Dendrocalamus asper Indo

[TheGreenMan1982]

Yes I read his blog and as far as I know he didn't sell his property yet. He had problems with the kangaroos in the early stages of his moso not once they were established i think. They love the young shoots and leaves of young bamboo plants especially if its dry and not much grass. I just have to chase them away with the car all the time. I want to grow moso here but its hard to grow large in the subtropics. I saw a local bamboo nursery plants about 10m high max still looked very nice but no large shoots. I want to grow it as it produces shoots out of season when tropicals are not (late winter/spring). The tropicals do much better here but shoots late spring, summer through to autumn sometimes early winter. I love asper its impressive and grows huge here. Also managed to score some cuttings of what looks like Dendrocalamus brandisii plant was 30 metres high taller than the surrounding trees.

[jd.]

Here is a pic of another asper growing in some garden close to where I am. Somewhat cooler environment at 500 metres altitude,

Dendrocalamus_asper-TheGreenMan1982-DSCF2776-500.jpg (132.34 KiB) Viewed 4697 times

And a large plant at the botanical gardens

Dendrocalamus_asper-TheGreenMan1982-DSCF2870-500.jpg (94.87 KiB) Viewed 4697 times

Just waiting for my plants to recover a bit from the ravages of Kangaroos. But they tolerated winter here very well. Our minimum lowest winter temp was 3 C

I imagine the kangaroos are going to have a harder time chewing the Dendrocalamus when it gets that big.

[TheGreenMan1982]

Thanks for posting them I wasn't sure how to do so. I just grabbed the link on flickr and inserted that between the [img][img] maybe i'm doing it wrong. Yeah the asper growing at altitude was not as large due to the cool and winters getting down to freezing point occasionally. We don't have freezing here at the lower altitude near the coast so it can reach its full height here.

Haha yes once they get some height and nice and woody the kangaroos wont bother with them. Looking forward to the new growths shortly. And some juicy shoots in a few years time.

[I_am_Ian]

I have just planted a few types of Dendrocalamus here. I'm in the San Francisco area, about 40 miles inland. Winter lows here rarely get below freezing and if they do its only for a few hours. I have an Asper, Betung Hitam, Parker Giant and both the florida and quail clone Giganteus. They are all very young right now and I am nervous about how they'll fare during their first winter here.

[Samajax]

I hear ya Green Man, Moso isn't a good one at all for your climate, but they are both grown for delicious shoots.

I imagine that what we find appealing, the Kangaroos would as well. Asper shoots are good eating, and if I were a Kangaroo and learned
about that food source, I'd be back time after time.

We have to worry about squirrels eating our shoots here, you just have squirrels on roids.

[TheGreenMan1982]

Ian I think the asper should be ok if they are healthy and established plants even with some freezing temps. Gigantea is more fussy even here it doesn't get no where near as large as the asper. The asper makes gigantea look small here. It grows healthy but just not large only to 20 metres or so. I have Dendrocalamus membranaceus and latiflorus as well both do very well here.

Asper shoots are huge. Impressive plants. Kangaroos are like a squirel on steroids alright except they seem to only eat grass or grass relatives. I just have to keep chasing them and hope they get the message. They wont touch the big shoots but the small shoots and nice young tender leaves they love.

Sadly yes moso does not do so well but i'm keen to try yellow groove. It may do well here it may be more adaptible. Any experiences? I do want a bamboo that shoots in the spring when the tropicals are out of season. I love bamboo shoots in cooking. Our climate is comparable to central east coast florida. Phyllostachys aurea grows like crazy here and Phyllostachys nigra does ok.

[I_am_Ian]

The Giganteus doesn't fare as well as Asper? Dang, and I planted a Giganteus in my front yard hoping it would become my largest. What makes them smaller than the Aspers? Although 20 meters would still be impressive. How thick do you suppose the culms will get on it? Culm thickness is really what I am hoping for. How large are your Aspers?

[TheGreenMan1982]

It will get quite thick the gigantea but wont thrive as much as the asper. Reason being it isn't very cold tolerant and cold temps stunt its growth. Asper however can withstand quite cold temps near to freezing and still grow huge without a problem. From what I hear asper can withstand below freezing once established and still grow well. I think gigantea would suffer a little with freezing temps. It can still grow but not in all its glory. Also Dendrocalamus brandisii is a good one hardy like asper and good edible shoots to.

[TheGreenMan1982]

Check out this vid on youtube. This woman has some skills with the knife. Dendrocalamus asper in a Thai market. Can't wait till I get shoots like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInqR76E5rQ