A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 Lucky bamboo

I was given a "lucky bamboo" plant recently. I have been trying to find more info on this plant, and I did find out that it is really a dracaena. The plant has been in water, and it has great roots. My question is, can it be put into a pot with soil? Will it kill this plant if I do? Most information I found has it growing in the water. My other dracaenas are in pots, and I just wonder if this one could go into one, too. Most of the places that mention these are selling them, and the photos show them in water.
Perhaps I should mention it grows straight up, then goes into a corkscrew shape. It has 2 shoots growing at the top of the corkscrew. Any information on this plant is greatly appreciated. Happy gardening to everyone!! :p

Lucky bamboo are Dracaena sanderiana cuttings. Like most cuttings, they need fresh water periodically and they will grow roots in the water. Although they will live for a long time in water, in most cases the new growth weakens considerably after a year or so.

If you want yours to live a long time, it is best to plant them in a small pot of soil before they start to deteriorate. They do best in bright indirect light and warm temperatures above 60 degrees.

growing these plants as cuttings in water is just a popular fad right now and does not mean that it prefers to be in water. So go ahead and pot it up, if you like.

Thank you for the info...you just told me more about these plants than I've been able to find anywhere. Thanks again!!

thanks i got one of those for my b-day last march and i was wondering the same thing,cool now i know

If they are just cuttings of a variety of Dracaena, does that mean I can take cuttings of them? and how would I do that??

From the way mine looks, I'm going to cut just below a node, then root the cutting in water. After it gets roots, I'll put it in a pot. These are new to me, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. Let me know how things go with yours!

HI
I am glad I read these postings! I have a "lucky bamboo" sitting on my desk at work,
its been in water for over 2 years and is now over 2 feet tall. But there is a problem.
The tip of the leaves turn yellow then brown. Is this because I am using city water, and should go to distilled water? Or would it be better to put the plant in dirt?
Several people at my workplace (besides me) would like to know!!!
Thanks!

Mich,
I would plant it... I am going to plant mine in about a month and I have only had it for about 6 weeks!

Hello, again! What has me curious now is how they got this plant to grow in the corkscrew shape. Any ideas, anyone? :p :rolleyes:

If your local tap water is on the hard side, then the minerals in the water will cause the leaf tips to gradually discolor. Best to switch to filtered or distilled or rainwater instead.

Even in good water, lucky bamboo have a limited lifespan in plain water, so it is probably a good idea to pot them up after a year or so.

The curves are created by using rubber bends and changing the angle of the light.

Thanks for the info!
I potted my plant in a commerical potting mix and it is now getting bottled water.
Hope that fixes the yellow/brown leaf tips.