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xreadx
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New To Forum | My Failures/Successes | Video of dividing

Post by xreadx »

I live on 2 acres Zone 9B Southeast Texas, Bridge City to be exact. I grow a few types of bamboo and I have killed a few species. I just stumbled onto this forum... I planted six three gallon Bambusa NANA on the north side of my property and they all died during first winter. Now those have been replaced(this spring) with Bambusa Oldhamii 'Hirose' which look to be doing good going into this winter. On the east side of my property I planted Chinese Dwarf which died back to ground last winter and this spring I plugged between the dwarf on east side with BAMBUSA MULTIPLEX 'GOLDEN GODDESS'. This spring the Chinese dwarf came back from the ground, almost all made a comeback. I am going to let that east side just do what it does. This will be BAMBUSA MULTIPLEX 'GOLDEN GODDESS' first winter but it is more cold tolerant than Chinese dwarf so should be good. On the west side of my property I have(what seems to be) the happiest bamboo BAMBUSA TEXTILIS 'GRACILIS'. It has been trough two winters now, last winter it got down to 18'F for around 4 hours. On either side of my two front entry gates(south side of property) I planted six total Tropical Blue Bamboo Mid year last year and after the 18'F winter only two were alive this spring... Next spring I plan on hedging the front of my property (south side) with BAMBUSA MULTIPLEX 'GOLDEN GODDESS', and adding either Oldhamii 'Hirose' OR Tropical Blue Bamboo on each side of entries. Any input would be appreciated. Here is a video of me dividing my Gracilis... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_b6_FKQvg
Rufledt
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Re: New To Forum | My Failures/Successes | Video of dividing

Post by Rufledt »

Welcome to the forum! I cant speak to your choices and climate as I'm far north but I hope it works out for you
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Glen
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Post by Glen »

Bridge City would be in USDA Zone 9a. I realize that it is not a big difference for many plants, but it actually is near a threshold temperature for many subtropical bamboos. For bamboos, it is probably better to look at the average annual minimum temperature for your area. The USDA map shows your area to reach between 22 and 23 degrees, on average, which is within a degree of what they show for my area. I consider the USDA numbers to be fairly useful to me in plant selection.

In the early 2000's, there was a stretch of mild winters that allowed some relatively cold sensitive plants to succeed in this area. There were plenty of plants like Bambusa oldhamii around Houston, but a series of cold winters topkilled or badly damaged most of them, and a lot were removed. I have one, but I am a collector, and I do not mind if it gets destroyed every so often. With three to five consecutive mild winters, I will have an impressive plant. One severe winter, and I will have a big mess.

'Hirose' is probably a clone of B. oldhamii, and seems to have similar susceptibility to cold. After seeing so many of these destroyed in recent years, I would not plant either of these as a showpiece plant in this area. B. chungii could work along your driveway, as it has handled the colder winters pretty well. I strongly suggest that you consider B. textilis 'Kanapaha'. It is the largest bamboo that you can grow that is hardy enough that I have not seen any appreciable damage to it over the last decade or so.

This list is not exhaustive or detailed, but it is based on quite a few years of observations of tropical bamboos in Southeast Texas, and it may give you some starting points. Keep in mind that actual cold hardiness depends on many factors, not just absolute low, but the following guidelines have been fairly accurate for this area. If we get a "100 year freeze", all the subtropical bamboos will probably be topkilled, but I am hoping that that does not happen any time soon.

Indestructible (to well below 20 degrees Fahrenheit):

Bambusa multiplex - All forms seem to have about the same hardiness. 'Alphonse Karr' seems to be the most upright, 'Silverstripe' is the largest.

Close to Indestructible (variable leaf loss begins around 22 degrees):
Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' - Largest clumping bamboo that you can grow long term without substantial damage.
Bambusa textilis var. gracilis
Bambusa textilis var. glabra - less upright than other forms of the species.

Leaf loss probably begins around 22-24 degrees, but they releaf without much apparent harm:
Bambusa emeiensis 'Flavidovirens' and 'Viridiflavus'
Bambusa chungii

Similar to above, but there always seem to be some new culms that receive permanent damage in the coldest winters. They still grow vigorously, but the winter damage tends to contribute to their somewhat messy appearance:
Bambusa ventricosa - all forms, including 'Clone X'
Bambusa malingensis

If you have questions about any other particular varieties, I have varying degrees of experience with most of what can be grown in this area, and I will be glad to provide what assistance I can.
xreadx
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Post by xreadx »

OMG.... I did not expect such a detailed response... So I did good with Gracilis on my West side? And I did good with the Multiplex Golden Goddess on East Side? I am going to take your advice on the B. textilis Kanapaha and put it across the rear (north side) and use this(Kanapaha) for the Entry instead of the 'Hirose' OR Tropical Blue Bamboo. Let me know if I got any of that wrong ^^...

