How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Lucky Bamboo

In Asian cultures, lucky bamboo has been a symbol of good fortune for over 4,000 years. Recently, it’s also become a popular houseplant that is widely available outside of Asia. Indoor gardeners grow this bamboo in soil or water. It’s truly excellent for beginner plant parents and seasoned growers alike.

While they’re pretty easy to cultivate, with a relatively short lifespan of one to two years, lucky bamboo do have a few notable care requirements. So we’ve devoted this piece to examining those and touching on just what the lucky bamboo is.

Aside from being attractive, one of the main reasons for its popularity is how easy it is to grow a healthy specimen. Without further ado, let’s get into growing and caring for this easy-going lucky bamboo.

What is Lucky Bamboo?

Here’s a fun fact: Lucky bamboo isn’t actually bamboo! It actually belongs to the genus of Dracaenas, just like Dracaena marginata, or the Madagascar Dragon Plant.​ They’re tropical varieties that can be grown in decorative planters or bowls filled with just rocks and water, making them some of the most tolerant houseplants you can grow. Of course, you can also pot one into the soil for more robust growth.

Native Area

Although Lucky bamboo seems like it comes from Asia, it is actually native to western Africa, specifically the Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Angola.

A lucky bamboo arrangement is a common gift of hospitality between friends and coworkers, and in Feng Shui, they are houseplants that represent good fortune and prosperity. In this spatial and spiritual practice, people place lucky bamboo in the southern and eastern parts of a home. This also has a practical dimension, with lucky bamboo appreciating conditions that many other houseplants do.

Characteristics

Lucky bamboo is a short-lived perennial plant in the Asparagaceae family. Its segmented stalks reach up to three feet tall and have small shoots of clustered and curly leaves. Instead of hollow, woody stems like true bamboo, the lucky bamboo has fleshy stalks. Therefore, it’s a very bamboo-like species but not actually bamboo.

Planting

The choice to care for lucky bamboo growing in soil or water is pretty much a personal preference, as it seems to do well in either medium. Lucky bamboo is usually sold in a clear or decorative container with just rocks and water. If you remove your bamboo from the container you purchased it in, you will most likely find that it’s been bound with a string or wrapped wire.

While the wire will hold your bamboo together, it will eventually damage what is otherwise a healthy plant. As the bamboo grows, the string will cut into the stalks which can result in disease. Remove it so it can grow safely.​

How to Grow

Some gardeners prefer to keep them in water, and others grow them in soil for best results. Whichever you prefer, here is the basic care for lucky bamboo.

Light

Bamboo thrives in almost any area of the home where many other species cannot survive. In nature, bamboo grows in the shade of rainforest trees, so it prefers indirect but bright sunlight. If it receives direct sunlight, the leaves will burn and turn brown. But if it gets too little sun, it will hamper the growth.

Water

When lucky bamboo lives in a container filled with water, there’s no guesswork when it comes to watering it! All you need to do is make sure that there’s always water in the container. Some people suggest changing the water on a regular basis, but as long as clean water is used, it’s not necessary to keep changing it.

If the water begins to look stagnant, change it and the container washed thoroughly. The chlorine in tap water can damage the leaves. You should either purchase spring water, use filtered or distilled water, or place the tap water in an open container overnight to allow the chlorine to evaporate.​

Soil-grown bamboo should have moist soil and be watered when the soil is dry down to at least an inch. Try to keep the soil consistently moist. Drying between waterings is important for some, but lucky bamboo is used to humid and moist conditions in its natural habitat. It’s here that indirect sunlight doesn’t dry the soil out as much.

Soil

As we’ve mentioned, water and rocks should be clean and from a non-treated source as a growing medium. If you must use tap water, leave it in an open container for a while to allow the chlorine to off-gas. Lucky bamboo soil-dwellers should have a composition mostly of sandy loam. Therefore, a cactus or succulent potting mix is perfect. The optimal pH for this bamboo is between 6.0 and 6.5.

