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How to Look After a Japanese Lucky Bamboo

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Japanese lucky bamboo is not a real bamboo plant. It sells in garden shops as lucky bamboo, ribbon plant or by its scientific name, Dracaena sanderiana. Thought to bring good fortune, it is a suitable plant for homes and offices because it is so easy to maintain, generally only growing in water and pebbles, though it can also grow in soil. With proper care, Japanese lucky bamboo can grow between 1 and 3 inches every year.

Place the plant in a pot or vase that is about 2 inches bigger in diameter than the plant. Your pot should have a drain hole if you are planting in soil.

Cover the base of the plant with pebbles to hold it upright in the pot, or fill the pot with soil.

Pour distilled water to a height of 1 inch above the pebbles or until the soil is saturated. Maintain the water level as it drops.

Place the plant in a room no cooler than 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep it away from air conditioning and heaters.

  • Place the plant in a pot or vase that is about 2 inches bigger in diameter than the plant.
  • Pour distilled water to a height of 1 inch above the pebbles or until the soil is saturated.

Change the water (if you planted your lucky bamboo in pebbles and water), and rinse the plant, pebbles and pot once a week to prevent the plant from rotting and the pebbles and pot from developing algae.

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