Lucky Bamboo - The New 21st Century Pet

As millions of owners all over the world have already discovered, lucky bamboo can

make the perfect home or office plant. It is not only beautiful, but also easy to

keep happy. All it needs is some water and a little bit of sunlight.

What people called lucky bamboo is actually not a bamboo at all. It has the

botanical name of Dracaena and is a resilient member of the lily family. The

tropical rain forests of Africa and Southeast Asia are its natural environment.

Lucky bamboo has been associated with the Chinese practice of Feng Shui for a very

long time. In brief, Feng Shui refers to the idea of creating a balance between

the elements of water, earth, wood, fire and metal within the environment.

Caring for a lucky bamboo plant is quite easy. I have one which sits on a window

sill and has been there for a long time. An occasional feed of light fertilizer

and water and it doesn't need much else. I use a clear glass vase which seves the

purpose of allowing me to keep an eye on the water level plus water quality.

However, constant sunlight can cause algae to form and if this is the case with

your plant, it may be time to transfer it to an opaque vase.

A lot of lucky bamboo owners will often complain of brown tips on their plant's

leaves but as explained above, the lucky bamboo is actually a member of the lily

family. This is a common complaint with this particular species of plant. There

could be a number of reasons why brown tips occur with the most likely cause being

fluoride.

Lucky bamboo is available in a number of shapes and sizes. They come in a twisted

shape as well as curved or spiralling and this is attractive to many lucky bamboo

enthusiasts. The distorted shape however, doesn't occur naturally and is produced

over time by laying the plant on it's side. Light is then only reflected on one

side so the plant will naturally follow the light and grow in one direction.

Lucky bamboo has certainly become popular among home owners during the last few

years. Now, it's like deciding do we get a dog, a cat or a lucky bamboo!

Luck bamboo is proving to be very popular. Read about my relationship with my very own lucky bamboo plant at:
http://www.bamboogalore.com/Are-You-Feeling-Bamboo-Lucky.html