Thanks

I've used Jiffy 7 peat cubes. WalMart sells a plastic tray with a clear cover holding 72 cubes. I have 12 healthy plants, two years old, with 5 to 9 culms 3/8"-5/8" dia., in a greenhouse. They are dark green so far. A few of the seedlings are small with only I hope you will keep the forum posted on your results; germination percentage, etc.

I've grown bamboo from seeds several times. The setup you have should work fine. My success rate has been highly variable and I think it has to do with how fresh the seed is (bamboo seed viability declines quickly within several months). Also, some bamboo seed germinates better if it's cold stratified first (put in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks). Give your seed plenty of time. Depending on species, I've had germination take anywhere from 2 weeks to a couple of months. Whatever happens, I'd like to hear how successful you were.

I have lako in a container and it does very well, but it needs to be in the ground where it can show it's full glory. It has gotten down to 28F once, and below freezing four times aready this year and it has done fine outside. I recently moved it inside my greenhouse. Hopefully I will be able to divide it next year and try some outside. A much prettier bamboo of equal size and which might be a tiny bit more hardier is Gigantochloa atroviolacea 'TROPICAL BLACK'. The culms get jet black and are shiney with thin green stripes on them. Lako gets dark brown culms. Before I trimmed each back last year, they each reach at least 16 feet in 5 gallon pots. The hardiest large clumper for our area here in Texas is Bambusa textilis, which has easily reached 40 feet in height. One other possibility is B. Clone X, but it has a leaning habit yet is supposed to have culms over 70 feet in length. Kt