Transplanting Lucky Bamboo

Ask the Expert: How do I transplant
I bought a lucky Bamboo plant years ago. It came in a small glass jar, over the years it has grown extremly tall, now its 32 inches high with not many leaves near the bottom.I see the roots are growning like crazy. I just bought a 7″ square glass vase to repot it in. How can I get the leaves to grow near the bottom of the plant? And how do I transfer it to the glass vase? do I need potting soil? or just put all the roots and stones on the bottom of the vase?I really would hate to lose this plant. I would like it to fill out near the stalks. Cathy

Reply:

Transplanting lucky bamboo from one container filled with water to another container filled with water is fairly easy.  Clean your new container before you begin.  Now add your lucky bamboo stems and gently place the pebbles or rocks from the original container around them.  I suggest cleaning the pebbles before you place them in the new container.  You may need to add more pebbles.  Once you have the pebbles and stems in the new vase fill with water.  Try to keep about the same water level as you had in the original container.

As for leaves, lucky bamboo usually only has leaf growth from the top.  At this point the only way to get leaves on the bottom would be to cut the stem off at the point you want leaves and encourage new leaf growth.  The top that you cut off can be a start for a new plant.

You might want to read Turning Your Lucky Bamboo Into A New Plant.

Good Luck and keep me posted.