What In The World Makes Lucky Bamboo Lucky?

Fengshui - A bouquet full of luck: "A bouquet full of luck

By Sushan Shetty
(Courtesy: Miscellany)

If you are the kind who have always wanted indoor greens but want to go in for some low maintenance foliage, then lucky Bamboos might be just the thing you'd like. Despite their name lucky bamboos, they are not really bamboos, but just look like them. Their botanical name is Dracaena Sanderiana and they play a very important part in Feng Shui.

Lucky BambooNamrata Tirumale and Seema Parasampuria are the promoters of Foliage that markets an exclusive range of lucky Bamboo plants imported from China where it is grown as per Feng Shui principles. According to ancient Asian legend, the gift of living bamboo brings good fortune, hence the name lucky bamboo. 'Whether or not you believes in the luck aspect, I'd says that these plants make great gifts and bring greenery into the house,' says Namrata.

Seema is all for the fact that all the plants need in the way of maintenance is regular cleaning and changing of water in the vase. "In the west, giving lucky Bamboos has replaced bouquets. Flowers will die after some time, but these live on. One can always add some flowers into the arrangement and add more color," suggests Seema adding that the plant can take a lot of rough handling and doesn't dies easily.

Lucky BambooSymbolic of happiness and prosperity, the number of sticks used gives significance to the arrangement. The plants are half inch thick and green in color. Through manipulation of the light source, the bamboo can be trained to have curls or spirals and form lovely dancing' bamboos. Once they have reached the desired shape and size, the sticks are cut and do not grow any further, only the leaves continue growing. The different kinds of arrangements these bamboos are trained into range from many-layered towers, pyramids, walls, knitted bamboos, wishing well, curly bamboos, spiral and straight live growing sticks. Some of these have been given wacky shapes like the heart shaped ones that make great gifts for Valentine's Days and the ones that make dollar sign.

Count your lucky bamboo

* Three stalks - brings Fu (Happiness), Lu (Health) and Soh (longevity)
* Five stalks - Represents the five different parts of life from which wealth comes.
* Six stalks - Brings prosperity and favorable conditions.
* Seven stalks - Bring good health
* Eight stalks - brings growth and prosperity
* Ten stalks - Implies completeness and perfection
* Twenty-one stalks - offers a very powerful all-embracing blessing.

Caring for your plant

* Good luck plants are hardy; they don't need a daily dose of sunlight.
* All they need to grow is plain water (no soil) and shade.
* The water should be changed every 3-4 days.
* No need to add fertilizers.
* Once a fortnight remove the plant from its vase, wash the vase as well as the pebbles and remove the dust from the leaves before replacing the plant in fresh water."

Well this one I've personally been wondering about for about 2 years! So I'm glad I finally have an answer! I hope it helps you too!

Sam, Feng Shui Tips