Caring for Lucky Bamboo

Bamboo has been seen as a symbol of good luck for hundreds of years. It’s very popular in the Chinese tradition of Feng Shui in which items in your home are arranged to help bring you harmony, balance and whatever you may be lacking in your life. It has become a popular plant for household use as it is very hardy and extremely easy to care for if you are dedicated. To care for your own bamboo, you need only to follow a few simple steps.

When purchased, it most likely came in a small cup with a sponge soaked with water. I recommend removing it from the pot and placing it in a vase among some rocks. Bamboo grows in water and does not need dirt of any kind to grow. Fill your vase with water, making sure that all the roots are covered. Water up to the bottom of the bamboo stalks is recommended.

Bamboo does not like direct sunlight as it mostly grows underneath tree cover. Indirect, bright sunlight is best, making bamboo the perfect plant to place on your work desk to help bring peace and harmony to your office work area. You can also place your bamboo in a nearby window that does not receive direct sunlight, but keep it away from air vents. Bamboo prefers room temperatures of high sixties to high seventies.

To keep your bamboo healthy, change the water every week. It is a fragile plant, and fluoride and chlorine in the water are believed to hurt your bamboo. Salts are also believed to bring harm to bamboo plants. If this is the case, the leaves may look like they are burnt or burning, as if they have received little water and the sun is drying them out. If you notice this in your bamboo plant, before changing your water, fill a cup and leave it out over night for 24 hours. This should help remove all the chemicals from the water that are harming your plant. However, since plants keep storage of received water in their stalks, your leaves may not get healthy right away. Keep changing the water every week in the same pattern and you should begin to see an Improvement. If not, to improve the overall look, you may take a pair of sharp scissors and cut off the burned leave tips. One good thing for aquarium owners is your old water. During regular water changes, use some of the your tank water during bamboo water changes. The nutrients in the water have been known to be of use to the plant even if they are harmful to your fish.

If you’d like to use plant food, you may. However, you want to use an extremely small dosage. Miracle Grow and African violet food are among the best choices. Use these only in small doses, about one tenth of the size normally used for regular house hold plants. Using it every other water change isn’t a bad idea, and if your bamboo plant needs and extra boost, every week for a few water changes would be ideal. Stopping its use once you see and improvement and using it only every other week is a good idea.

An important tip to all the pet owners out there, please keep your pet away from your lucky bamboo as it is quite poisonous to them. Keep it on a high shelf or in a room closed off to pets such as an office or bedroom. This may mean buying a smaller plant, but it will be worth it in the end.

With regular, dedicated care, your bamboo plant can live a healthy, long life and continuously bring your health, wealth and good luck for months to come.