Q&A for How to Propagate Lucky Bamboo

This could be caused by overwatering or not enough sunlight. Make sure your plant gets indirect sunlight throughout the day. If your plant is in soil, reduce the amount of water you give it. If your plant is in water, reduce the level of the water in the container.

Yes, you can cut the stalk. But make sure to leave some nodes above the roots from where new leaves/shoots can sprout.

Take the cut 'wound' of the bamboo, then either drip melted candle wax onto it, or dip it into a container of melted wax. To make sure it is completely sealed, let the wax dry then apply 2-3 more layers.

You can propagate the plant to save the shoots, then grow those into your new lucky bamboo plants.

Yes, you should seal it with wax. This will help prevent the bacterial disease from spreading to the rest of your plant.

Yes, but growing them in soil needs more maintenance and they will grow very tall.

Yes. Rain water should work well, unless you live in an area with an inordinate amount of air pollution.

Plain is best, as the scents likely come from chemicals or artificial substances that can harm the plant.

Plant your lucky bamboo in some unfertilized soil (as it's very sensitive to over-fertilization) and keep the soil very moist. However, I don't recommend this as it's much more difficult to keep lucky bamboo alive when it's planted outside (or even in soil at all).

Yes, it will, though it may take one to two months, possibly longer, before leaves start growing in.

Yes, just make sure they're clean. Wash them thoroughly, and leave them out in the sun, that will help kill anything harmful.

Yes. Seal it where the air will touch it.

The leaves themselves cannot grow roots, but the stalk they grow on can be cut off and can grow roots.

If you feel your stalk is long, you can cut down to 2 or 3 pieces with sharp scissors, but the pieces should have a minimum of 4 nods and at least 2 nods should dip in the distilled water. The top of the cutting pieces should be dipped in the unscented wax and kept in the container.

Yes, you can trim the roots on a lucky bamboo plant. Pinch off any roots that are mushy, withered, or dry. To trim overgrown roots, use pruning snips to cut off the roots at the base of the plant.

If your bamboo is yellowing, that probably means it either has too much sunlight or too much fertilizer. Remember to put your bamboo where it has indirect sunlight or artificial light; direct light can burn your lucky bamboo's leaves. Try cutting down on the fertilizer as well.

Once you see roots, you can plant. Be careful you don't rip the roots when transplanting.

Yes. Be sure to top off the cut piece (the one with the roots on it) with melted, unscented wax to seal it. Take the other piece with the leaves and place it in a vase of distilled water. Be sure to change the water at least every month. You should see some results in about a month.

Continue fertilizing, watering, and caring for your plant as usual. In 2-3 months you should have new leaves growing in.

No need to remove the wax from the top of the parent stalk. If there are new leaves found in the nods, you can remove the wax.

If the bamboo's placed in the water, the stem will not raise more. The new leaves will come from the nods above the water level and that can be cut and grow high. If you want to increase the height of the stem, you can place it in the soil with the new child plant. After the root and leaves found in the child plant in water - it will take a minimum of 30 days.

In my experience, the best thing to do would be to leave it in a glass container and fill it with clean water--about 1.5 inches. I use bottled water, and roots should start growing around 1 month later. Once they are decently grown, transfer to soil if you choose.

Plants in the Dracaena family, like lucky bamboo, will flower and produce seeds in the wild. However, these plants rarely flower when they're grown indoors, and if the plants don't flower, then they won't produce seeds. Therefore, lucky bamboo seed are rare. The good news is that it's faster, easier, and more reliable to propagate from a cutting.

If there are yellow leaves, that often means there is not enough sunlight.

Yes, though it may take a while for the roots to grow back. Do not cut off too much.

Yes. The bottom section can be rooted at the bottom, while the middle section can be cut at a node and the top sealed with wax, and the top again at a node and the top sealed with wax.

The shoots coming up from the ground are the rhizomes, the horizontal parts of the plant, but you can't plant them upright like the shoots above ground.

Use fertilizer to grow quickly but this is something optional. I don't use fertilizer because I want to see my lucky bamboo growing. You didn't buy the plant just to put it in an corner of your house.

This depends on the temperature, the amount of times you have propagated it in the past, humidity, the species you have, etc. Give it some time to create the offshoot and try to keep the plant healthy.