How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

[Steve in France]

Did his younger culms of forty feet survive? I remember Markj saying that the breaks mainly happen o culms in there second or third year as the amount of blades increase with the years, thus the surface area for the snow or wind to catch on.
I'm having a real think about the positioning of my Ph vivax 'H Inversa' just to minimise the chance of breakage. This is me being hopeful that I'll still be in the US when it gets big . I just built a box/bed for the Parvifolia here , it's only 4ft x 4ft x 2ft . I'll use the box for another project next year and build a full size bed for the Parvifolia. I've used the potting soil I mixed up last years to fill half the box, I've noticed that the homemade potting soil seems to be better after a year of breaking down in the pots. I'll fill the other half of the box with new mulch mixed with small bark mulch and hope this gives enough air. I'm still looking for a local source of cheap bulk Perlite.
Best Wishes
Steve

[foxd]

ShmuBamboo and stevelau1911, the both of you appear to be very knowledgeable about fertilizing bamboo. Have you considered adding to the Wiki on the subject? There is a link from the main page for an article on fertilizing, but the page hasn't been created yet. Login to the Wiki, then click on the link and it gives you the option to create the page. Using it is fairly straight forward.

[ShmuBamboo]

ShmuBamboo and stevelau1911, the both of you appear to be very knowledgeable about fertilizing bamboo. Have you considered adding to the Wiki on the subject? There is a link from the main page for an article on fertilizing, but the page hasn't been created yet. Login to the Wiki, then click on the link and it gives you the option to create the page. Using it is fairly straight forward.

I am short on time here. I have a lot of pokers in the fire coming up this summer. I may get to it next fall/winter.

[ShmuBamboo]

Did his younger culms of forty feet survive? I remember Markj saying that the breaks mainly happen o culms in there second or third year as the amount of blades increase with the years, thus the surface area for the snow or wind to catch on.
I'm having a real think about the positioning of my Ph vivax 'H Inversa' just to minimise the chance of breakage. This is me being hopeful that I'll still be in the US when it gets big . I just built a box/bed for the Parvifolia here , it's only 4ft x 4ft x 2ft . I'll use the box for another project next year and build a full size bed for the Parvifolia. I've used the potting soil I mixed up last years to fill half the box, I've noticed that the homemade potting soil seems to be better after a year of breaking down in the pots. I'll fill the other half of the box with new mulch mixed with small bark mulch and hope this gives enough air. I'm still looking for a local source of cheap bulk Perlite.
Best Wishes
Steve

Older vivax culms in huge stands that I have seen here over on the coast typically have tears and stretch marks at the base of old culms. I think it is wear and tear factor from winds. They do not get the snow laoding over there though (nor do we in normal years here). I did not notice the broken and bent culms here being old or new though. I will have a look at the surviving stuff.

I would position your vivax so that it is the most wind protected that you can. Even say for 15 feet off the ground? My brother lives west of here in a valley and is exposed to higher wind than I am here. He has good wind protection up to 20 feet though, from fences and surrounding houses and some large trees nearby. That helps a lot.

I was at a boo plantation up in Washington last month and the guy is on the Columbia River Gorge, and they get high winds there all winter. His boos were all bent over really far and stunted as a result. Even with a south exposure for good sun, the winds are really damaging there.

[Markj]

Sounds like Vivax is a tad unsuited and others would be more suited. The thicker walled and way smaller leaved parvifolia should suit-I've snow damage here to many but Parvifolia is un touched :mrgreen:after six years or so...

Hows this one doing with you.

[Markj]

stevelau1911 you appear to be very knowledgeable about fertilizing bamboo.

Just wondering, how long stevelau1911 have you been growing Bamboo...

[stevelau1911]

stevelau1911 you appear to be very knowledgeable about fertilizing bamboo.

Just wondering, how long stevelau1911 have you been growing Bamboo...

I've only been growing bamboo for 12 months, but most of my bamboos I have now are acquired 2-6 months ago through either trade, digs and purchases online.
I record data in a bamboo journal for each of my bamboos in order to learn more about them and how to maximize their potential, so my experience so far has been limited. I'm not majoring in botany, but bamboo has become one of my hobbies ever since someone told me about how cool this stuff is and that it can grow in the north.

A problem has been that a lot of my data hasn't been consistent such as the rate of moso seedlings producing a leaf going from around 18 days to start with down to 9-10 days now with warmer weather and bigger plants. There are too many environmental factors involved especially in the northeast where weather changes day to day so I don't have any controlled variables.
I'm not planning on posting any of my observations on wikipedia until I find consistent trends in my data.

[gunner]

Im a firm believer in slow release fert.! i use triple 16 on everything once a month and add 30 % more than recomended ! that has always been my policy, and have only killed a few young garden veggies. everything else thrives! but the new boo has only gotten 1 shot this sprig due to flood irrigation .N. only lasts in the soil 3mo. in best conditions , slow release every month is a gift that keeps on giving!!! everything i have grows faster than i can drink beer...!

[stevelau1911]

http://www.hrt.msu.edu/Energy/Notebook/ ... nchard.pdf

I happened to find this article about optimal temperature and optimal lighting which looks like it can also apply to bamboo growth rate. From my data, the higher the temperature is, the faster a bamboo grows as far as rate of leaf output and shoot growth which should be the same pertaining to underground growth.

