Deeper - you can bury the first level of leaves in order to give it a chance to start some new shoots.

Garden soil is meant for the just that, a garden or anything outside. Use potting mix intended for indoor use. Making a 5:1:1 mix would be a good choice. 5 parts pine bark fines, 1 part peat, 1 part perlite and some dolomite lime. again, regarding garden soil, top soil, compost, etc, use that outdoors only. Do not use pine straw either. Pine bark mulch / fines would be the right thing to use. Just because one has done something for "30 years and never had a problem" doesn't mean it's good advice or others won't have issues. Indoor potting mix is similarly priced and comes sterile so you don't have to worry. Not trying to call anyone out, but when advice like that is posted on a public forum, especially where there are a lot of new comers and beginners, it's just not helpful.

1. Start by posting some pictures, including closeups of the culms, and maybe we can figure it out. 2. Not a wise idea: a) the containers will develop rust holes some years hence; and b) maybe, before that happens, the plants will get root bound in the containers and you will have great difficulty extracting divisions to free up room so the part of the plant that remains can rejuvenate. I have a friend who planted a bamboo in a metal container a number of years ago, and now he has a container full of dead bamboo: he can't extract the root ball, which is wedged in place with no give, and the container is so heavy he can't get it out of the ground without an enormous amount of labor. If you want to leave the bamboo in the containers aboveground: a) support the containers a couple of inches above ground on bricks so you can keep an eye on the bottom of the container for rusting and rhizome escape, and remove chunks of bamboo from the container each year or two before the rootball expands to the sides and gets completely wedged in. 3. Bamboo barrier is a traditional and reliable way to contain bamboo. Also, they remain healthier and it's easier to extract divisions if it is getting overcrowded. Lastly, they will be more cold hardy if they are in the ground. I've got quite a few of my runners enclosed that way and never had an escapee. Some people advise a 36" deep ditch for the barrier, but I have never felt the need to go deeper than 20"+. Just make sure you use at least 60 mil barrier (80 mil if you are really nervous). The best place I've found online for barrier is Lewis Bamboo. They sell it in any length, the price is as good as any I have found, and shipping is free when you purchase over $50 (which is a good thing because this stuff is heavy).

Thank you Woodnative, I ended up planting them this weekend and went with about 20% perlite, I wanted it porous but also to retain some moisture and decided on that as I was mixing, it rains pretty much year round except for July/August and I don't mind watering daily if needed then. I am not familiar with growing much from seed so this is a total crapshoot for me. I don't have a place to start them indoors so I am taking the chance outside, I did both basils, cilanto, dill, flat and curly parsley and marjoram from seed. The marjoram packet specifically said to start them indoors so I borrowed a grow light from my Lemon tree for that one. The others I planted and misted with water then tucked them under the eves of the house so they wouldn't get drowned by the rain. I'll go out and check the dampness daily to monitor, I don't have super high hopes of success but here's hoping nature finds a way ;) All of my plants I planted from small starters are doing wonderfully though so it wont be a total loss. I went way overboard and planted 3 kinds of Thyme- Compact, Lemon, Variegated Lemon, 2 Oregano's - Italian, "Hot and Spicy" , 4 Sage - Pineapple, Purple, Tri-Color, Berggarten, 2 Rosemary - Barbeque and Arp, Chives, and 5 kinds of Mint- Orange, Chocolate, Spearmint, Peppermint and Mojito mint. All of the mints are in their own 3 gallon pots. And I have two unknown sage's from last year that I didn't much care for have managed to come back but they have very small leaves and not much flavor so I am not sure if I want to keep them. I use herbs daily in my cooking and beverages so I am happy that I planted a larger quantity this year. I'll snap some pictures of them later so if any one is curious to see how they look. I also plan to post an update of two throughout the summer and fall for anyone curious about how the root pouches end up preforming for these herbs.