B. chungii - finnicky?

[watchnerd]

I'm looking for input from those who have grown b. chungii.

A few weeks ago, I got a 3 gal b. chungii in the mail. The plant arrived in healthy condition from Florida.

I put the little guy in the middle of my south-facing lawn, where I was planning to plant it. My thought was to acclimate the plant to the area of permanent planting first, plus I had some hedge clearing to do nearby, as well, and wanted to be able to move it if needed.

The temperatures have been very mild the last few weeks, mid-60s-mid-70s in the day, mid-40s-mid-50s at night. Except for one particularly windy day, we've had light breezes to no wind.

I would think these would be mild conditions compared to the tropical conditions it is designed for.

Yes, despite that, it looks less than vigorous: kind of wimpy, leaf curling, some wilting.

So for now I've moved it to a shaded, sheltered area next to the fence to let it recover.

Is b. chungii just really fussy? Or should I be doing something radically different?

[Alan_L]

If it's really crammed into that pot (rootbound) it may just not have the root system to handle the conditions it normally might. I don't grow it so can't say specifically, but that's just a general thought.

[watchnerd]

It's actually the opposite: it's barely filling up half the pot.

[Alan_L]

After repotting? Same issue -- the roots are still in the 3-gallon size. I'd probably baby it a little by protecting from the harshest sun, and don't overwater! Lots of soil without roots in it will hold water and potentially cause rot. Other than that, maybe somebody who actually grows this can chime in.

[watchnerd]

After repotting?

No repotting yet. So maybe it's just too small to be out in the "harsh" 70 F weather.

[mantis]

Keep it out of the full sun! B. chungii isn't that finicky, but whenever you get mail ordered bamboos (at least tropicals/sub-tropicals) you'll want to keep them in the shade for the first week, and then slowly move them into more an more sun.

[marcat]

Mantis sorry to disagree but WN my experiance is the regular B.chungii hates being potted. Get it in the ground ASAP and you will be rewarded with one fantastic bamboo.
MarCat

[mantis]

MarCat, if you have a new division I'd agree with you to put it in the ground ASAP, but when you are dealing with a plant that has been in the pot for a length of time, and just went through shipping stress I'll stick with my previous post of keeping it in the shade for a bit before transitioning it to more and more sun.

[watchnerd]

The plant in question is pretty young.

It was grown from a buried culm cutting. The culm chunk is still at the base of the plant. It's not a division, per se.

[watchnerd]

MarCat, if you have a new division I'd agree with you to put it in the ground ASAP, but when you are dealing with a plant that has been in the pot for a length of time, and just went through shipping stress I'll stick with my previous post of keeping it in the shade for a bit before transitioning it to more and more sun.

What about a compromise of sticking it in the ground in the shade?

I can move it to the sun later when it grows up a bit.

Or maybe that would be worse transplant shock than letting it size up in a pot in the shade, then planting?

[blokker]

I've always found Chungii to be a bit of a slow starter compared with most other clumpers - takes a while to settle in and then really gets going in my experience.

[gbock]

David,

I have a Bambusa chungii 'Barbellata' that came from the same source as your chungii. I put it in the shade for a couple of weeks after receipt and then planted it in the ground. It grew rapidly almost from the get go.

I think yours is just suffering from transport shock. Has it gotten better at all since your original post?

Gerhard

[watchnerd]

Hi Gerhard,

It's only been 2 days, so it hasn't gotten better, but it hasn't gotten any worse. I'd say it has stabilized, but not yet recovered.

My backyard is south facing and, while not hot in absolute temperatures, does get full sun pretty much all day. But I think the real damage was from wind. I have a more-or-less constant light breeze due to being so close to SF bay.

Restios seem to love the breeze, but bamboos (except the montane clumpers), not so much....

I'm considering making some kind of clear plastic lean-to for the little bambusas to live under while they size up, in the hopes it might increase humidity and temperature while they size up. Although every time I think about this, I also think this is just a crutch and, in the long run, they'd be better off acclimating and toughening up.

[boonut]

B. Chungii is definitely finicky here. Not one of my best growers... Mine is out in the open, so that may have something to do with it. Both have been in the ground for about 4 years.

[gbock]

But I think the real damage was from wind.

David,

I think you're spot on with that observation. The leaves on my Bambusa mutabilis and Bambusa eutuldoides 'Viridivittata' are pretty chewed up by the wind we had in the last few months. The good thing is that new leaves are already forming (at least on mine) so the damage is temporary.

If your chungii is at all like mine, it'll take off quickly once it's in the ground.

Gerhard