How to care for Lucky Bamboo?

Question

My friend came back from a trip in florida and brought some Lucky bamboo home and he gave me 1 to keep. Right now, it is in a gel like liquid in a bag and i was wondering how i should remove the bamboo and what would be better to use in a vase, river rocks or marbles?

Also, what kind of water does the bamboo need to sustain its growth and to make sure it lives? I read that any kind of water that is treated with Chemicals is bad.

Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

Caring for Your Lucky Bamboo

Like any other plant, Lucky Bamboo needs light, water, and nutrients to survive. It will do better with little attention than if you fuss over it, however. This plant likes to be admired but not pampered. Here are some guidelines to help you give it the best care:

LIGHT: Lucky Bamboo will do best with moderate levels of indirect light. In the natural world it grows in dense shade under the thick rainforest canopy of equatorial Africa. Direct light -- such as a sunny windowsill -- is too strong for it. Lucky Bamboo will tolerate little light more easily than too much light. You can even keep Lucky Bamboo in rooms with no natural light; just move it to a brighter (but not in direct light!) location for three or four days every few weeks. If you want your Lucky Bamboo to grow, however, it will need to be at the higher end of its light-range. It may survive very low light, but it won’t put out new leaves or get any taller.

WATER: Lucky Bamboo grows very well in water, but it doesn’t like the chemicals – chlorine and fluoride, to name just two – present in most tap water. Filtered water or rain water will keep your Lucky Bamboo healthy longer. If you don’t have a water filtration system, plan ahead and run tap water into a container the day before you water your Lucky Bamboo plants, and let it sit out, uncovered, at least overnight or for 24 hours to allow the chemicals to disperse.

Keep an eye on the water level in your Lucky Bamboo container, and add a little more as it gets down to about half-full; how often will depend on the size of your arrangement and the humidity in your home. Every week or so, pour all the water out and refill the container with fresh water.

If you happen to have an aquarium in your home, save some of the dirty aquarium water when you clean it, and use that to water your Lucky Bamboo. Your fish may be sensitive to all the microscopic stuff that builds up in the water, but your Lucky Bamboo will love it!

Lucky Bamboo grown in soil should be keep slightly moist, not soaking wet. Don’t allow it to dry out completely. And don’t go by whether or not the surface is dry – often the soil will still be damp a half-inch or so below the surface. Stick your finger in the soil: if it feels dry a full inch down, then it’s all right to water.

NUTRIENTS: Lucky Bamboo is pretty hardy, and often grows happily for years just in pure water, but it may need some kind of food eventually. If your plant gets spindly and pale after you’ve had it for a while, try moving it a little closer to a light source and give it some very diluted plant food. However, if it turns yellow shortly after you bring it home that’s usually a sign it was over-fertilized before you purchased it. Change the water immediately, and don’t fertilize at all for several months.

The best time to feed your Lucky Bamboo is when you change the water. Just add a couple of drops of aquarium plant food to the water you use to refill the container. You can also use a very dilute solution of a standard plant food like Miracle Gro. For water-grown plants, that means using 1/10th the recommended strength (i.e., if it says 10 drops per gallon, use only 1 drop per gallon for your Lucky Bamboo). If your Lucky Bamboo is growing in soil, you can use a stronger solution.

Don’t feed every time you change the water! Every 2 months—or longer-- is often enough. Water-grown plants do not need to be fed as frequently as soil-grown plants, and feeding too much or too frequently is more harmful to plants than not feeding enough! Lucky Bamboo is naturally a very slow-growing plant, so don’t assume it needs to be fed just because it doesn’t seem to be growing.

Encouraging Curls

Lucky Bamboo stalks are naturally straight. If you want curls, you have to encourage them by manipulating the plant’s position relative to its light source. To do this, you’ll need to place your plant where there is not much overall light, but with a strong light source from one side (remember, don’t place your plant in direct sunlight!). Even better, cut the end and one side from a cardboard box larger than your arrangement, and set it over the entire thing so the open side is toward a window and the other three sides and top are shaded. After a while, you’ll notice that the stalk(s) are starting to turn or bend toward the light. Once a definite bend to the stalk can be seen, turn the plant slightly by rotating the pot an inch or so. The plant will keep growing toward the light, and if you keep rotating the pot from time to time eventually you will have a spiraling stalk. Lucky Bamboo is a slow grower (usually only 1”-3” a year), so this will take some time!

Troubleshooting

After sharing so much advice, this seems like a good time to remind you that – compared to most plants – Lucky Bamboo really is easy to care for. Just give it clean water, indirect light, and little bit of plant food from time to time. In case your plant  

Answer 2

I have some and I keep it in a ceramic type jar/pot and have it filled

with river rock (clean) but I am sure it will do just as well in a jar/pot

filled with marbles to hold it in place. I have mine in just plain tap water

and refill it as it is needed. I also have had it for over two years now,

and it does just fine like that. Good luck! after all, it is Lucky Bamboo!

Answer 3

if you want to keep it in water, use a clear glass jar/vase so you can tell if the water is getting nasty..... use the glass marbles or river rock to anchor the stalks in the vase.... use filtered or rain water to keep the floride and chlorine from making the tips of your leaves go brown.... change the water as you see it needs changed.. mine gets it about monthly... if the level goes down you can just add alittle filtered or rain water until the change... be sure it's not cold water, but room temp.... add a drop or two of fertilizer when you change the water.... keep it where bright light is if you want it to grow ... but it will live in a lot less.... nice gift from a friend!!!....

here's a site about the plant... it's not 'bamboo', but dracaena...use the name in the link to look up more about it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_sa...