Harvesting Lucky Bamboo

1. Growing Bamboo: A Complete How To Guide
1. Lucky Bamboo Archives
2. How To Repot A Bamboo Plant?
3. Care, Growth, And Meaning Of Lucky Bamboo
4. Bamboo Gardening: How To Grow And Maintain Bamboo Plants
   1. My Lucky Bamboo Plant Of 8 Years
   2. Lucky Bamboo Leaves Turning Yellow » Tips For Control
5. How To Create Your Own Spiral Lucky Bamboo
6. Lucky Bamboo & Why Is It Lucky?
7. How To Grow And Care For Lucky Bamboo
8. Plants Mistaken For Bamboo
9. Lucky Bamboo Care (watering, Fertilize, Pruning, Propagation)
10. Dracaena Species, Lucky Bamboo Dracaena Braunii
    1. Lucky Plants That Will Bring Good Luck, Wealth And Fortune To Your Home

Have you ever wondered about the bundles of bamboo stems you see for sale just about everywhere, from novelty stores to warehouse clubs?

, is widely cultivated as a houseplant that can grow in both water and soil. The name also applies to a different species,

The stems are jointed and resemble those of bamboo, but they are solid instead of hollow, and Dracaena species are not members of the Bambusoideae, or bamboo family.

Growing Bamboo: A Complete How To Guide

As you read this article, you’ll develop a working knowledge of lucky bamboo’s cultural symbolism, and learn to grow and care for your own.

Also known as Chinese water bamboo and the fortune or ribbon plant, this bamboo-like species is a large commercial crop in Asia, but is native to the African Republic of Cameroon.

Thrives outdoors in part-shade in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 and 11, where it achieves a mature stature of three to five feet tall and wide.

Lucky Bamboo Archives

Also makes an easy-care indoor plant in bright, indirect sunlight, where the effects of indoor cultivation and ornamental pruning limit its growth to more modest table-top dimensions of one to three feet tall, and one to two feet wide.

The leaves are lance-shaped and may reach seven inches in length. Outdoor plants may produce clusters of small, white, tubular blossoms, but those cultivated indoors seldom do.

There were stalks on the counter arranged in various levels like a festive pyramid and secured by bands of red ribbon. It looked like a cut floral arrangement, and it wasn’t until much later that I learned more about this bamboo-like plant.

How To Repot A Bamboo Plant?

For thousands of years, the Chinese have embraced lucky bamboo as a symbol of good fortune. Giving one as a gift is said to endow the recipient with joy, fortitude, health, love, and prosperity.

In addition to good fortune, lucky bamboo offers an excellent opportunity to represent the five natural elements significant in feng shui: earth, fire, metal, water, and wood.

Red ties symbolize fire. (Ties may also be other colors, like gold or green. All represent various aspects of well-being, from physical and emotional to financial.)

Care, Growth, And Meaning Of Lucky Bamboo

Placing a plant in the southeast corner of a home is believed to promote wealth as it infuses the space with positive energy for harmonious living according to the tenets of feng shui.

In addition to the numerical indicators of good fortune, there are various physical formations that also contribute to the overall feng shui of a living space.

Not only does this translate to a greater quantity of plants brought to market, it means improved quality as a result of minimal disease transmission.

How To Grow And Care For Your Lucky Bamboo Plants

As seed germination and micropropagation are not likely ways for the home gardener to begin, we turn our attention to stem cuttings and transplants.

A node is a growing point from which a branch, leaf, or root sprouts. In this case, the node consists of the entire brown line that divides stem segments, which are also known as “internodes, ” because they are found between the nodes.

So, as long as you cut about an eighth to a quarter of an inch below a brown line, roots should sprout within the next two months.

Bamboo Gardening: How To Grow And Maintain Bamboo Plants

Prepare a container by sanitizing it with a 10 percent bleach solution (one part bleach to nine parts water), soak for 10 minutes, then rinse and dry it.

Note that some materials, such as metal, may react adversely to bleach and it may be better to use mild dish soap and water instead.

Anchor the stem to keep it upright, and fill the container with one inch of room temperature distilled water. This is preferable to tap water, as it lacks chemicals like chlorine and fluoride that can have an adverse effect on plant tissue.

My Lucky Bamboo Plant Of 8 Years

Alternatively, you can dip the cut end of the bamboo into rooting hormone powder and plunk it right into a container filled with soil or potting medium, to a depth of one inch, and then follow the instructions for soil cultivation below.

When you purchase a plant, you may get single stems, or multiple stems that have been bound together. They may arrive potted in soil, or as bare roots.

To grow in water, follow the instructions outlined above. The average growth rate of a healthy plant in water is almost an inch a month, and may be even faster for those planted in nutrient-rich potting soil.

