my personal favorites!