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why does the bamboo shoot now in JANUARY?

17 years ago

I have just one bamboo. It is black bamboo. It is obviously a houseplant this time of year in zone 5.

I'm puzzled as to what occurs this time of year that causes it to produce the new green shoots. I mean-- the day length is short. The house temps stay fairly constant. It is in minimal if any direct light- so what is the trigger? Or do they all do this at this time of year world wide??

Karen

Comments (5)

foxd
17 years ago
I have several bamboos under growlights on a timer with 16 hours of light and 8 hours of dark. From what I've seen, what seems to cause shooting is a mixture of the amount of stored energy in the bamboo and the temperature. An indoor bamboo seems to put up shoots any time of the year. At the moment I have Buddha Belly, MOSO, Heteroclada, Atrovaginata and a few others putting up shoots.
lkz5ia
17 years ago
soil temperature
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Ikz5ia, Thx for the other variety recommendations. These came to me as a free gift. And they were so pretty! Yes all parts above teh soil are brown on castillion and teh original culm has lost all it's variagated color as well. kudzu9, Potted up fall of 2005. So I don't think pot bound. I'm a bit of an over waterer but I've tried to use restraint. I don't think they got too dry. My alocasia is not too dry an it's more of a heavy drinker. My GBOP doesn't need a lot of water and is happy and not too wet. The bamboo has been in a south window for most of the winter. I recently moved it to a west window. It actually shares a pot with the black bamboo so the conditions are exactly the same. But one is thriving and having a growth spurt and not the other. Thx for the info so far. If you think of anything else LMK Karen
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Though digging around bamboo will usually give you a good idea of what's going on underground, in my mind, it's kinda like pulling a tooth to exam it for cavities. If you can avoid digging, don't dig. Instead, examine the new leaf and branch growth above ground. When you look closely at your bamboo above ground, you can see what's happening underground (+/- a day or two). For example. My P. Nuda has new leaf growth that is approaching 1cm (approx 33% of pre-opened leaf growth). Since the rhizomes of my Nuda are approximately 15cm under the soil surface, I expect that they have grown approx 5cm above the rhizome (33%). The rate of growth varies depending on soil conditions, rainwater, and temperature, amongst other things, but is usually exponential through the first few weeks. Close attention to the rate of growth can really help aid your prediction of shooting. Hope this helps.
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Howdy! I would love to have a start of this bamboo for I have a great place for it. It is a 15' wide, 20' long and 5' deep old ornamental fish pond. (It has a crack in the very bottom, but that deep, I don't think it can get out. Also, the edge is over a foot high. I can make a new site to grow it if needed....I just want this and BLACK BAMBOO badly!) I don't use is for my koi because of the alkaline nature of concrete. I just use rubber liners. So, if you have any of this bamboo...ANYONE that can help me get this great bamboo...I'd love to put this in that area and add to the tropical look of the garden. I really look forward to anyone that may be able to help me. I know it grows well here for there is a bamboo farm here, but it is commercial ONLY. Please help if you can! Thanks so very much... Jerry
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I'm fairly new to Bamboo My Silverstripe has put up 3 shoots within the last week, These are the first shoots it has put up since I planted it this year. It's kind of funny. I was excited to see my first shoot on the silver stripe 2 weeks ago. WELL, I was playing kick ball with the kids and when trying to throw one of them out I knocked off my very first Silverstripe Shoot. I was a little bummed but within a couple of days I noticed 2 new shoots comming up. These shoots look like they would be dangerous to fall on. Has anyone ever been injured by shooting bamboo.
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captainkallio
17 years ago
My neighbor has 35 ft high bamboo that is literally "shooting" penny sized pods in all directions. It sounds like someone shooting a pellet gun.The temperature in our area ( SF east bay ) has been in the mid to low 20's at night. Any ideas ? We've been here for twenty five years and this is the first time this has happened.
foxd
17 years ago
Bamboo got pods!?

Any idea what type of bamboo it is? Any pictures of the pods?
mzkrista
17 years ago
My Yellow groove is shooting indoors like crazy right now too! I must have had 10 shoots already and they seem to grow overnight, one minute I look and the culm is already 4 feet up, amazing! Esp for Ohio.
Christine

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