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Kentuck or anyone else who has experience...

15 years ago

...growing Moso in hot climates.

Kentuck, I know you have mentioned numerous times that young Moso divisions need shade for the first few years to do well in hot areas. How long will they need this shade?

I live in the Sacramento, CA area where summer temps can reach 100F for days in a row in the summer. We've already had three days in the mid 90's this year although now it's back down to more normal spring temps...

I have a division that I purchased two autumns ago and planted under ornamental purple plums (I didn't plant these plums myself; they came with the house!). I knew that the plums were on their way out for a few years now. They're almost 30 years old and from what I've read they've already well exceeded their expected useful life.

Well, last spring we had some very strong, hot, dry winds come thru and most of the plums' branches came down leaving the Moso exposed. As the bamboo had not put up any new culms as of that time, I erected some 50% shade cloth to protect it.

This year two new culms about 5' high (1/2" diameter) have emerged. Will it still be necessary to give them shade at this point? The shade cloth is rather unsightly...

And to further complicate matters, the new smaller leaves on the culms are variegated! None of the original larger leaves showed this tendency... It certainly wasn't sold to me as a variegated plant.

Is this possibly going to affect their ability to do well in a hot area like mine? Will they burn more easily?

Forgive the contrast in the attached pictures; I took them in mid-afternoon.

{{gwi:410085}}

{{gwi:410087}}

Thanks in advance!

Mike

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Comments (4)

kentuck_8b
15 years ago
How long will they need this shade?

Not sure in your area. Mine are still in the shade, but my understanding is that it needs shade until it reaches large size and/or gets it's roots/rhizomes well established. At this time, the bamboo itself shades the ground, keeping it cooler.

It may be that the ground needs shade more so than the culms...not sure though. We have temps here in the 100's also, but mostly mid to upper 90's.

They're almost 30 years old and from what I've read they've already well exceeded their expected useful life.

If you trim the trees carefully, and a small amount each year, they can live much longer than 30 years.

Will it still be necessary to give them shade at this point?

You may try removing the shade and see what happens. Keep a close eye on it though. If it starts to look unhealthy, immediately recover it. It won't die over night, but you may set it back if the heat does start to harm it.

The close-up of the variegated leaves looks like my D. asper, which gets the purple culm sheaths and variegated leaves usually early in the year, but go away by Summer. Not sure about them burning more easily. My asper's variegated leaves never get sun burned.

How much direct sun does it get(hours daily)?

Kt
huachuma
Original Author
15 years ago
Kentuck, The bamboo is on the west side of the house, so it currently gets no sun until about noon to 1PM. Then it gets hit with strong mid-day sun until approx. 7-8PM (in the summer).

I will probably put up shade cloth for at least one more summer. I would assume that with 5' culms this year, I can expect possible 8'-12' culms next. Then it will be more difficult to cover...

I'm not sure if you are saying that my photo looks like your asper? I was kind of wondering if I was sold the right species. This year's leaves ARE much smaller than the original that came with the division. And the new culms DID look similar to Moso pics that have been posted here. But, most of the photos I've seen are of much more mature plants, not the spindly, little sticks that mine have put out in their first year of real growth.

And, please don't tell my wife that the plums can survive any longer... It's taken me a years to convince her that they need to go. As soon as the Moso and vivax are of a sufficient size they're coming down! (the plums, that is)

Thanks again,

Mike
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kentuck_8b
15 years ago
I'm not sure if you are saying that my photo looks like your asper?

Yes, it looks exactly like my asper, at least in your photo, but that's not saying that you don't have Moso. Young plants can take on strange characteristics sometimes.

I will probably put up shade cloth for at least one more summer.

If possible, that is a good idea just to be safe.

And, please don't tell my wife that the plums can survive any longer...

In that case you better tell her that they are already 15 years over their life expectancy and need to come out asap...or in your case, in a year or two when the boo gets some size to it.

Good Luck and keep us posted on how it does this Summer.

Kt
huachuma
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks again.

I will keep you updated... Now it's off to view some images of asper to try to determine what I was really sold...

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