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About Lucky BambooWhat a beginner I was when I first discovered this unique and graceful plant growing in water at a local Fred Meyer store. Being enamored with house plants - preferring the exotic variety in my cooler Northwest climate - I was immediately attracted to the charm and mystic of the Orient represented in the name "Lucky Bamboo". I purchased a small arrangement and brought it home but I needed to know more about this so-called "lucky" plant. There was a little card attached that mentioned "Feng Shui" - I didn't have a clue about feng shui (pronounced "fung shway") but it sounded interesting; now I want to share what I've learned about "Lucky Bamboo" - which isn't bamboo at all (see below) - and the Eastern "science" of feng shui. Bear in mind that I am neither an expert in feng shui nor a practitioner. If you would like to learn more about it, see Basic Feng Shui, Lucky Bamboo, Feng Shui and You, or my links page for resources. Lucky Bamboo is the newest rage for in-home gardeners, interior decorators, feng shui devotees, and people who just love to putter with house plants. Lucky Bamboo is easy to grow, almost carefree. An appropriate size pot, a little gravel to hold it securely, a couple of inches of water and you're on your way to successfully growing Lucky Bamboo plants. Makes an ideal gift for shut-ins, or to brighten a corner of your home or office. (Always make sure that your Lucky Bamboo, as well as other houseplants, are out of the reach of children and pets. They could suffer toxic reactions if leaves are ingested. For detailed information about toxicity in common plants, please see www.aspca.org/apcc.)Growing Lucky Bamboo is easy - just add or replace water once a week. Care of Lucky Bamboo is also easy;, it needs very little fertilizer -- we recommend a liquid fertilizer high in nitrogen such as "Green Green" which is specially formulated for Lucky Bamboo plants. See Care of Lucky Bamboo for specific details. "Lucky Bamboo" is actually a variety of tropical water lily (botanical name Dracaena Sanderiana). The plant, which grows profusely in Asia, is believed to be very lucky and brings good fortune to the home and its inhabitants - they call it the "tree from heaven". Lucky Bamboo is very tough and resilient and does not require direct sun light. You can grow Lucky Bamboo plants in places like bedrooms, hallways or bathrooms, where direct sun light is not usually admitted -- another reason why they are such good gifts for shut-ins. Much of the Dracaena Sanderiana in the US today is imported from China. An innovative and entrepreneurial company there experimented and learned to train the stalks into beautiful shapes (hearts, curly stalks, etc.). The stalks will remain true to the artistic shape as long as they are not deprived of water. In its original habitat, the plant grows freely in a boggy wetland. When harvested, the canes are cut into shorter lengths just above the ring of the leaf bract. Wax is applied to the cut surface to avoid infectious mildews, fungus, rot and loss of precious water in the stalk. The un-waxed end is then placed in pure water with a rooting hormone and encouraged to develop healthy roots. At the top of the stalk beneath the waxed end, small spouts with beautiful green ribbon leaves will develop creating a majestic green crown from a stem that resembles a tough old yellowed asparagus! Incidentally, once they are cut into lengths, the stalk does not grow longer. It is the "sprouts" with the crown of leaves from the original leaf bracts (the rings around the stalk) that grow. The new stalks sprout from the old leaf bract, and leaves grow from the new stalks. More than one may sprout from the old ring. The stalks are sold bare-root by the growers (or harvesters). If purchased in bulk for you to do your own arranging (top left), they will be shipped in a moist planting medium, such as peat moss, or perhaps with water crystals (polymer gel) which provides the fragile root systems with constant moisture unless exposed to drying air. They must NOT EVER be exposed to temperatures lower than 50 degrees F. A few years ago, while Martha Stewart still hosted her television program, she mentioned care of Lucky Bamboo. Her recommendation for an overgrown plant was to actually plant it in soil. I have not tried that as I prefer the portability of keeping the plants growing hydroponically. It might be interesting to compare the plant grown in soil to the plant grown in water. They don’t take up much room but do so much for the ambience and atmosphere. You can't have too many Lucky Bamboo!
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