Too much direct sunlight is frequently the cause of a lucky bamboo’s demise. Lucky bamboo requires strong, directional light to grow. Growing fortunate bamboo in direct sunshine causes the leaves and stalks to turn yellow and appear to be dying.
Bright, indirect light is crucial since bamboo’s leaves and stalk might become white if it has been in direct sunlight for a brief length of time, indicating stress.
If the roots of a lucky bamboo plant are not given enough access to water, the leaves may become yellow and wrinkled, looking as though they are dying.
If tap water is used to irrigate the bamboo, the leaf tips of lucky bamboo will become brown. Lucky bamboo should ideally be watered with rainwater because it is sensitive to the chemicals in tap water.
It’s crucial to provide the ideal conditions for a dying lucky bamboo to recover, including bright, indirect light, enough moisture for the roots without using tap water, and a temperature range of 60°F to 75°F (16°C to 24°C).
In order to preserve your fortunate bamboo, it might be necessary to remove cuttings from any healthy growth that is still there.
It is important to keep in mind that if you grow lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) in water, it normally only survives for 2 to 3 years before dying and turning brown.
Find out how to keep your lucky bamboo by reading on.
Table of Contents
Lucky Bamboo Leaves and Stalk Turning Yellow
- Symptoms. Sometimes, the leaves and stalks become yellow, the leaves droop, and the plant appears wrinkled. Stalks can frequently turn mushy and yellow.
- Causes. Too much of the stalk is underwater, there is too much fertilizer applied, and there are temperature changes.
Too much direct sunlight can burn the leaves and stalks of fortunate bamboo, which is the most frequent cause of yellowing. In order to avoid turning yellow, lucky bamboo must be grown in bright, indirect light rather than full sun.
Lucky bamboo shoots that are submerged in too much water will turn yellow and mushy.
Normally, lucky bamboo should only be planted in 1-3 inches of water, with only the roots submerged.
The stalk cannot handle being submerged in water; as a result, it rots and becomes mushy and yellow.
This frequently occurs when the fortunate bamboo stem is put in a deep container, like a vase or jar, which can assist provide stability but shouldn’t be filled more than three inches with water to prevent the stalk from rotting and turning yellow.
The ideal balance of the roots being immersed but the stalk being above the waterline is particularly vital if you are growing fortunate bamboo in water. If the roots of the bamboo cannot get enough water, the stalk and leaves also turn yellow.
Although applying a liquid houseplant fertilizer to lucky bamboo is recommended, doing so frequently results in the leaves and stalks turning yellow since lucky bamboo is extremely sensitive to high fertilizer concentrations.
During the Spring and Summer, fortunate bamboo typically just needs a few drops of regular houseplant fertilizer once a month.
The leaves and stalks turning yellow may be caused by fertilizer applications that are made more frequently or at higher rates.
Additionally, Lucky bamboo does not adapt well to sharp temperature changes (which result in yellowing leaves and stems). Lucky bamboo prefers temperatures between 60°F and 75°F (16°C and 24°C).
The quick change in indoor temperature that turns fortunate bamboo yellow occurs more frequently in the winter when indoor heating raises temperatures and is followed by cold window sills or other parts of the house at night.
How to Revive Dying Lucky Bamboo With Leaves and Stalks Turning Yellow
- Place the lucky bamboo away from direct sunlight, in a location with bright indirect light. If the leaves are burned yellow, they won’t grow back green, but you can encourage the growth of strong, healthy leaves by carefully removing the scorched leaves or pruning them with a pair of pruners.
- Make sure the lucky bamboo is situated in a location where the temperature stays constant between 60°F and 75°F (16°C and 24°C). Keep lucky bamboo away from any indoor heating sources and from forced air or air conditioning air currents. Remember that, particularly at night in the winter, window sills are frequently significantly cooler than the rest of the home.
- Reduce the amount of fertilizer you use. Although it can frequently grow fairly happily without fertilizer, lucky bamboo is particularly sensitive to fertilizer and only needs two drops of regular houseplant fertilizer once a month during the growing season. If the bamboo is becoming yellow and you have applied too much fertilizer, replace the water (it is advisable to do so at least once a month) and stop applying fertilizer until the following growing season.
