Feng Shui Placement of Bamboo Palm and How It Differs from Lucky Bamboo, and What to Do When the Leaves Turn Yellow

Bamboo Palm, also called Rhapis excelsa, has elegant fan-shaped leaves that are beautiful and refined, making it suitable for decorating living rooms and for creating delicate bonsai. So how should a Bamboo Palm bought at the flower market be placed for good feng shui? How does it differ from Lucky Bamboo? What should you do when the leaves turn yellow?

1. How should a Bamboo Palm bought at the flower market be placed for good feng shui?

1. How should a Bamboo Palm be placed?

When it comes to feng shui, the first thing we need to understand is how a Bamboo Palm should be placed correctly. If you are having trouble in your career, you should place the Bamboo Palm in the bedroom or in the northeast corner of the hall, generally choosing the second month of the lunar calendar, and it can be placed anywhere at other times. If there is someone in the home with a high level of education or great knowledge, the Bamboo Palm can be placed in the southwest direction; placing it this way can have a certain feng shui effect. Apart from these places, the Bamboo Palm must not be placed in the bathroom or the kitchen; placing it there will instead have the opposite effect.

2. Protecting the home and warding off evil

Some people who keep plants may have a yard or courtyard specifically for growing them. The Bamboo Palm is naturally a plant that protects one's home and wards off evil while attracting blessings. If someone is ill, especially with an illness that has been treated for a long time without being cured, or if academic performance is poor, or if there are various problems at work, placing a pot of Bamboo Palm in front of the door will make all these matters disappear, expelling all the sinister energy outside and not letting it come in, so people will not be affected by these things.

3. Promoting vitality and attracting wealth

The Bamboo Palm has many other functions as well; it also has the ability to promote vitality. Generally, plants with the ability to promote vitality are tall and majestic types, and the Bamboo Palm is one of them. Some Bamboo Palms may only grow a little, but some that are well cared for can grow very spectacularly, to the point of being comparable to a small tree. The more luxuriant and deep green the branches and leaves grow, the better. If we place the Bamboo Palm at an entrance, such as the front door of the home or the entrance of the courtyard, wealth will come to the home on its own.

2. How does the Bamboo Palm differ from Lucky Bamboo?

(1) Appearance

① Bamboo Palm: It usually grows in clumps, with a height between 1 and 3 m, and the tips bend slightly inward, with the spacing between nodes on the plant being between 16 and 20 cm. In addition, there are many branches on the plant, in a semi-whorled shape, and the main trunk is not particularly obvious. Its leaves are approximately lanceolate, with a length between 3.5 and 6.5 cm and a width between 0.4 and 0.7, appearing very slender. It also has a shoot period for a certain time each year, specifically between April and October. When this period arrives, it continuously sprouts new shoots, and the shoot period can last 3 to 6 months.

② Lucky Bamboo: It is a perennial small tree that can reach a height of 2 m, appearing relatively slender, and it also has many branches. Its stems look relatively thick and upright. Its leaf shape is also approximately lanceolate, but slightly more slender and narrower than that of the Bamboo Palm, appearing thin and long. In addition, it also blooms and bears fruit, and the berries it produces are spherical and black in color. With such a comparison, there are quite a few differences just in appearance.

(2) Growth habits

① Bamboo Palm: It originated in the southern region of our country and generally prefers warm, shady, damp and well-ventilated environments. It is not very cold-tolerant, and in winter the temperature must not be lower than 4 degrees.

② Lucky Bamboo: It likes high temperatures and damp shade, and grows best under conditions of 18 to 24 degrees; it can basically grow all year round. However, the temperature must not be lower than 13 degrees, otherwise it will go dormant and stop growing. In addition, in winter, the overwintering temperature is best kept above 10 degrees so that it can safely pass through the winter.

3. What should you do when the leaves of the Bamboo Palm turn yellow?

1. Scorch yellowing: Strong direct sunlight hitting the leaves of the Bamboo Palm easily causes the leaf tips and leaf margins to dry out, and yellow spots appear on the sun-facing parts of the leaves.

Solution: The Bamboo Palm is a light-loving and semi-shade-loving plant, so it must not be exposed to direct sunlight. In summer, when the sunlight is relatively strong, pay attention to shading.

2. Yellowing from lack of light: Although the Bamboo Palm is a semi-shade-loving plant, if it is placed in a shaded environment for a long time, the leaves cannot get enough sunlight and cannot form chlorophyll, and the whole plant's leaves will also turn yellow and then fall off.

Solution: Move it under the sunlight at fixed times each day to receive light for a few hours. In summer, when the sunlight is strong, do not expose it directly to the sun; be sure to provide shade.

3. Yellowing from lack of fertilizer: This shows as the color of young leaves becoming lighter, appearing yellow or light green, while the old leaves remain relatively normal or gradually turn from green to yellow.

Solution: Usually add nutrient solution in the form of small, frequent feedings and add some alum water at the appropriate time (the Bamboo Palm is a foliage plant and should be given fertilizer mainly based on nitrogen fertilizer).

4. Yellowing from cold damage: Another cause of yellowing leaves in the Bamboo Palm is low temperature. Leaves turn yellow when the temperature is below 10 degrees, and there is a risk of cold damage below 5 degrees.

Solution: In winter, it is recommended to move it indoors, and the room temperature should preferably not be lower than 16 degrees, which can prevent the leaves from turning yellow.

5. Yellowing from root rot: The water quality becomes polluted, causing the water to smell bad and breed bacteria, which makes the roots rot and finally causes the leaves to turn yellow.

Solution: Replace the polluted water in time (for tap water, it is best to use boiled, cooled water, which can remove chlorine), cut off the rotted roots, spray on some fungicide, let it dry, and then put it back in the vase. (In fact, many hydroponic plants do not need their water changed too frequently; changing the water also disturbs their root system and removes nutrients from the water. Generally speaking, changing it once a month is enough. If the Bamboo Palm can go without changing the water, then do not change it.)