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New Culms?

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 4:20 pm
by ZZZ
Hello--

I live on an island/zone 10a, and the past two Octobers have brought unusually high tides for a day or two that have resulted in my tropical bamboo being severely compromised. In the case of my Ghost Bamboo (Angel Mist/Dendrocalamus Minor Amoenus), it died.

(At great expense, I have remedied the situation by bringing in some 30 yards of dirt to raise the whole bamboo area by 2ft, and I have surrounded the area with raised a raised bed in the form of railroad ties.)

Back in December I replaced it with a 30gal Ghost Bamboo that I bought sight-unseen from a bamboo dealer on the other coast of FL. The price was right and they were kind enough to offer free delivery, as they piggy-backed it onto a much larger delivery in my area.

There were/are about 20 culms, but it should have been transplanted into a larger container long ago. The plant did not look very healthy, and though the culms were/are 12-15' in height, the plant looked anemic and there was very little in the way of green leaves. The culms themselves are quite thin and have areas of black mold spores on them. A few of the culms are curiously oval-shaped, as another board poster is reporting on his bamboo.

Fast-forward now to May. This new Ghost Bamboo has filled out with quite a bouquet of green leaves; much healthier-looking than when it arrived in December. Here's my concern: while all of my other exotic bamboo have sent up multiple new culms, I have not had even one new culm from this formerly root-bound Ghost Bamboo that I transplanted into the ground back in December. Is it just a waiting game, or can bamboo become so root bound that its growth is stunted to the point where no new shoots will emerge?

Re: New Culms?

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 4:36 pm
by ZZZ
32 views, but yet nary a reply for the gent...?

No respect, I tell ya.

No respect.

Re: New Culms?

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 8:31 pm
by thebambooguy
So I have zero experience with tropical bamboo but I imagine being so root bound as you say it was its probably just in recovery mode as it was more than likely dying. On the bright side it's growing new leaves so I imagine it's just getting strong enough to start growing more rhizomes. Plants can become stunted for a bit if they've been root bound for a while but it should recover.

Re: New Culms?

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 11:21 pm
by da7id
I’ve got several types of clumpers. My barbellata & pervariabilis are going nuts & my eultoides, atroviolacea & lako are shooting as well but nothing yet from the textilis, emiensis or amoenus. Weve gotten 14 inches of rain in the last month though (6 in one 4 hour period) and they all have wet feet and aren’t super happy. This is my first year with the amoenus so I don’t know when it usually starts shooting.

Re: New Culms?

Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 12:43 am
by ZZZ
Hello, and thank you for your responses.

It's just getting dark here (8:30) and I was out strolling through my exotic bamboo after a long day at work.

If someone were to look at my Ghost Bamboo now from a short distance, they would see a lush, green bamboo with a full body of leaves. Getting closer, the culms don't quite have the intense "3D" color that's typical of the species, and there are spots of black mold here & there. It looks light years better than it did when I transplanted it some 5-6 months ago, and the grower who delivered it said, "fear not. It may not look great now, but once it gets transplanted into this spot and summer hits, it will be lush and beautiful."

My question in simplest form: by virtue of the fact that the leaves are really filling out, can I be assured that new culms will follow at some point soon? Is it just a question of recovering from being "stunted" in the cramped quarters of a pot it had outgrown, as thebambooguy mentioned? All my other exotics in a different location on the property--Emeiensis V, Emeiensis F, Chungii, Lako, Vulgaris Vittata, and another Ghost Bamboo--have had at least 6 new culms each thus far this spring. Curious that this new Ghost bamboo, which was much larger to begin with than any of my others, has shown no new culms yet.

Re: New Culms?

Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 3:06 pm
by needmore
I don't think anyone can tell you what is up with your particular bamboo that you are concerned about but it sounds like it should be fine. Multiple culms with vibrant leaves sounds like a clump that will produce new culms when it is ready and should have plenty of energy to do so. My guess is that your plant is producing leaves to build up energy to produce culms but isn't ready yet.

I have something like 30-35 of the sub tropical clumping forms, but 15 or so are quite young and young bamboo rarely exhibit typical patterns and often shoot early in the year. I'd say I have 20 that have been in ground a year or more and are not quite in that juvenile stage where they tend to shoot early and often and none of them have a single shoot yet this year, and I do not expect them to yet. None of these are anywhere near mature so I do expect them to shoot earlier than normal for mature forms and I believe that mature forms will normally shoot in the fall no?

Re: New Culms?

Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 6:16 pm
by ZZZ
Well men...

Within the span of just a few short days, I am happy to report that my dendocal minor amoenus, a/k/a Ghost Bamboo, has sent up SIX happy, healthy, bouncing baby shoots.

All's well that ends well.

Re: New Culms?

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 2:25 am
by ZZZ
Hello--

Original poster here.

A year and a half in, and I'm thrilled to report that the anemic, root-bound Angel Mist bamboo I posted about last season is now vigorously growing. It has 22 new culms thus far in 2020 that measure 3" in diameter and are reaching over 30ft in height. The only oddity is that some of the culms continue do be oval-shaped instead of round. What causes this?

Re: New Culms?

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:02 pm
by needmore
Well there you go, nice work! Mine also has some oval culms, I've jut assumed that is what it does?