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Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:19 pm
by stevelau1911
Just thought of bring up some of her straight out lies. How do these sound? :santa:

1. You can't sell your house if there's bamboo on it.
Many people actually like having bamboos in their yard and it's not very hard to figure out how to eradicate bamboo as long as you either have common sense or have the ability to search the internet.

2. All sellers are selling bamboo to make a quick buck
Many people have a passion for growing bamboo and like to share it with others, often giving it away for free, or promoting the plant by sharing knowledge and experiences. A lot of sellers actually sell at a loss when you consider the investment put into growing multiple species.

3. She is an invasive bamboo specialist
lol You need to go to college and get a degree, and have hands on experience with something for many years to be a specialist in anything especially when you are trying to get people to contact you. A grudge and hatred doesn't make anyone a specialist.

4. Phyllostachys can grow in Hawaii and they don't allow it because it can grow too aggressive there
Don't know anything about that, but most sources point that temperate bamboos require a dormancy season to grow successfully

5. Bamboos can destroy wetlands and forests
Can she provide a picture of any species of bamboo surviving in a swamp. Also can it even survive under a dense canopy of trees? Most forests around here hardly let any light through and aureosulcata doesn't have the genetic potential to break a 60ft high canopy of deciduous trees and thrive.

6. Rhizomes must be taken to a burn center, as they are hazardous waste.
Dig out some rhizomes and let them sit in the sun for lets say a couple hours to dry out their roots and try to plant them. See if you can get viable divisions.

7. Bamboo is impossible to eradicate once it takes hold
lopper+lawnmower

8. You cant mow over mature yellow groove bamboo stumps
They can be mowed over easily if when they are lopped to soil lvl

9. Bamboo is evil
How can bamboo be evil when it produce 5X the amount of O2 as trees, can be use for construction/crafts or clothing, be a food source, save lives(earthquake; tornado), and reduce heating costs?

10. Everyone who speaks in support of bamboo or information on the internet about the positive aspects of bamboo are wrong. Somebody who has no exp with bamboo, has no credibility to say claim anything about bamboo, especially when it is against those that have grown bamboo 10, 20 yrs.

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:24 am
by Iowaboo
If given enough time, I'm sure goats could even destroy large bamboo, they are rodents always gnawing on things.
Image

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 1:56 am
by dependable
Doubt they could eat the really woody stuff. Was helping on a farm in New Zealand once, the farmer had goats to eat the truly invasive gourse(sp?) We would set the old thorny bushes on fire w a torch, so the goats could eat up all the new growth.

Hey Lance, what kind of critter is that?

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:49 am
by benboo
Looks like an aye aye lemur.

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 6:13 pm
by bamboothew
Steve, I really do keep wondering about Caryn's references to wetlands. Maybe they grow at the edges of wetlands? It seems highly unlikely that any bamboo would actually grow into constantly standing water, even the ones that tolerate wet soils :?: I wish I had a creek or natural pond so I could plant all the members of the heteroclada group on the edge at various places and see how far they would run into it.

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 6:36 pm
by foxd
Lance, on the home page of the Bigfoot Willow site shouldn't it say "Check out our prices by clicking the links above"?

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:06 pm
by stevelau1911
I've tried heteroclada seedlings in pots without drainage, put super damp and like any other bamboo, their leaves start turning brown at a certain moisture level so it seems it's roots can't survive in direct water. If it was growing from dry land and happened to send rhizomes into a bog, then I have no idea what will happen then.

I've gotten kwangsiensis seedlings to survive in an aerogarden, and there was a little bit of root growth and leafing out, but no shoots were ever produced in the setup. At least for this species, hydroponics doesn't seem feasible.

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:07 pm
by Iowaboo
dependable wrote:Doubt they could eat the really woody stuff. Was helping on a farm in New Zealand once, the farmer had goats to eat the truly invasive gourse(sp?) We would set the old thorny bushes on fire w a torch, so the goats could eat up all the new growth.

Hey Lance, what kind of critter is that?
Haha, it was imagery of what I imagined a goat to look like in my nightmares. But yeah, they don't go through wood like a termite, but I have seen them chew on it enough that they destroy any nearby trees that don't have thick enough bark. Not sure how it would work with big culms and no bark layer to destroy. But I'm sure they'd figure out a way.

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:19 pm
by Iowaboo
foxd wrote:Lance, on the home page of the Bigfoot Willow site shouldn't it say "Check out our prices by clicking the links above"?

No, because two links of prices are below those words. I had to do that because people always email me because they couldn't find the price in the links above. :lol:

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:40 pm
by bamboothew
Iowaboo wrote:
dependable wrote:Doubt they could eat the really woody stuff. Was helping on a farm in New Zealand once, the farmer had goats to eat the truly invasive gourse(sp?) We would set the old thorny bushes on fire w a torch, so the goats could eat up all the new growth.

Hey Lance, what kind of critter is that?
Haha, it was imagery of what I imagined a goat to look like in my nightmares. But yeah, they don't go through wood like a termite, but I have seen them chew on it enough that they destroy any nearby trees that don't have thick enough bark. Not sure how it would work with big culms and no bark layer to destroy. But I'm sure they'd figure out a way.
I once saw a goat eat an entire lower branch from a redbud tree, he ripped it from the tree and then about 3 feet of branch dissapeared into his mouth, one chew at a time--I'm never letting a goat's mouth anywhere near my arm! :shock:

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:09 am
by marcat
Goats will eat bamboo...but Goats do not like grass and will only eat it after everything else is consumed. Saying that I would bet big $$ that if you confined a goat in a bamboo grove with no othe food source...ten foot...twenty feet ...thirty feet, where ever the leaves are they will figure a way to get to them. I would even beleive it if some one told me a goat climbed a bamboo culm. They are definately the Devastators of the plant world.
MarCat

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 6:35 am
by ghmerrill
Goats absolutely love bamboo..as do sheep, and pigs...

fortunately, there have been no escapes this year, so the boos are all recovered, so I may get some decent shoots this year.

Anyway, goats will eat the leaves and branches, but there isn't anything they can peel off the culms, so those get left alone. I throw any cut off branches, and thinned culms to the Animals, and they devour them quickly. I'm not sure if goats would eat the shoots, but I don't see why not. Pigs LOVE bamboo shoots, so cutting the culms and fencing in some pigs would do the trick too.

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:44 pm
by foxd
ghmerrill wrote:Anyway, goats will eat the leaves and branches, but there isn't anything they can peel off the culms, so those get left alone.
Now there's an idea! Cut down culms and let goat remove the leaves and branches for you leaving poles for your use.

Re: The truth behind the capabilities of running bamboo

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:58 pm
by Tarzanus
I think goat or sheep would be able to gnaw on smaller culms too. I've seen sheep feasting on plastic snacks - empty soda bottles, milk cartoons,... Hungry animals really. :)