Caring For Bamboo Plants

1. How To Care For Lucky Bamboo: A Guide For Beginners
   1. Dracaena Sanderiana (lucky Bamboo) Care Guide
2. How To Take Care Of Lucky Bamboo: Growing Tips & Facts
   1. Lucky Bamboo Plant Care
3. Bamboo Plant Care: How To Grow And Care For Bamboo Ebook By Green Initiatives
4. Lucky Bamboo Care: Growing Lucky Bamboo Indoors
5. The Best Way To Take Care Of Your Lucky Bamboo
6. A Houseplant That Grows In Water: Lucky Bamboo Care Tips
   1. How To Care For An Indoor Bamboo Plant: 14 Steps (with Pictures)

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Alexandra Jones is an avid urban grower and Master Gardener writing about houseplants, gardening, and sustainability from her home in Philadelphia. She has 10 years of gardening experience and five years of professional writing expertise.

Many times in restaurants, offices, homes, and even grocery stores. Also known as the ribbon plant, this easy-to-grow houseplant has a long history in China and feng shui as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune.

How To Care For Lucky Bamboo: A Guide For Beginners

Lucky bamboo grows in stalks with roots at the bottom, and tufts of elongated green leaves grow from the top. Despite its similar appearance, it's not closely related to true bamboo at all. In addition to straight stalks, you can sometimes find lucky bamboo with stalks that are braided or bundled together with wire. Lucky bamboo can also be curled and woven into various shapes. This is a fast-growing plant, growing about 19 inches in six months. With just a little care, this attractive houseplant can bring beauty—and maybe even a little luck—to your space.However, If you're a pet owner, grow lucky bamboo with caution, as this species is toxic to dogs and cats.

When you first purchase lucky bamboo, examine your plant to see if the stalks have been tied or bundled together with wire. This can damage your plant, so it's best to remove the wire to let it grow freely. 

Lucky bamboo shapes are created not by training the plant with wire—as is done with bonsai—but by carefully turning the plant to make it move toward the light as it grows. You can purchase lucky bamboo plants already trained into different shapes and patterns or train one yourself in several months.

How To Care For A Lucky Bamboo Plant Ferns N Petals

To train your plant's shape, find a cardboard box a few inches taller than your plant, and cut out one of its sides. Use another piece of cardboard to cover the top of the box, then face the open side of the box toward the light source. Monitor your bamboo's growth over time, turning the plant in the box to shape its stalks.

You may have noticed that the stems of your lucky bamboo have been dipped in wax. This is done to keep their shape, and it prevents new growth from forming. You can dip them yourself by using paraffin wax or colorless, unscented candle wax after cutting the plant to your desired shape. 

If your plant came with waxed tips but you'd like to remove them, you can trim them with pruning shears. Cut below the wax tips roughly an inch above a growth ring—the tan lines along the stem—then discard the tips. 

Dracaena Sanderiana (lucky Bamboo) Care Guide

It's important to prune back your lucky bamboo periodically, as its rapid growth can make the plant top-heavy. Trim offshoots with a pair of clean pruners or shears, and save them for propagating. Trimming your lucky bamboo allows you to control its shape and promotes fuller growth.

One reason that lucky bamboo is such a ubiquitous indoor plant is that it needs very little light to thrive, making it a great option for low-light spaces. Display your lucky bamboo in temperatures above 65 degrees, and avoid drafty areas.

This plant grows best without direct sun, so choose a place with bright, indirect light for best results. If you see brown patches on the leaves, move your lucky bamboo to a shadier spot. If you notice yellowed leaves, it's a sign that your plant is overwatered. Shriveled leaves, however, indicate that it's time to add more water.

How To Take Care Of Lucky Bamboo: Growing Tips & Facts

Planting directly in distilled water is best for lucky bamboo, as potting in soil makes it more susceptible to drying out. To keep your plant healthy in a soil planter, ensure the container has drainage holes and use a well-draining potting mix.

Lucky bamboo comes in several varieties, most commonly variations of two to three layers (or stalks, with both types falling under the

Category). Two-layer lucky bamboo is said to bring love to those it's gifted to, while three-layer variants bring happiness, long life, and wealth.

