Who's growing clumping bamboo in NC? What kind?
gbirds
15 years ago
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Comments (27)
DYH
15 years agosplit_zones
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Clumping Timor Black Bamboo
Comments (15)When buying bamboo in a pot, look for thick shoots. If there are thick shoots or full grown culms coming out, the plant is probably a root cutting or a very mature cane cutting. Too many people propagate bamboo from the cane which does not have a rhizome ball. Just branches growing from a node while the cane is under the dirt developing roots, but no rhizome, at least not for a while anyways, so you won't get a true rhizome shoot for a long while. I recommend, if you plan on putting the bamboo in the ground, to stay away from bamboos that cant handle temps below 20 degrees. Try bamboos like Golden Goddess, Chinese Goddess, Malingensis or maybe Clone X. If you plan on leaving it in a pot that can be moved in from the cold, try B.V. Wamin, or b. Lako. When tropical bamboos are subjected to temperature threshold, the bamboo begins dying from the top, one section at a time. This hinders it's longterm growth and can make ugly tops on your bamboo. If you plan on leaving it in a pot, then look at the runners. They can handle the cold and down here they're pretty cheap to buy....See Morebamboo clump
Comments (6)An acre of bamboo is very probably not clumping bamboo, esp as far north as NJ, esp not 30 ft high (afaik, common cold-hardy clumping bamboo doesn't get that tall). To cover an acre, a clumping bamboo would have to planted with may 10s, or more, of individual clumps. More likely is a cold-hard running bamboo, like dirt-common Phyllostachys aurea "golden bamboo" that has spread over the property during a period of 10 - 20 years. It reaches up to 30 ft high. If the "somebody" knows what they are doing, they probably want to dig up "field divisions", 2 or 3 culms together with rhizomes/rootball, to re-sell them. see typical pricing here: http://www.lewisbamboo.com/pricelst.html. Retail nurseries will be equal or more expensive for potted bamboo. If you don't want the bamboo, then you could let him harvest all of it for a lump sum, paid up front. I think it would be very difficult for you to define, price, and monitor the harvesting at per-division level. btw, the harvesting is sort of destructive in the sense each extracted rootball will leave a hole in the ground, maybe 8" - 12" deep, and 12" diam. I'd require him to fill the holes. :)...See Moreclumping bamboo(s)
Comments (16)OK, first of all, on the plant you just bought, do you see a 1 segment culm in that pot laying on its side? If so, that is how they started that plant. Before I start, let me explain one reason why some bamboo is expensive. Some of the Bambusa species propagate easily by cuttings and some do not. Some need special combinations of root chemicals to make them root. If you look through some price lists, you will see that Bambusa pervariabilis viridistriata is more expensive than Bambusa eutuldoides Viridi-vittata and that is because people are having a problem producing them in mass by stem cuttings and have to split them up. So, keep in mind that all of these might not start from cuttings, BUT ventricosa and oldhamii both start easily by cuttings. Many people can do a cutting with 1 segment but an old man 20 years ago who was very good with bamboo told me how to do it and it has been better for me to do it this way. You take a full sized culm and cut it off at ground level. The bottom part will start a new plant, so you won't lose anything in the long run. The top part of the culm, may not have enough hollow area in it to root in, so I only use the bottom part that is more hollow. You start by cutting the culm just below the node. Then on the next cut you go past the next node up and make the cut just below the second node. So, what you have is at the bottom there is a node and this is where your roots will come from. Then you have a complete section that is intact. Above that node you have more or less, a vase that is the full length between nodes. Just above that is the other node that starts your next cutting. Can you picture what I am trying to describe? OK, so this is why this works so well. You fill the top part of the cutting with water and this will seep through the top node of the cutting and go into the intact section and will feed and moisten the node where the roots will come from. Because the lower section never gets dried out by being exposed this will increase your success as opposed to the 1 node cutting that can get dried out if you forget to put more water in the "vase". If you put cuttings in a mist bed with a timer, you can get away with a 1 node cutting, but the average hobbiest doesn't have a setup like that so the 2 node cutting works a lot better. Keeping them in shade and giving them lots of water will help increase the number of cuttings that work. All the cuttings might not work, but this should do just fine. You could probably use a rooting hormone on the bottom part, especially if you use one of the liquid types of rooting hormones, but I have never needed that on the types I have done it on. They take several months and it is always best to do it when it is warm, like now is a good time....See Morelow maintenance clumping bamboo
Comments (5)The clumping bamboo Thamnocalamus tesselatus will grow here in full sun, without any irrigation once established (as long as it is not an EXTREMELY dry spot anyways) if you mulch it. I have had it in my garden since 1999. It grows to about 12-14' tall and over time spreads out to be a rather wide plant if you allow it - so the form might not be what you are looking for. It is a pretty fast grower. It often has a poor appearance in pots so don't be put off by that. One of our local wholesalers is growing it so you should be able to find it somewhere. I bet you could get Chusquea culeou to grow large pretty quick too, if you mulch it heavily with rich, moisture retentive compost, and if you didn't mind watering it for just the first couple of years. Once it is established it is pretty tough as well. It is usually a larger, taller plant, though there is sometimes variation in size and habit from one individual to the next. I have had both of these in my garden and I have not watered them after the first year. The Chusquea took a while to get going; it would have established more quickly if I had taken better care of it when I first plant it, I am sure....See Morelylesgardens
15 years agotamelask
15 years agoDYH
15 years agogbirds
15 years agolylesgardens
15 years agoDYH
15 years agoccoombs1
15 years agoBrightside Bamboo
10 years agoCasaLester RTP, NC (7b)
10 years agonannerbelle
10 years agoUser
10 years agoBrightside Bamboo
10 years agoZach-in-NC
9 years agoUser
9 years agoZach-in-NC
9 years agocousinfloyd
9 years agodottie_in_charlotte
9 years agocousinfloyd
9 years agodottie_in_charlotte
9 years agocousinfloyd
9 years agoEmbothrium
9 years agoPaula Lawrence
7 years agoBrightside Bamboo
7 years agoMykel Tricia Switzer
2 years ago
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