Table of Contents
Lucky bamboo is a very, very popular plant, a very easy to care for plant. They can be found just about anywhere. They look like normal bamboo, but they’re a form of Dracaena. Which is inedible and toxic, unlike normal bamboo, which is edible. Though lucky bamboo is not edible, it is a plant that is supposed to bring luck and wealth and health to those who are gifted it.
Therefore it’s one of the most gifted plants in the entire world. It is usually passed from family member to family member. They can last a long time. You can also buy them in drug stores, and grocery stores. They’re usually purchased in rocks, not soil, but they can grow either way. Perhaps somebody has gifted you a lucky bamboo or you were just drawn to it in the store and now you need to take care of it. Don’t worry. Today we’ve got all the care tips for you.
Origin
Originally, lucky bamboo was discovered in Southeast Asia and has since gone global. This plant has been gifted so much that it has been given to millions of people around the world because it is so easy to propagate and so easy to grow, and its care requirements are very, very minimal.
Watering
far as water goes, this plant loves to be in the water. It loves to have very moist soil. Dracaena Sanderiana loved to live in water. It is not very particular. As long as it doesn’t dry out too much, it is very happy. The only thing that these plants are particular about the water is if it’s very hard water with a lot of chemicals or a lot of minerals. American City tap water, for example, might be a little much for it.
If you can use filtered water, that would be better. Distilled water doesn’t have any nutrients in it, so you would have to substitute it with some sort of fertilizer in there if it is just in rocks and water. Otherwise, it’s going to start dropping leaves and yellowing. So, if you can have just normal water with normal amounts of minerals in there, it’ll be perfectly fine. They are not too particular, but you can get leaf burn if there are just a little bit too many chemicals in there.
Light
Light for a lucky bamboo is one of the absolute easiest things because it can handle anything that’s not bright, direct light. You can put them in very low light. People have them in dark rooms and they’ll survive for a while. No plant is no light, but lucky bamboo is pretty darn close to that.
They can also handle bright, indirect light. If you have a very bright window, maybe a southern-facing window that has the direct sun shining in, if you can pull some sort of shade or curtain over that a little bit, it can even be a sheer curtain. That will make a huge difference and that will enable this plant to be in front of that window without getting burned.
Now, if you’re going to move this plant from a very low light or no light situation to a very bright window, you may experience a little bit of leaf loss because that is a very big change. Any plant is going to struggle with that. However, this is one of the very few plants that could live in any one of those situations and be perfectly fine.
Temperature
Lucky bamboo is not frost tolerant. They can withstand some cold. They can handle 55 to 60 degrees as a minimum. Then on the upper end of the spectrum, they can handle 90 to 95 degrees. Unfortunately, Dracaena cannot handle freezing temperatures. But almost any in-home temperatures that you have Dracaena, are very capable of handling. You can have them in your very cold bathroom or you could have them in your very hot kitchen. It just depends on what’s going to work best for you. They will be able to handle whatever you can throw at them.
Growing Medium
Next, let’s talk about soil or what substrate and medium these plants like to grow in. They can grow in just about anything. As long as they don’t dry out too much, they are good to go. A lot of times you’ll buy them in grocery stores and they’ll come in some type of rock or perlite or clay. They’ll be in a fancy pot with no drainage and you just pour water in there in a regular.
They’ve even been grown in Vases and you just have rocks at the bottom to keep everything stable. This is a normal way to grow these plants. They don’t mind it. They don’t mind having a lot of water around their root systems. Also, they just need something to grip onto to keep them from toppling out of the pot because they do get very top-heavy with long thin stems and then all their foliage up top. Definitely be sure to use some type of rocks if you’re going to be keeping them in just a water situation.
As far as soil mixes go, this plant can handle pretty much any mix as long as it’s not too well draining. They like a very moisture-retentive mix. It can be a heavy peat-based potting mix and that will be fine. You just want to add a little bit of perlite in there and make sure that it’s going to be deep enough that the plant is not going to be able to topple over or use a ceramic pot. That way it’s not going to topple over. If you use a terracotta pot, then that is fine. The terracotta is going to allow the roots to breathe. You will need to water it more often though because these plants are water hogs and love to be watered.
Humidity
Their humidity is pretty high in their original location, so they’re used to high humidity. This makes them great for bathrooms over kitchen sinks. If you have a high-humidity home because you live up north or Pacific Northwest or somewhere where there is a lot of humidity, this plant is going to be perfect for that. Humidity will prevent crisping tips on there as well. A lot of times these plants will dry out too much, or if the air is too dry, then you’ll notice that there’s a little bit of browning on the edges. Perfectly fine. You can trim that off. There’s no problem. That’s just a sign that’s in lower humidity.
If you want to increase the humidity, you can get a humidifier or a pebble tray. We do have a whole article on how to increase humidity for your plants in very effective means. Misting is not an effective way to increase humidity for your plant. You can mist your lucky bamboo. It just won’t do very much. It will just be something that makes you feel better but it’s not going to prevent the crispy tips. Misting is not going to increase the humidity enough to make a difference.
Fertilizer
Lucky bamboo does not have the capability of processing a lot of fertilizer all at one time. They need a weak diluted fertilizer over long periods. Some people only fertilize their lucky bamboo every three to six months. They do not need that much fertilizer. That’s another thing that you need to worry about if you’re going to be putting your lucky bamboo in soil. A lot of soil mixes, even if you just get perlite mixes, will come with a lot of fertilizer in them. You want to be checking and seeing if you have too much fertilizer and diluting that, rinsing that out, watering that down, finding some way to reduce the fertilizer. Being aware of what your plant is growing in and monitoring the fertilizer increments and strength will help ensure a healthy plant.
Lucky Bamboo or Dracaena sanderiana are very easy-care plants with minimal requirements. They are very forgiving and quickly recover from most mistakes so they make for fantastic Beginner Plants. Their vertical growth pattern is one of their unique strengths because it enables them to fit perfectly in any home.
