Good Luck Plant
Looking for a Good Luck Plant?
While many plants are pretty to look at or easy to maintain, there is only one plant that has earned the nickname “good luck plant”, perhaps because of its perky yet earthy appearance and ability to spruce up any room. You might have heard of this plant by another name: lucky bamboo. You’ve seen it in gardening stores and even in your local Wal-Mart as the green, bamboo-like plant that grows in both straight and curly styles. We’re going to delve into the history of lucky bamboo and how you can care for your very own good luck plant.
Although the good luck plant’s nickname suggests that it is a member of the bamboo species, it is in fact a member of the lily family and in no way related to the bamboo plants of China. The botanical name for lucky bamboo is dracaena sanderiana, which is native to the area of Cameroon. It is favored as being a decorative plant, often associated with feng shui and Chinese motifs. Lucky bamboo is best described as a miniature version of real bamboo. It sports a soft green color with dainty yet exotic-looking leaves towards the top of the plant. It is a great deal smaller than bamboo in diameter but can grow quite tall (as long as support is provided).
The first thing to know before jumping into your car and speeding off to buy one (because you want it that badly, right?), is that the leaves are mildly toxic to humans and many animals, therefore it may not be the greatest houseplant for you if you have a pet or child who can access any spot you would put this plant. Other than that, this is a very simple plant to own!
Let’s talk a little about the kind of environment the lucky bamboo plant needs in order to really thrive. As far as sun requirements go, it does need sunlight—but not direct sunlight. Lucky bamboo is naturally found under the forest canopy, so the sunlight it would naturally receive would be what we call “filtered”. Too much light can literally scorch this plant’s leaves, so if you have to choose it would be better to opt for less sunlight rather than more.
Watering your lucky bamboo plant will be as easy as pie because this particular plant can survive on water and sunlight alone. They can grow in soil, but they are just as well off in a vase full of pretty rocks and water. Be warned that the water you use for your “bamboo” should be well filtered because this plant is very sensitive to the chemicals found in most tap water such as chlorine. Bottled water or filtered tap water is sufficient. The extent of water care for this plant basically boils down to completely changing out the water once a week. How much easier could it get?
Lucky bamboo does need to remain in a temperature between 60 and 90 degrees F, and are best placed in an area that is not in the direct airflow of an air conditioning vent. The next step isn’t really a requirement, but it will certainly give your lucky bamboo a huge boost in health. One drop of a weak liquid fertilizer in your plant’s water can do a world of good for this cheerful plant, and it only needs to be added once each month.
Our final tip for caring for your own good luck plant is creating a stylish curl in the plant’s stalk. This is by no means a necessity, but can add a little fun and quirkiness to your plant. The way to create a curl is to rotate the plant slowly over a long period of time. This changes the direction that the plant receives its light source from and it will instinctively start to reach out towards the direction that the light is coming from.
So there you have it! The care involved in owning a lucky bamboo plant is hardly involved at all, so it’s a terrific plant for those of us who only recall our plant maintenance duties once or twice a week.