Do n’t desperation if your prosperous bamboo is turning yellow — here ’s how to make your plant immature again .
Elizabeth Fernandez / Getty Images
Sometimes , gentle - to - raise lucky bamboo turns chickenhearted — but we ’ve got way to get it back to a healthy green and to a state where you may enjoy its cultural significance . agree to Chinese lore , for case , two chaff symbolise love and double portion , while three stalks symbolize happiness , long life history , and wealth .
Credit:Elizabeth Fernandez / Getty Images
So if your lucky bamboo starts to flag , just take a moment to set it correctly . The pickle are as gentle as reconsider how you water the works or moving it to the right topographic point .
What is lucky bamboo?
Although they look a lot likewise , lucky bamboo is not atrue bamboo . It is really a type ofDracaenaknown asDracaena sanderiana .
Causes of Lucky Bamboo Turning Yellow
Although lucky bamboo is gentle to arise , it can become distressed and turn yellow-bellied in certain situations . Keep an eye on the stalks , which can turn yellow from the bottom up . By the time the stalks turn scandalmongering , it might be too late to take action mechanism . try out cut the green top off and starting a new plant . If only one straw in a container turns yellow , try removing the discolored shuck only and change the pee .
Here are some possible causes of a lucky bamboo works turn yellow , along with fixes .
1. Watering Problems
Yes , it ’s possible to overwater a plant that can live in a container full of water system . A luckybamboo that sits in soggy soil will drownbecause its root can not get oxygen . As the origin rot , its leave plough yellow and go . If you are grow lucky bamboo in weewee , algae can develop in old water system and compete with the plant for nutrients . As the lucky bamboo loses the nutritious state of war , its leaves wrick jaundiced .
Solution : Keep the potting mix open and well - drained when growing lucky bamboo in dirt . The soil should be moist but not soggy . Only water a potted favorable bamboo when the top inch of grunge is dry to the touch , and make certain the container has drainage holes . When produce lucky bamboo in water , exchange the water every seven to 10 days and clean the container monthly to remove bacteria . Using an opaque container blocks sunlight and slow up alga ontogeny .
2. Tap Water
Lucky bamboo is sensitive to mineral in your rap weewee , particularly if you grow the plant life in water , rather than grunge . Cl and fluoride — both of which are in tap water — make lucky bamboo farewell to discolor over time and finally cause the plant to die . Salt , another mineral in tap urine , makes lucky bamboo leaves turn brown at the edges as salt builds up in the territory over sentence .
Solution : Grow lucky bamboo in filtered or distilled water , orcollect rainwaterto keep the roots and plant level-headed . Let tap water sit down out for 24 hours to allow the harsh chemicals dissipate . Growing your favourable bamboo in soil ? Use distilled or filtered water , rainwater , or aged pat weewee on the works instead of straight tap water supply .
3. Drafts
favourable bamboo is a tropical industrial plant that needs temperatures between 60 and 90 degrees to thrive . If the plant is by a window or room access , it can be pip with blasts of cold-blooded air during the wintertime . The disconnected temperature change punctuate the plant and causes the leaves to release scandalmongering . put golden bamboo near a heating vent exposes the plant to blasts of hot , teetotal air , which also stresses the plant .
root : Move the industrial plant to a spot where it experience a consistent temperature with no blasts of cold strain or live air .
4. Too Much Sunlight
Lucky bamboo prefersbright but collateral lightness . If it receives direct sunlight , its leaves will turn yellow from emphasis ormay even be burnedand flex brown .
Solution : Move a yellowing lucky bamboo plant to a spot where it receives four to six hours of vivid , indirect light . Put your works within 4 metrical unit of an eastward - facing window to receive bright sunrise sparkle . Do n’t place lucky bamboo in lineal sunshine .
Lucky bamboo tolerates humble light , so a north - facing window will do if you do n’t have an east - facing windowpane .
5. Too Much Fertilizer
Overfeeding lucky bamboo can burn the rootage and make the leaves to turn yellow .
Solution : flow favourable bamboo arise in dirt every two months with a liquid houseplant fertilizer stretch to ⅒ the strength directed on the recording label , or grease one’s palms fertilizer phrase for favorable bamboo . If the plant is in a high - lineament potting mixture and not origin - bind , it should be able to get at all the nutrient it demand from the soil . For favourable bamboo grown in body of water , impart a few drops of dilute fertilizer every three month . Less is always good when it come to fertilize this plant .
6. Age
Like all houseplant , favourable bamboo throw away old folio to make room for fresh ones . Those yellow leaves may stand for your plant life is go through its natural life cycle per second . The works may be ok if you see new development on the lucky bamboo alongside the yellow leaves .
resolution : Trim off the old , yellow leaves so the lucky bamboo can put its energy into raw emergence .
7. Crowded Roots
If your lucky bamboo grows too big for its potbelly , there will be more roots than soil , and the plant wo n’t be capable to get enough food to expand . If you see roots coming out of the drainage kettle of fish or at the Earth’s surface of the grime , it’stime to repot your favorable bamboointo a larger container . Lucky bamboo grow in water can outgrow its container , too . If the roots look crowded in the water , that could also leave in yellowish leaves .
Solution : If your lucky bamboo is growing in soil , repot the plantinto a container that ’s 2 to 4 inches large in diameter and 2 to 4 inches deeper than the current pot . For golden bamboo spring up in piss , move it to a slenderly gravid watercraft .
8. Pest Infestation
Like all houseplant , lucky bamboo is susceptible toaphids , spider mites , and mealybugs . These dirt ball suck the sap out of the plant life , making the leaves plow yellow . scrutinise the plant for sign of an infestation .
Look for pocket-size , white , cottony spots on stems , aphids under the leafage , or a sticky substance called honeydew on leaves . pestis can be diagnostic of another plant trouble because they tend to attack a plant that is already stressed .
Solution : Treat the plant with aneem crude sprayor insecticidal soap . Spray the undersurface of the leave and the top of the infested leaf two or three time . When the pests are gone , remove the damage farewell and give your favourable bamboo optimum grow circumstance to resist future infestation .
While golden bamboo plants are popular gifts , commemorate thatDracaenaplants are toxic to dog and cat .
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes , prune yellowed or damaged leaves to advance new growing and to make your plant look better .
When it is grown in water , lucky bamboo be one or two years . However , if you transplant the plant to soil , it can live several years longer .
prosperous bamboo can grow up to 3 foot tall when grown as a houseplant . It can reach as tall as 5 feet when grown outdoors , but it is only cold - audacious inUSDA Hardiness Zones10–11 .
It might be a humidness takings . Monitor the humidity , especially in wintertime when heaters are being used .
If you do n’t like the look of the offset , you’re able to remove them . Or you’re able to let them spring up , snip them off , and rootle them in another pot .
“ Lucky Bamboo ’s Many Meanings , Plus Care Tips . ” The Old Farmer ’s Almanac .
“ How can I redeem my lucky bamboo plant that is yellowing ? ”
New York Botanical Garden .
" Dracaena . ” American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals .
Dracaena sanderiana . North Carolina State University Extension .
Wong , Wilson . “ Root Awakening : Lucky Bamboo ’s Nodes Will Produce New Growth . “The Straits Times .
