Hi Cadence, Here's a video on division. In regards to total height, I'll use my Nigra as an example. We bought 15 gallon specimens of Nigra in 2008. There were approx. 5 culms (stalks of bamboo) in each pot. Each culm was around 4-6' tall. We planted the bamboo. Nothing happened for a year. Then in the spring of 2009 we got a bunch of new shoots coming up next to the old culms. The new shoots grew to approx. 10-12' high and stopped. Nothing happened for another year. In 2010 we got a bunch of new culms coming up. They all died. I think it was a really cold winter that never really turned into spring that did it. We didn't have much of a spring or summer last year, it was just cold the whole time. But who knows... :) Currently we have the original culms (still 4-6' tall), the 2009 culms (still 10-12' tall) and we are getting tons of new shoots that have grown several feet in the past week. Some are nearly as tall as the second year growth and there's no sign of them stopping. I don't know if this year's growth will reach the maximum I'm told to expect in my area (20-25'... even though max height is around 30-35') but I think they'll probably make it to around 18' this year at least. Once the new culms come out and are fully established I can go in and cut out some of the smaller stuff. Oh... and the original growth of 4-6' also had culms a little bigger around than a pencil. It's fully black. The second year growth still isn't entirely black (spotted green/black) and it's about as big around as a man's thumb. The growth that is coming out now is about twice as big around as the second year growth and is probably as big around as they will get. I hope this helps explain what is expected. The cool thing about bamboo is that it doesn't keep growing once it reaches max height potential. So, unlike other plants that you have to keep trimming back (hedges,etc), once your bamboo reaches the height you want it at you can cut it to that height and it will stay like that for the rest of it's life span. All you'd need to do is cut off new culms to that height once they finish growing. Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo Division

Kvolk - is it just me or has your climate gotten a lot colder in the last 24 hours? Kidding, I noticed that your zone rating has changed. If I were you, I'd wait until early spring to plant Viridistriatus. The early spring growth is the attractive feature and it starts to look a bit tired by now, so let someone else deal with it in the winter. Mulch it deeply when you plant it and I would not try to divide anything smaller than a full 2 gallon plant, you're better off to buy multiple small pots and plant them a few feet apart. If your supplier grows it in a heated greenhouse the shooting cycle may be off and no spring shoots year one but I'd still plant it then. If you can find an established stand of it, the ideal thing is to go there in early March and mow it down and then dig up a square foot by square foot 'sod' of it and plant that chunk and mulch it several inches deep. It should shoot within a few weeks up through the mulch and have lots of rhizome vigor from the tangle of rhizomes in the sod.

If left in there too long it will eventually die, because it will consume all the dirt in the pot. Once that happens there is no more food. You will see the plant start declining before this happens. I had one in a half barrel for 5 years when it started to decline I took it out of the pot. The bottom 5 - 6 inches was solid roots no dirt. There was dirt there when first planted. Where was all that dirt. The bamboo has consumed it. That was crazy but true.

Thank you all — more food for thought. sherri1058, Building for the CATS, cpartist — Honestly, I’ve not bothered to look at induction, it has never interested me. I may give it a test-cook and see how I like it. I love all of your enthusiasm for your cooktops. Building for the CATS — Your screen name makes me giggle. :-) It’s heartening to see you didn’t give up on the idea of a warming drawer, but concluded that the location was the problem - not the drawer itself. On the Miele, I know it’s just a refrigerator, but . . . SO elegant. cpartist — I think I’ve been in the fun years all my life — every decade gets better. :-) I will definitely post my kitchen plan for input. linus2003 — Thank you. I will compare those models. My mother just ordered one of the proline models (I don’t yet know which) to replace her 20 year old Miele. I think the price of one of those is about equal to the price of two of the 6165s, so it it may come down to space for me. plllog — I laughed out loud, literally, at your cartoon character comment. I am going to walk into the showroom and pretend I’m baking some of my everyday items and see which I prefer. I’ll take my dishes as well. :-) Great advice. Thank you! Chanop — Thank you so much of taking the time to post all those pictures and the detailed steps. I can certainly see why some people may see that as complicated for combi cooking. Oddly, however, it actually looks like fun to me. I know, I’m an odd duck. I can see myself setting up user programs for baguettes, boules, roasted [insert veggie here], etc. I gather custom programs are also available on the Gaggenau, however. This weekend I am going to an appliance store that has both the Gaggenau and the Miele. I will put both through their paces and decide from there. friedajune — All good points. Clearly, I need to do more research on hoods. Costco — good idea! GardenWeb forums, here I come! To misquote Blanche DuBois, I am deeply thankful for the kindness of strangers. Julie aka Lefty Lou