oh and its pre dug so u have to do no diggen

I just joined the Bamboo forum and have a few questions. I live in Fl on the ridge (central peninsula) - it's sugar sand (fine powdery sand) and very dry! I do have a sink hole and peat bogg on the back of my acre. After three hurricanes past over in '04, I had 5 ft of water there for almost 18 months. Now it is back to bone dry. (Very challenging terrain!) I want clumpers and I have bought B. lako seeds. Four have germinated and are looking healthy. I also have some Iron bamboo coming in the mail and seeds for weavers (B. textilis) and Buddah belly (B. ventricosa). I also want some Mexican Weeping bamboo, if anyone has some for sale or seeds I can buy, let me know. Will these 4 bamboos do well here, zone 9A? I will water well until they establish, but how long will it take and will they ever be OK on their own? Thanks, looking foward to meeting and getting to know other bamboo lovers. Zachi

Hi: I am in West Seattle. I have several kinds of bamboo available for digging (by you). First available batch is outside my back fence along alley. I think it's Phyllostachys bambusoides. The culms are green. The nodes have a whitish ring. Neighbors are complaining as it leaned out into the alley and rubbed against their SUVs as they drove by. I cut it down to about 3 feet tall, but it is due to shoot soon, so you will have a fresh crop. Because it is cut you will not need a pickup truck. I also have uncut clumps of this. I have a lot of this kind. You must have a strong back and good tools. If you have never dug bamboo before you may not want to undertake this. I do not want to have to call your next of kin. Please let me know if you are an experienced bamboo digger. Good idea to bring a friend or helper who also has tools and a strong back. I may also have some Phyllostachys aureosulcata (Yellow Groove Bamboo). Both of these are running bamboos, very beautiful! Perfect for a privacy screen. Please let me know when you would like to come dig, and how much you are planning to take away. There's nothing I need in exchange (garden is way full and overgrown), but feel free to off anything interesting you may have.

Bamboo is much less demanding than many other plants. I had a grove of Yellow Groove for 30 years that did just fine in the shade of 80' tall fir trees. The bamboo never got direct sun. However, one year I decided to get some more light into the yard by limbing-up the firs about 25'. The next year the Yellow Groove put out some new culms that were at least a third taller than they had ever been before. The bottom line is that you have a completely healthy clump of Yellow Groove that would probably get somewhat bigger/taller if it were in full sun all day. You should think of the "full sun" label for bamboo as meaning it can tolerate full sun, not that it needs it.