- Make sure the roots are completely submerged if you’re growing lucky bamboo in water to avoid yellowing. Yellowing and withering leaves are the first indication of stress if the roots cannot draw up. Make sure there is only a thin layer of water—generally 1-3 inches—covering the roots. Check the water level whenever there is a spike in temperature, whether in Summer or because of interior heating in Winter, and change the water once a month to prevent the growth of bacteria or fungal diseases that can cause the bamboo to turn yellow. If using potting soil, make sure the soil is continually moist and that the roots do not extend over the soil surface.
- To prevent yellow stems, don’t overfill the vase or container holding the lucky bamboo. While the roots of the lucky bamboo can flourish while they are submerged, the stalk needs to be kept above the water or soil line to keep it from going mushy and yellow. Typically, this means that the bamboo should only be submerged in water for the bottom 1-3 inches.
If the lucky bamboo’s stalk has become yellow and mushy, take it out of the vase and throw it away because it is rotting and the rot can spread bacteria and fungi that can harm healthy bamboo stalks.
Once the leaves have become yellow, they cannot be converted back to green; however, removing the yellow leaves can encourage the lucky bamboo to grow new, healthy green leaves. This will help the lucky bamboo revive.
The fortunate bamboo should occasionally be propagated from any healthy regions of growth that are still present. Growing lucky bamboo is simple and can result in a robust plant that can fully recover.
View this instructive YouTube video to learn how to grow fortunate bamboo:
(Read my post on how to preserve yellowing lucky bamboo.)
Lucky Bamboo Turning White
- Symptoms. Sometimes the stalk and sometimes the leaves can look bleached, white, or pale.
- Causes. the water contains too much fluoride, chlorine, and sunshine.
Lucky bamboo turns white because it has been bleached by too much exposure to direct sunshine. Lucky bamboo does not tolerate full sun, which causes the leaves and stalks to turn white and seem pale. Instead, it prefers bright, indirect light.
While bamboo tends to seem white or pale when exposed to small amounts of sunlight, it scorches to a yellowish hue when exposed to intense sunshine.
The original home of lucky bamboo is in the tropical jungles of central Africa, where it thrives in the shade and protection from the sun.
Because they love bright, indirect light in their natural environment, fortunate bamboo leaves and stalks are extremely sensitive to sunlight and can turn white if they are grown inside on a sunny windowsill.
Although the leaf tips normally turn brown in reaction to tap water, lucky bamboo is also sensitive to chemicals found in tap water (chlorine and fluoride), which can contribute to the leaves turning white depending on the levels of chlorine and fluoride.
When watering lucky bamboo, it is advised to use distilled water, bottled mineral water, or rainwater as opposed to tap water.
To safely water your lucky bamboo, you can, however, leave tap water out in a bowl overnight to let the chlorine and fluoride vaporize.
Low humidity may also stress the lucky bamboo, causing it to become whitish and pale.
Although lucky bamboo is native to a tropical region with high humidity, it is usually resilient enough to withstand the low humidity found in homes.
However, the lucky bamboo may turn white if you live in an especially arid region with low humidity levels.
How to Revive Lucky Bamboo Turning White
While a single white leaf might not always come back, the lucky bamboo frequently does if you establish more hospitable conditions, such as strong, indirect light and refrain from watering with tap water. In the coming weeks, fresh, healthy green growth ought to start to emerge.
Lucky Bamboo Turning Brown
- Symptoms. The leaf tips of lucky bamboo turn brown, or the stem is browning.
- Causes. Lucky bamboo often turns brown with a dying appearance if the stalk is submerged in too much water, or if the bamboo is planted in soil then overwatering could be the cause of the leaves and stem turning brown. Chlorine and fluoride in tap water, as well as too much fertilizer, can cause lucky bamboo leaf tips to turn brown.
The chlorine and fluoride in tap water, as well as excessive fertilizer use, are the common causes of the browning of the tips of lucky bamboo leaves. To prevent the leaf tips from becoming brown, lucky bamboo should be irrigated with rainwater because it is extremely sensitive to pollutants in tap water.
During the growing season, lucky bamboo only needs 2 or 3 drops of ordinary houseplant fertilizer every 2 months. The leaf tips turn dark if fertilizer is applied too frequently or in excess concentration.
Lucky bamboo stems frequently become brown because they are submerged in too much water.