Thank You!!
xreadx
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Post by xreadx »

Do you think I should order and plant now or wait till spring?
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Glen
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Post by Glen »

I am glad that I could be of assistance!

Yes, Gracilis and all forms of B. multiplex are winners for our area. 'Golden Goddess' makes a great hedge. If you need a little taller hedge, consider any of the full-sized forms of B. multiplex. They will reach a height somewhere between Gracilis and 'Golden Goddess'.

B. chungii is a nice plant, and could probably be used as a focal point, but it is not quite as hardy as 'Kanapaha'.

'Kanapaha' is extremely impressive, but just plan ahead...it will get very large. One of the good things about using it is that, if it ever does get severe freeze damage, at least you will know that you tried your best and had the hardiest big bamboo available :D .

Be careful on your sourcing for something like 'Kanapaha'. Most of the forms of B. textilis look alike in a pot, so you need a seller you can trust.

'Hirose' is not going to be reliably cold hardy over the long term, but it does grow fast and look nice if we get a good stretch of mild winters.
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Post by needmore »

Glen, are you able to grow Strelitzia reginae in your area?
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Glen
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Post by Glen »

needmore wrote:Glen, are you able to grow Strelitzia reginae in your area?
It grows and blooms extremely well, but it has to be protected during hard freezes. Two winters ago, I left it on a covered porch during a bad freeze, and it completely topkilled.

Strelitzia juncea actually seems more frost tolerant, but still needs some freeze protection. It is slower growing.
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Post by needmore »

After reading your bamboo descriptions above here I'm looking for clues about our climate differences and how they may affect bamboo, my Strelitzia reginae is in ground and seems to do fine where it is, I see another larger one down the street, also have neighbors growing avocados - I recently picked up two forms myself. I will look into the S juncea as I really like the plant. I don't know how old mine is and it surely has been knocked back some winters.

I think we are in similar climate zones but have different climates, I believe your winters overall are much warmer but perhaps you get more frequent low 20's. There is stonefruit industry here as well as citrus and lots of cold crop vegetables, generally it seems to stay in the 50's and upper 30's all winter and I think you'll have 70's and 80's then? If so it might be the difference between how our Phyllostachys grow, and I'm expecting slightly better performance from the Bambusa, but overall I'd have to say our winters are much chillier than yours?
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Post by Glen »

Brad,

I recently got to spend a little time in your area, so I am somewhat familiar with your climate, and you are exactly correct about the differences. We generally have between 2 and 15 freezes per year. Over the last 5 years, the winter minimums were something like 19, 28, 28, 22, 22. We can have weeks in the 70‘s and 80‘s, immediately followed by the coldest night of the year. This rapid change is terrible for fruit trees, but generally has no effect on Phyllostachys, and a surprisingly small effect on Bambusa. I think our lowest average minimum is around 45 degrees.

We get around 450 chill hours, on average, but it varies widely. Also, they are interrupted by very warm periods that probably interfere with proper metabolic chill accumulation. I do not know exactly how this relates to bamboo, but there is clearly some effect. Many of the most cold tolerant running bamboos seem chronically stressed, and perpetually produce brushy, juvenile growth. Basically, take the varieties that stay stunted and small in Oregon, and those will be the largest and fasted growers here.

Stonefruits are typically short lived, partially due to wet soil conditions, and partially due to diseases associated with our humid climate. I have never seen an almond tree here, except at a nursery. In CA, I saw more almond trees that I realized existed in the world!

There are a few old avocado trees around, all pure Mexican Group varieties. These are cold hardy enough to survive well. However, thousands are sold and killed each year in SE Texas, but mostly due to poor drainage, and the fact that they are always grafted on a rootstock that is not at all cold hardy.

Citrus is common in backyards here. After establishment, they require no care. In fact, Sour Orange (the Seville type), and Poncirus trifoliata, are sometimes seen fully naturalized in the woods. The fruit of most citrus grown here is of very high quality, but the trees do occasionally get damaged, making any kind of large scale commercial production impractical. Cool weather before a freeze helps citrus gain hardiness, and makes a tremendous difference for these plants.