Lucky Bamboo Plant Care

Lucky bamboo is easily propagated. With a fresh vase and a clean set of pruning shears, new stems from this plant can grow into a healthy, full-sized bamboo plant with little maintenance. Here's how to propagate yours:

Step 2: Choose a healthy-looking stem around 6 inches long with at least a few leaves. Using a clean, sharp pair of pruning shears, trim it off close to the main stem. 

Step 3: Submerge the bottom three inches of the cutting in distilled water to propagate new stems. If using sand or soil, moisten the growing medium, then plant the bottom three inches of the cutting in the new container.

Bamboo Plant Care: How To Grow And Care For Bamboo Ebook By Green Initiatives

Step 4: Keep your new cuttings in a warm, draft-free space with bright, indirect light. Once you see new leaves, you'll know new roots are growing. When propagating in water, check for new roots growing from the submerged shoots.Care for your new lucky bamboo plant as usual.

While lucky bamboo is easy to grow, you may experience common growing problems related to water and humidity. Here's how to treat some typical conditions to keep your plant healthy:

Change the water monthly to avoid root rot.Use only purified or distilled water, as the fluoride in tap water can cause leaves to brown. Water-logged or brown stalks are also signs of root rot. To keep healthy limbs alive, trim the green tops of stalks, then propagate the cuttings in a fresh pot.

Lucky Bamboo Care: Growing Lucky Bamboo Indoors

Brown leaves are common with low humidity, so misting regularly can bring the classic green color back. If your plant's leaves or stalks are turning yellow, it may be receiving too much light or fertilizer.

If your lucky bamboo's stalks are starting to look thin, it needs more light. Place your plant in an area with more indirect light: North- or east-facing windows are a great option.

Refresh your plant's distilled water every few months for soilless growth. Feed your lucky bamboo with a drop of liquid fertilizer every month, or use a fertilizer specifically formulated for lucky bamboo. 

The Best Way To Take Care Of Your Lucky Bamboo

If you're using soil, keep the growing medium evenly moist but not soggy. When you first plant lucky bamboo, check the soil moisture frequently to gauge how much water your plant needs. Use a pot with drainage on the bottom, and mist every few days. Be careful not to let your plant dry out between waterings—if the top inch of soil feels dry, it's time to add more water.

A young lucky bamboo plant can grow up to 19 inches every six months. Its mature height can reach between 3 and 5 feet (averaging about 3).

Uses only high-quality, trusted sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.Lucky Bamboo’s a fascinating houseplant that grows in water. It’s great for novice gardeners and those looking for a novelty plant. Here you’ll find Lucky Bamboo care tips.

A Houseplant That Grows In Water: Lucky Bamboo Care Tips

Are you a beginning houseplant gardener? Here’s a great one to get started with. It’s easy as pie to keep looking good and sure to become a topic of conversation as you’re busy showing it off.

Chinese coins decorating a spiral Lucky Bamboo at LeeLee International Supermarket here in Tucson. The tie or ribbon colors have meaning in Feng Shui. Green symbolizes renewal & fresh energy.

First off, a Lucky Bamboo plant isn’t actually a true bamboo. The canes, stalks, or stems (whatever you prefer to call them) resemble the canes of a bamboo plant and that’s the origin of “bamboo” in its common name. It’s a member of the Dracaena family along with popular houseplants like Dracaena Lisa, Dracaena massangeana, Dracaena marginata, and Dracaena reflexa.

How To Care For An Indoor Bamboo Plant: 14 Steps (with Pictures)

Lucky Bamboo has been a part of Chinese culture for thousands of years but has really skyrocketed into popularity in the past twenty years. It’s known to bring good energy into your home. You can find it in many different shapes, forms, and arrangements from a single stalk to an arrangement with multiple twisted stalks.

They’re often sold in Asian and international markets so if you have one in your town or city, check there. Or, if you live in an urban area, Chinatown is a good place to find one. I’ll list a number of online sources towards the end in case you’re interested in purchasing one.

The number of stalks has different meanings as do the various forms like a trellis, tree, spiral, etc. This is something I don’t know a lot about. I do know that you should avoid an arrangement using four stems. It’s bad luck in Chinese culture and who needs that?

How To Propagate Lucky Bamboo (2 Ways)

Three stems is a favorite number and a good one to start with because it represents happiness, long life, and wealth. Yes, please! Lucky Bamboo is known to increase feng shui, which is a whole other topic I’m not well versed in either but find very interesting.

Here I am leaning on the counter at Lee Lee International Supermarket in Tucson to provide some scale on how tall