I started loving Bamboo late in age (51 now), I wish I had the resources and know-how back in my teens, i'd love to be able to walk among my moso forest on a cool crisp morning and seeing the sun shine thru the tops.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Bamboo i grow now

Kchedville,

I looked at your link, it would be cool if you could put some names to those great bamboos!

LOL

Moso has the best proportions and the best shape.
I'm going to grow some and hope that it will at
least come to 1" diameter.

Check out this site to see the largest growing
Moso in the world:

http://www.pacificsites.com/~jneptune/L-Photos.html

Have you ever had the chance to walk in a REAL moso grove? I'm very fortunate to live where moso will get big -- maybe not as big as in its native China -- but 60' tall and 6" diameter is nothing to sneeze at. I've helped clean up the moso grove at Avery Island; when you walk 10' into the grove and it's like you're in another world. I'm fortunate to live relatively close to Marler Spence, arguably one of the moso experts in the US and have walked in his groves, too.

I've got two starts of moso going, one from Avery Island and one is a "grandchild" division from Marler's moso. I don't know if I'll be in the same house ten years from now when the culms are big, but I hope I am!

Moso is also a neat example of contrasts. Something as big as a mature moso culm should be solid, hard; contrast that impression with the fact it's actually covered with peach fuzz that makes it kind of soft. It seems like something as tall and big around as a mature moso culm should have huge leaves; actually the leaves are very small, almost dainty.

Just a few ideas.

Dave

Michael-
Great photos. One question: Why are the moso dug out at the base and then cut? Is it that you don't want to leave a stump sticking up, or the base part has a special use, or what?

He probably uses them to carve bamboo Monks...

Hi Kudzu,
To answer your question,
Look at all of the links.
They use it to make drums and all kinds of instruments..
It's very cool!

I think moso is talked about a lot by hobbyists because it's still not available from common retailers very much.

My explanation: Auto-suggestion...we've all been hypnotized by the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...

kaimiike, Thanks for the compliments.
I am not sure of the Species I have - been trying to find that out for a while now - some say its Oldhami, the smaller bamboo I brought back from Ashville, NC on a trip few years ago - it still has not shot up nice shoots like it had in NC. I plants some Moso on my property in Mississippi, I hope it takes and I am here 5 years fro now to see some nice shoots coming up.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Bamboo

Kchedville, the bamboo in your pics looks like bambusa vulgaris (common Bamboo). I have some vulgaris wamin shooting right now and the shoots look identical to the ones in the pic.

and dont forget .....because it has that soft velvety feeling like a horse's nose LOL

Well, because it is so beautiful!

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And who could resist those HUGE shoots?!

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Beyond that itÂs tasty too!

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PF

Yuck, yuck... har, har! Thanks for the pics. That's looks like a *great* reason to grow moso. However, I suspect most people grow it where it reaches only a small fraction of the size of these pictures.

None of the other familiar ones have that delicate foliage borne in horizontal sprays, ornamentally there is no comparison on that basis alone. Mine is growing like a weed here in cooler western WA, in comparatively hot Portland you should definitely be planted moso instead of Henon.

I'm trying it because when people ask about Moso. I want to be able to say. "Moso? Yeah i got that..."....I will probably have to keep it in some kind of container though. my seedling is probably about 12" now and i think i will put it in a half whiskey barrel so i can bring it in my garage in the winter. I hope it will survive....and fair well in NJ. I certainly don't expect the native results.

Kurt

Another picture to show "why":

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Ain't no Henon that looks like that.

Plantfreak can you post as many pics as you have? I've been trying to find Moso pictures.

All of them! That is a mighty request :) HereÂs a couple more:

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I have some babies growin...
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and... Shes about 3 foot.
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Hello CJ,

Those seedlings are so cute! How old are the larger plants you show?

Here's some tastey shoots waiting to be cleaned, cooked, and eaten. Groves are constantly under pressure from collecting, especially one's in cities and near roads. They are really delicious!

{{gwi:416548}}

Those shoot look like they've been wastefully harvested, by just slicing them off at ground level. Isn't the best part under the ground? Don't you gotta dig down a bit to get the whole thing?

> Ain't no Henon that looks like that.

I guess. But is Moso gonna look like that in the Pacific Northwest? Not to mention all of the other locations around the US. I would imagine some of the southern states, but people seem to be bent on growing it where it just does not thrive.

RonB, how big has your Moso grown in Seattle? Height and culm diameter? How long has it been planted there?

Yes they will look like that once they grow out of the seedling and juvenile stages. They will have their feathery-layered look even when the culms are only an inch or so in diameter. So even in places where it does not receive its optimal growing conditions like it does in the Southeastern U.S., China and Japan, it can still be grown for its unique characteristics, it just may take slightly longer.

plantfreak, nice photos of moso. But what kind of trees are those in the background that make the moso look like dwarf bamboo?

Tim,

Actually it is the top of the growing point that is eaten, maybe about the last six inches or so. These things are huge. One can make a meal in itself.

Ikz5ia,

The trees you see in these shots include two native species, Cryptomeria japonica (sugi) and Chamaecyparis obtusa (hinoki). In one shot there are also a couple big Metasequoia growing. All of these trees can top out at 100+feet, thus dwarfing the moso. There is one sugi near my house that's measured at 150 feet and it has been lopped off several times by the hundreds of typhoons it has weathered in its lifetime. PF

tcstoehr - go to Ned Jaquith's home page - bamboogarden.com? I think, and you can see PNW Moso, if you are willing to consider Portland as part of the PNW (I'm guessing that it is?). The photo of Auggie the dog with Moso should be on the home page.

Even little moso is cute.

Bonsai Moso

hoosier - I've looked at www.bamboogarden.com many, many times. To the point where I sometimes think Auggie is my own pet doggy. I've also been to their nurseray at least 6 times. I've just been in an e-mail conversation with a couple of folks there who tell me it will be 7-10 years before a Moso in this region will size up to a 3-inch diameter culm. I don't know if I wanna wait that long... maybe... but I think I'll try a Ph. Dulcis for faster results.

10 years!
Does that go for So Ca too?
I guess I should have started 3 years ago.
It be 1"diameter by now!

Time flies by quickly. I know....my son is almost 5 already....the way i see it is time will go by anyway, so why not have some to see how it does. I just got a Dulcis this year too...

Kurt

WOW - its been 4 years since I been here and posted, didnt think anything would still be here. Anyways, My Moso is doing Great, I've since planted a couple other Species, Vivax, Oldhami, Japanese Timber.
In this recent photo, the Moso is actually twice as tall as in the photo, and the Pagota can barely be seen.

Here is a link that might be useful: recent Moso Photo