Cool season vegetables are planted in the fall, and they grow all winter. There is no significant commercial production. Tomatoes are planted around early March, and the heat and humidity finish them off by the time summer really arrives. Okra is the main vegetable that is seen growing through the summer. A second crop of tomatoes can be planted for a fall harvest.

The California climate amazes me. There are so many different climate zones over very short distances. The only thing that would be hard for me to take is the lack of summer rain. It does amaze me how everything that is irrigated looks so good there. Here, nothing seems to look healthy unless it gets natural rainfall. Bamboo that gets too much irrigation and not enough rain will often have salt damage and fairly poor growth, but the bamboos that I saw in CA seemed very happy, living almost entirely on irrigation.

Bambusa particularly loves our deep, soaking (flooding) rains in the summer and fall. The more miserably wet and mosquito infested the weather is, the faster and larger Bambusa spp. grow. This allows quick recovery, and helps to offset the damage done by our harder freezes. Fortunately, mosquitoes do not seem to eat bamboo :D .

I am sure you can grow Strelitzia juncea well. It is as easy as S. reginae, but a little more xeric. They were extremely expensive, but a few years ago, one of the tissue culture labs produced some, so they were selling for reasonable prices on E-bay. You may want to watch there for a good deal.
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Post by needmore »

I am able to grow Poncirus trifoliata in IN, I have two fruit bearing trees there that have endured multiple subzero temps, I bought a seedling out here and it is doing nothing.

My drive to work is 25 miles and many of those are through almond orchards, it is quite surprising how many there are. The local citrus industry is mostly various forms of mandarin, grapefruit, lemons, some valencia all smaller commercial farms, not the large orange groves of southern CA.

I suspect that your Bambusa will get larger than mine but I might be able to sustain a wider variety given our climate differences, I've wintered over some Dendrocalamus 2 years now, the Phyllostachys certainly can attain mature sizes I believe due to our consistently cooler winter climate. I really miss rain, we've had none since some sprinkles in early April, a slight chance I see on Monday, that would be exciting. Time will tell of course!
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Post by Glen »

needmore wrote:I suspect that your Bambusa will get larger than mine but I might be able to sustain a wider variety given our climate differences, I've wintered over some Dendrocalamus 2 years now, the Phyllostachys certainly can attain mature sizes I believe due to our consistently cooler winter climate. I really miss rain, we've had none since some sprinkles in early April, a slight chance I see on Monday, that would be exciting. Time will tell of course!
One really cold night will destroy a relatively cold sensitive bamboo, and I am much more likely to get that one cold night, so I agree with your thoughts on this. If you can consistently grow Dendrocalamus, you should be able to get away with a wide range of Bambusa spp. I also agree that for the ones that take our cold, they will get larger. When they get really large, something like 'Kanapaha' or 'Clone X' can use a tremendous amount of water. Even flooding them with well water does not allow them to grow like five inches of rain will. Also, we get enough rainfall and our soils are deep enough, that these plants, once established fairly well, will grow to full size without any care. I water and fertilize to speed the process along, but it is not necessary. Unlimited humidity and nearly unlimited water have some advantages :D .

The Gulf Coast rain can get old, though. This has been one of the wettest Septembers on record. I stopped measuring the rain, but it seems like I have had ankle deep water on the ground for most of September. It is too wet to do anything outside, other than walk around with irrigation boots, and watch the bamboo grow. :D

If you had unlimited irrigation, there is no telling what you could grow. I went by Bamboo Giant in Aptos, and I could not believe the sizes of their plants. Their Phyllostachys vivax was larger in diameter than any running bamboo I have seen in Texas. They also had some impressive Moso and P. nigra. They have an extensive sprinkler system, and it looked like their display plantings are kept pretty moist.
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Post by needmore »

Ankle deep water sounds too far on the other extreme, I'm sure that the Goldilocks zone exists out there somewhere, it might be FL, or I know places in HI where it is, too bad it is tough to afford to return there!
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Post by Tarzanus »

We have the same ankle deep water issue regularly now. It starts in mid spring and stops around early summer. We get rain each week and when we do, it pours. The same is happening for the last 4 or 5 years now. Bamboo doesn't mind much, at least not as much as it would if it would grow inside pot. Our soil has a lot of clay, and it holds water well.
I have a pond in the middle of the bamboo forest I planted and I can easily see which varieties travel towards the water easily and which ones just rot and travel away. In there, water is more persistant and often floods the roots and rhizomes. During the dry months, it supplies water to the bamboo effectively.
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