I hate Lucky Bamboo! This must be one of the most overmarketed plants in the world. It’s actually a con. Firstly, it’s not a bamboo. It’s not even related. This “Lucky Bamboo” is actually from the Draceana family which is a tropical houseplant. This derivative of the Lily family orginated in Southeast Asia and I would make a “stab-in-the-dark” prediction that 1 in 5 houses in the Western world have at least one perched in their living room.

Secondly, I’m not sure it’s “Lucky.” I keep getting searches from the net arriving at my blog requesting tips for care of these plants. If it’s so ‘lucky’ why do you need to care for it and why do they seem to shrivel up and die 3 months after you bought it?

I’m only joking. They’re not my cup of tea but not everyone drinks from the same teapot. If you want some tips to look after them read on…

  • Don’t prune them The leaves are actually the growing parts of the plant. As they mature they become the stalk and sprout new leaves. This is how they grow.
  • Keep them in low-light conditions these are tropical plants whose native habitat is at the rainforest floor where they don’t see much light. If you expose them to too much sunlight they will burn.
  • Grow them indoors as above. Lucky bamboo will need to be kept indoors unless you have a well-established rainforest happening in your garden already.
  • Don’t fertilise these plants don’t require fertiliser. They don’t even require soil. Just keep them in distilled or purified water and they will grow happily.