? for you....
Now that I have a bit of bamboo that's a nice size for garden stakes, I want to see if anyone has input on treating them. I've used a few and without treating they normally don't last long (< 1 season) in the ground. I also don't want my veggies absorbing nasty stuff so that's why I'm asking if there is anything you can treat them with that's pretty safe. What are the green ones you find at any garden center treated with?
Thanks,
Tomato Stakes
Moderator: needmore
- rfgpitt
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- Location: Zone 6a - SW of Pittsburgh - 15317
Tomato Stakes
Rick
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- Location: Near Brenham TXUSDA Z8b
Bamboo Preservative.
Rick,
I am not sure what preservative is used for those stakes in the garden store but there is a treatment manual at http://bamboocentral.org/index1.htm based on using borax. I also recall Carol Meckes talking about standing a bamboo pole up right in a can of fluid and allowing the fluid to be drawn up slowly in to it, but she may have been talking about a stain or oil preservative. I would be tempted to use old motor oil but that is probably not enviromentally correct these days.
Mike near Brenham TX
I am not sure what preservative is used for those stakes in the garden store but there is a treatment manual at http://bamboocentral.org/index1.htm based on using borax. I also recall Carol Meckes talking about standing a bamboo pole up right in a can of fluid and allowing the fluid to be drawn up slowly in to it, but she may have been talking about a stain or oil preservative. I would be tempted to use old motor oil but that is probably not enviromentally correct these days.
Mike near Brenham TX
- rfgpitt
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- Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2005 3:28 am
- Location info: 24
- Location: Zone 6a - SW of Pittsburgh - 15317
nice try Mr. Period....
The shoots you are getting are already the size of my YG or bigger. It's vivax which is probably worse than YG. Because my plant pretty much topkilled the past 2 springs, I've clipped all the culms. This year I actually have leaves so I'm gonna wait to see what new growth comes up before I make more stakes. I did trim some of the top portions of culms and cut some of the smaller culms around the perimeter already.
I'm butchering the YG pretty hard, so I don't know what I'll get, but should have some culms tomato stake size this year.
The shoots you are getting are already the size of my YG or bigger. It's vivax which is probably worse than YG. Because my plant pretty much topkilled the past 2 springs, I've clipped all the culms. This year I actually have leaves so I'm gonna wait to see what new growth comes up before I make more stakes. I did trim some of the top portions of culms and cut some of the smaller culms around the perimeter already.
I'm butchering the YG pretty hard, so I don't know what I'll get, but should have some culms tomato stake size this year.
Rick