Temperature

Lucky bamboo is a tropical species, so it prefers warm temperatures – but not too much sun. The temperature should always be at least 60°F (16°C), but it will thrive better in warmer temperatures. The climate in your home is perfect. Keep it out of temperatures below 60°F (16°C).

Fertilizer

Bamboo only needs to be fertilized if it’s growing in soil about every two months with a very weak solution of fertilizer. You can use a good quality liquid houseplant fertilizer and mix it to one-tenth of the recommended amount, or use a few drops of food that is made for aquarium varieties.​ There are even specialty lucky bamboo fertilizers you can purchase.

If you’re growing in just water, you can let your lucky bamboo grow without any fertilizer at all. In both soil and water-grown cases, dilute your fertilizer before applying by a quarter strength.

Maintenance

After the first year of growth, it’s common for your lucky bamboo to have a knotted ball of container-shaped roots. While you do not have to re-pot it at this point, you may want to. All you need to do is pick a larger container than the existing one and place the bamboo back in a mixture of rocks and water. When adding water, make sure it’s room-temperature spring water to avoid shocking the root system.​

To repot it in soil, water thoroughly ahead of your up-potting process. Choose a pot just slightly larger than the current one, and add a thin layer of your preferred growing medium. Then remove from the old pot, and place it at the same level it was in prior to up-potting. Fill in with more media and water lightly.

If your lucky bamboo is growing out of control, do not fear! You can top it and bring it back down to size. To top, use a sharp, sterilized cutting tool and choose an area of the leafy stem that is around one inch above a growth node. Slice it off​ , and your bamboo will respond by growing bushier rather than taller. Never cut a central stem, as this can damage it and cause issues with growth and disease. You can also cosmetically prune away yellowing or damaged leaves.

Propagating

Of course, you don’t have to throw away your cuttings – you can propagate lucky bamboo! Make sure the cutting you are going to propagate is around four to six inches long. Remove this cutting with sterilized pruning shears. Let the cutting dry overnight, then place it in a container of distilled water. Leave it for tow to three days. After that, start to mist the cuttings to encourage new growth.

Once you have adequate root growth, grow the cuttings into water, rocks, or soil. Rooting in soil takes about one month.

Common Problems

Now that we’ve discussed lucky bamboo care tips, let’s talk about problems that can arise. You might run into a few issues growing it. Here’s what to look out for.​

Growing Problems

Yellow leaves are almost always caused by high chlorine levels or too much fertilizer in the water. Either switch to distilled water or leave your tap water out overnight to allow the chlorine to dissipate. Dilute your fertilizers as well. Another reason for yellow leaves is that you’re giving it too much direct sunlight. Bamboo likes light, but it must not be direct sunlight, or you’ll stress it.

Because most gardeners grow bamboo in water and rocks, algae can develop. Algae like nutrient-rich water and a lot of light. To prevent it, make sure you aren’t over-fertilizing your bamboo and that it isn’t exposed to direct sun. Clean water-grown bamboo regularly to prevent stagnation.

Pests

The classic houseplant pests can also affect lucky bamboo, but it’s pretty rare. Spider mites and scale insects can make their way to your bamboo, but getting rid of them is as simple as rubbing them off with an isopropyl-soaked cotton swab. A light misting of neem oil will kill any mites or scale insects left behind and prevent further infestations.

Diseases

Yellow stalks and leaf tips are sometimes caused by the beginning of rotting roots. Root rot is usually caused by fungus fueled by overwatering, but in this case, lucky bamboo is sometimes grown in water! The issue for water-grown lucky bamboo is caused by allowing the water to go stagnant. Replace stagnant water with fresh water and rinse the root system and rocks to prevent yellowing stalks. If the condition of your bamboo doesn’t improve after this treatment, or if it emits a foul odor, dispose of the entire bamboo and sanitize the container before using it again.

Frequently Asked Questions