Here's a nice fully rooted plant about three years old that I grew from one single seed. I'll consider any cold hardy bamboo that is not on my trade list and of comparable size and vigor. Please send me a picture of your offering.

Thank you that is exactly what i was looking for. R,

Firstly, I agree with the above re. import but since I am on their side of the pond............ Phyllostachys heteroclada: 15 P. edulis (moso) 3 Bambusa tulda: 14 B. arundinacea: 0 B. balcooa: 0 Dendrocalamus calostachys: 7 D. hamiltonii: 3 D. strictus: 10 The numbers are number of germinations per packet (about 20-25 seeds per pack). The seeds all arrived from Chiltern with warnings about having just been taken from cold-storage (somthing to consider if buying from other sources). And were kept in a fridge from 0-4 weeks when I received them. They were all sown in standard seed compost, covered in fine sand and propagated with bottom heat (about 26 C). Time taken to germinate was from 2 to 21 days (some of the Dendros and Bambusa have only been in since 06 June so still waiting to see if they pop up. The moso and P. heteroclada have all been potted up and are now outside in a shady spot. All have survived and have tillered nicely (3-5 shoots each, approx 20-30 cm tall) I have just harvested several hundred seeds from my F. nitida and will start playing with different germination conditions. I have no idea what I am going to do with all the Dendros and Bambusas 'cos I doubt they will survive outside, guess it's worth a try though.

i have recently been aquiring and growing various types of bamboo and done research for several weeks now. but one thing i can;t seem to find is a Relatively Close estimation on average rainfall in the native climate of Moso Bamboo. actually now that i think of it i could just look up the location of groves in china and then look at the rain fall in that area. ok but on to the next topic. RESPONCE @ kudzu9: Like Mike_Marietta_SC_z8a had said, those could be 2 reasons, another reason is when you perchase moso from a supplier such as Lewis Bamboo, they trip the bamboo top to fit it to the box. i buy most of my bamboo from them, if you get 3 gallon sizes and up the tops will be trimmed. trippimg the top greatly hinders Moso and other giant bamboos. when the shoots grow, as previously stated in this thread, the shoots will basically syphon vital exsessive nutrients from the neighboring culms. so when you order bamboo that has had the culms trimmed but the rhizomes are still large and will be producing large shoots, then the new shoots will not be able to syphon the much needed nutrients from the other culms. so if you grow bamboo from seeds then they should not be trimmed, also as previously stated any damage to the root systems will also greatly hinder the transfer of nutrients. then the roots take damage or are bent it's like kinking a water hose that feeds the new shoots. this also is regretably a more then likely happening from ordering bamboos. for both reasons i'd recommend buying either 2 gallon sizes or buying them as seeds from a reliable source. GROWTH RATE: from what i have gathered most bamboos Culms grow +30% in hight each year and the rhizomes can grow anywhere from 2-5 feet a year depending on conditions. also the rhizomes have 2 "rumors" as to how far out they can grow which i can't seem to disprove one or the other as of yet. 1 rumor is they can grow as far out as the tallest current Culm. the other rumor is they can grow indeffinately depending on soil conditions and as long as the newer culms increase in size. So say the "source Point" of your bamboo has a culm of 80' high, then the rhizome can grow up to 80' from that spot; however say down that rhizome about 20 feet away from the source location there is a newer 80' tall culm. then that new culm can have up to another 80' away from it. so it could grow 100' from the plant site at that point, and so on. Finally: i live in the houston texas area and will be growing a japanese / tropical styled grove. so far i'm planning on using "Weavers Bamboo" for the primary walls around this 1-2 acre grove, with Nigra Black in the corners, with Moso and Giant Grey Henon throughout. i was also considering adding Windmills and Blue Palms inside near an elaborate bamboo, shishi odoshi styled fountain and underground irrigation systems invovling soaker hoses, if anyone else can think of some black, jade, or rich dark green colored plants, then please toss me an email. hopefully i'll have this grove up and running in a few years in which case anyone would be welcome to visit the grove.