Only the roots should be buried while growing fortunate bamboo in simply water; the stalk cannot withstand being submerged. The stem may turn brown and appear to be dying if it is submerged in water.
If the lucky bamboo is grown in soil, overwatering is frequently to blame for the browning of the leaves and stalk.
Although lucky bamboo can develop roots and only exist in water, lucky bamboo that has always been cultivated in soil cannot handle a potting medium that is always soaked.
When plants are shifted from growing in water to growing in soil or vice versa, their roots typically become brown and appear to be dying. This is because the root systems of fortunate bamboo plants grown in soil and water have different characteristics.
How to Revive a Dying Lucky Bamboo That is Turning Brown
- Always use rainwater, distilled water, bottled water, or tap water that has been let out for 24 hours to water fortunate bamboo. If you change the water, a plant that has brown leaf tips due to sensitivity to chemicals in the tap water will recover nicely. Sometimes, before the lucky bamboo may regain its healthy green appearance, you may need to wait for it to sprout new green leaves and cut back the brown ones.
- Reduce the amount of fertilizer you use. Fortunately, bamboo doesn’t need much fertilizer. In the Spring and Summer, 1 or 2 drops of standard houseplant fertilizer once a month is usually plenty. To wash out excess salts from fertilizer that may be causing the browning of the leaf tips, if you have used too much fertilizer, change the water (if growing in water) or give the potting medium a good soak.
- Keep lucky bamboo in 2-3 inches of water at all times (so that the roots are completely submerged), or let the potting soil gradually dry out in between waterings. This is the ideal watering ratio to keep the lucky bamboo from fading.
- The plant is unlikely to recover if the leaves and stalk are turning brown and mushy because this is a sign of rot and fungal disease. The only option is to try to reproduce the fortunate bamboo from whatever healthy green growth that is still there. It is surprisingly simple to propagate fortunate bamboo, and you can cultivate the bamboo plant in more hospitable settings to avoid any browning leaves or stalks.
Lucky Bamboo Not Growing
Keep the lucky bamboo away from direct sunlight to prevent scorching of the leaves, and make sure the room’s temperature is preferably between 60°F and 75°F (16°C to 24°C).
Even if the temperature is within the desired range, try to prevent rapid temperature changes because they might stress bamboo and inhibit growth.
Place your lucky bamboo away from drafty sections of the house and away from sources of indoor heating.
Replace the water in lucky bamboo plants grown in water about once a month, and add a small amount of all-purpose fertilizer once a month in the spring and summer to encourage growth.
Because lucky bamboo is extremely sensitive to fertilizer, don’t use excessive amounts or apply it frequently as this can cause the leaf tips to turn brown or yellow.
Take into account the fact that lucky bamboo normally doesn’t grow all that much in the winter because of the reduced light.
Key Takeaways:
- Too much direct sunlight is typically the cause of death. Rather than full sun, lucky bamboo is adapted to thriving in bright, indirect light. The lucky bamboo’s leaves become yellow and white and look to be dying, and too much sunlight also causes the stalk to become yellow and wrinkly.
- Chemicals in tap water, low humidity, and excessive sun exposure can bleach the leaves and stalks of lucky bamboo, rendering it white. To prevent the leaves from turning pale and white, lucky bamboo needs bright, indirect light and should be hydrated with rainfall.
- The high levels of fluoride and chlorine in tap water are what cause the tips of lucky bamboo leaves to become brown. Lucky bamboo should always be irrigated with rainwater, distilled water, or bottled water to avoid the leaf tips from becoming brown because it is highly susceptible to contaminants in tap water.
- The overwatering of fortunate bamboo is frequently the cause of its browning. Only the roots should be buried while growing lucky bamboo in water since the stalk cannot withstand being submerged in excessive amounts of water, causing the leaves and stalk to become brown and appear to be dying.
- Lucky bamboo typically doesn’t develop since it doesn’t get enough light. For the lucky bamboo to have enough energy to flourish, bright, indirect light is required.
- Moving the plant to a place with bright, indirect light, only watering with rainwater, maintaining a temperature range of 60°F to 75°F (16°C to 24°C), and pruning any withering leaves to encourage the growth of healthy, green leaves are all ways to revive a dying fortunate bamboo.