Lucky Bamboo Leaves Turning Yellow » Tips For Control

Pots should have a diameter that’s wide enough to accommodate them, plus an inch of additional space all around for growth and the spout of a watering can.

Clean the container with a 10 percent bleach solution (one part bleach to nine parts water), soak for ten minutes, then rinse and dry it.

If you choose to untie the bundle and plant individual stems, set them one inch deep in separate pots, or in the same pot with at least two inches between them.

How To Create Your Own Spiral Lucky Bamboo

Open the package of stems, or carefully unpot them and brush the dirt off. The roots should look plump and healthy. Young roots are whitish, and older ones are red. Both are perfectly normal.

If the roots look shriveled and dry, place the stems in a clean container with one inch of distilled water as soon as possible, and let them soak while you prepare the pot.

Fill the container three-quarters of the way with organically rich sandy loam or a cactus and succulent potting mix. These mixes are good choices because they are moisture retentive, airy, and well-draining.

Lucky Bamboo & Why Is It Lucky?

Gently settle the stems into the soil at a depth of one inch and tamp the soil around them, or repot to the same depth as the container they came in.

You can boost nutrition for all plants with a drop of liquid plant food given once a month during the growing season.

Lucky bamboo can survive temperatures ranging from 50°F to the high 90s. However, this plant doesn’t handle fluctuations well, so a consistently temperate room is best.

How To Grow And Care For Lucky Bamboo

While it craves shade outdoors, indoor lucky bamboo needs bright indirect light. Placing it too close to a sunny window may cause the leaves to scorch and turn brown.

It prefers nutrient-rich, slightly acidic soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. As discussed, sandy loam or cactus and succulent potting mix are ideal.

With vigilant care, water-grown stems may live for a year or so. Those in soil are likely to last a few years.

Characterization And Control Of Rhizoctonia Solani Affecting Lucky Bamboo (dracaena Sanderiana Hort. Ex. Mast.) Using Some Bioagents

Don’t be discouraged by the short lifespan of this species. By taking cuttings from the youngest stems, you can enjoy lucky bamboo for years to come.

Keep them fresh by pouring the old liquid down the sink and replenishing it with new each week. Don’t reuse it, as it may be loaded with bacteria.

Sanitize the container and pebbles with a 10 percent bleach solution, rinse, and then dry them. Remember the recommendation to wash materials like metal with mild dish soap instead.

The Truth About Lucky Bamboo

Keeping a vessel clean prolongs a plant’s life by inhibiting bacterial and fungal growth that cause a foul odor, rotting roots and stems, and foliar deterioration.

If your home is especially dry, mist the foliage occasionally to increase ambient humidity. Excessive dryness makes houseplants vulnerable to pests, as we will discuss shortly.

A soil-grown plant needs to be kept moist. Be sure to thoroughly rewet the potting mix before it completely dries out. Mist as needed to increase ambient humidity, and avoid oversaturation as it leads to rotting.

Plants Mistaken For Bamboo

A plant can live its best life in a nutrient-rich potting mix, but it still benefits from the same supplementation a soilless plant enjoys.

To keep your bamboo in top form, you may want to prune it from time to time. Take care to use sanitary pruning shears, so that the “wounds, ” or cuts, are less susceptible to pests and disease.

When large main stalks (not small side shoots) are pruned, they may be coated with paraffin to seal them against pests and disease.

Lucky Bamboo Care (watering, Fertilize, Pruning, Propagation)

Red wax is a desirable choice as it symbolizes fire. By dripping liquid wax from a lit candle onto the stalk tops, or dipping them into the liquid wax in the top of a recently extinguished candle, you can achieve a good seal.

Routine maintenance for soil-grown lucky bamboo includes maintaining even moisture by never letting the soil completely dry out, and fertilizing monthly with a drop of liquid plant food during the growing season.

Changing the water regularly is crucial for soilless specimens. Ideally, as with cut flowers, change it once a week, by tipping the container and letting most of the old liquid run out.

Dracaena Species, Lucky Bamboo Dracaena Braunii

Once a month, gently loosen and lift the stems from the substrate of pebbles, and rinse the roots and stems under a stream of cool/tepid tap water.

Sanitize the container and pebbles with a 10 percent bleach solution, and rinse it thoroughly. Remember to use only natural pebbles or marbles, as opposed to painted gravel, or the color may come off.

The cleaner you keep the growing environment, the healthier the stalks will be, and the longer they will live. Failure to change the water regularly promotes bacterial growth, resulting in a foul odor, stem deterioration, and death.

Lucky Plants That Will Bring Good Luck, Wealth And Fortune To Your Home

It also helps to start with healthy young stems. When shopping in person, select stalks with unblemished, robust stems. Avoid those that