Lucky Bamboo Care

Lucky bamboo care doesn’t take a fortune to be lucky for you.  Of all the indoor bamboo plants, the so-called “lucky bamboo” is one of the easiest to care for.  In all fairness, lucky bamboo plant care is very simple, as is care for other bamboo plants as well. 

I feel the need to reveal a secret about the lucky bamboo. 

Although for hundreds of years it has been associated with the Far East, lucky bamboo is not bamboo at all. 

It is actually a member of the lily family. 

It grows in the lush, tropical forest of Southeast Asia and Africa. 

Proper lucky bamboo care, which is very fast and easy, makes you the fortunate recipient of this mis-named wonder.  Lucky bamboo makes the perfect house or office plant. It requires little care.  A mere inch of clean water and sunlight are its two main requirements.  

To manage the care of lucky bamboo plant, keep the water fresh and pure.  The best way to do this is by using distilled or filtered water.  This is probably the single biggest area of mistakes in the care of lucky bamboo plants.

Many novices over-water, or use water than had high amounts of other substances like lead or ammonia.  Like most indoor bamboo plants, lucky is picky about water.  Only keep the water about an inch from the base of the plant cane. 

The next area of care is feeding the plant.  The care of lucky bamboo plants involves a small amount of plant fertilizer.  Unlike true bamboos, lucky bamboo does not grow like crazy.  This is one of the distinctions between lucky bamboo and true bamboo plants. 

Occasionally feeding the lucky plant a small amount of plant fertilizer, such as of the African violet variety, will provide nutrients.  This will also keep the size desirable for you.

Sometimes during the lucky bamboo plant care learning phase you may experience a very common phenomenon - yellow leaves.  The two factors that affect the lucky bamboo and cause this are quite simple.  They are too much direct sunlight and salty water.  Water containing large fluoride content will cause the yellowing as well. 

This is very common in cities where fluoride is added to public water supplies.  To avoid this, and have excellent lucky bamboo care, simply use spring water, or bottled water to refresh your plant.  Avoid leaving the plant in the path of the hot sun; it loves an indirect location best. 

Along with easy care and growth, lucky bamboo has long been associated with the Eastern practice of Feng Shui, the bringing of natural elements of water, fire, earth, wood and metal into balance within the living space.  Lucky bamboo is believed to be an ideal example of the wood and water forces, with the addition of a red ribbon tied around the stalks – this "fires" the positive flow of energy (chi) in the room.

The number of stalks also has significance: three for happiness; five stalks for wealth; six stalks for health. Four stalks are always avoided since the word "four" in Chinese sounds too similar to the Chinese word for "death"!