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Should I cut my old/short bamboo shoots down?

18 years ago

I have a nice stand of bamboo that is about 5 years old. In some places the small and short stalks from the first few years are crowding close together. So I'm wondering if maybe I should take a chainsaw and just chopped everything down right before the new shoots start shooting in order to make more room for the new bigger/taller shoots. But I would also like the stand to be dense so maybe I should leave the old growth? Any thoughts? Is there an ideal spacing between stalks?

- Steve

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Comments (3)

kevip711
18 years ago
I dont have the 5 yr spread you have but I removed all my old culms for cosmetic reasons. Its up to you if you want to remove the older culms, me personally I would, chainsaw? how big are your older culms?? The ones I removed were barely 1/4 inch
kudzu9
18 years ago
Steve-
Bamboo do quite well with spacing on their own without needing chain saw intervention. The ideal spacing is what the plant thinks it needs. If you take out old, dead culms, that's no problem. But if you remove culms with viable leaves you're going to reduce the capacity of the plant's aboveground biosystem, and possibly slow down growth. I'd let it alone right now, and prune out culms based on esthetic considerations in the fall...if you still think it's necessary then.
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bambooo
18 years ago
If you are cleaning up the grove for looks remove the dead now and the green you do not want after the shooting period ends.
That way you provide the most food to the rhizomes.

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