I've found optimal growth when day time highs are in the 70s and 80s so far, but I think average temperature is the key. I'm guessing its around 75-80F sounds ideal for most boos, so basically for potted bamboos, it may help to put them in the greenhouse by late September, or whenever the night time temperatures drop below 40F, which is when they shut down their growth.

[Steve in France]

Steve congrates on all the research and I hope it helps. You are going the right direction with the notes and such. What you will find over the years is that there are some general rules with Bamboo, like the more you water the faster they size up, water is the most important thing by far. Some plants will need more trace elements than others as David pointed out to me the other day Parvifolia needs a lot of iron and such to do well and stay max green. As to temps they all respond in different ways to temperature as they all come from different climates. Clumpers are cool Mountain Bamboos and will like the mild areas of Washington State, B.C. ,UK and such. The best way to make progress is to experiment in your own climate and try to meet other Bamboo growers in the area and learn from one another. Also getting the Bamboo to size up is step one , culm selection and grove management is the real trick. The best person in the World at grove management is Jos VDP, he has some full size Bamboo with only 6 or so culms and how he does it is a mystery. If you are ever in Holland you must visit him , great guy and you can learn ore in 30 minutes with him than with years of experiment. I always leave him wishing I'd asked more and wishing I had room for a few more Bamboo in the garden . I've only been growing Bamboo for six years and the only thing I really know how to do is how to grow Bamboos like Parvifolia, vivax and Shanghai 3 fast. As to ID's , clumper cultivation, Tropicals, rhizome propagation and a host of other Bamboo subjects I bow to many growers on and off this Board. One tip is try to source local organic fert, Jos uses shredded Bamboo, Pigeon manure from the guy nextdoor to him and water for his inground Bamboo, pretty simple and stunningly effective.
All the Best
Steve

[stevelau1911]

You're definitely right on the effectiveness of water because I was planning on adding manure to my moso yesterday and found the entire area full of roots 2-3feet away from the nearest culm that must have formed in the last few days due to continuous rain, so I had to add it farther away. I broke some roots, but with good watering they should recover.

Another thing I find that should make sense is to use miracle grow and water the leaves as well since they should also have the ability to absorb nutrients, and really increase the leaf output. I'm noticing that my plants that have more leaves in general are able to put out bigger shoots. I'm going to try to fertilize them once a week now so they really leaf out good.

With the ideas I have in place, the bamboo growing experience, and all the energy I've been providing my bamboos through this year, I can't wait to see the jump in size for next year's shooting season.

[JohnC]

I'm a firm *disbeliever* in slow release fertilizer. I used it last summer and if I go out and poke around I can *still* find particles of it undissolved. It was slow release lawn food. I'm using water soluble now but like everyone else have no idea what rate to use so either I'm wasting money or it's helping. Not sure which.

Perhaps there is a scientific way to measure the uptake of fertilizer in the plant and determine if it's getting enough, too much or not enough or if it really makes any difference at all because just getting a "feeling" that it's doing good isn't really that helpful and so much could be a result of completely unrelated factors.

One thing I take from this thread though is the large mulch, I've been using small wood mulch and it's starting to set up like concrete after a couple of years.

[Steve in France]

Normally you can tell how a Bamboo is taking up fert by how green it is. I know this sounds simple but blades react pretty quickly to lack of trace elements and so on. I have a nigra in a pot that is pot bound and no matter how much fert I use it will not green up to the extent the Bamboos in the ground will. If you watch your blades and blade production that will give you a pretty good idea of what is going on. If the mulch is getting stale then I'd rake it off and pile leaf mould and mature on and around the Bamboo so the worms can start working the soil. When you have enough organic material for bugs to work they will till the soil for you and the stale concrete like nature of the soil will be at thing of the past. Keep up moisture levels and add your lawn fert and you will notice a real change in your growth rates and plant health. I know what that B.C. soil can be like having grown up in the Valley.
All the Best to you
Steve
p.s. If you used the little round pellets like Osmocote then they don't disappear, they are made of hard clay and hold the Fert, when the Fert has leached out after three to six months you just have the little clay balls remaining.

[CJW]

In my case, I grow about 10-12 varieties of bamboo, Bambusoides, Vivax, Nigra, Aureosulcata, Aurea..... list continues, and I have experimented on and off with feeding, what I find works is mulching with something that is high in nitrogen like lawn clippings around October/November just when the growing season is coming to and end.
I don't apply anything more until Feb/March... at this point I might add a manure or something like slow release P K N and a little Fe Chelate to the soil and then pile on more grass clippings.

For forcing the spreading I bury rotting wood around the grove. For some reason rotting wood attracts rhizomes like a magnet. For some season Humic acid/ wood tannin stimulates bamboo.

The results I have had are quite good!

[Steve in France]

I've heard and read about Bamboo liking stumps and rotting logs. I normally cover last years bark/woodchip mulch with this years manure/compost for just this reason. I add a new layer of Bark Mulch just to make the area look good for the season and to help retain moisture. I do worry that all the dense organic material will leach the nitrogen out of the mulch but I feel if I keep up the fert program for the Summer it will all work out. I also think about how Acid the soil is getting from all the rotting organics. In France as well as here the tap water is very Alkaline so with daily watering I hope it all balances out.
All the Best
Steve