Howdy folks.

How do aborted shoots look?

I have a shoot (possibly two) that appears to be broken at a node joint. It's creased at an unnatural angle now and I imagine it will break off in the next day or so. Is that how shoots abort, or should I suspect squirrels or something else?

Cheers,

jp

I witnessed my first abort 3 weeks ago. It became dry and squishy then collapsed but it seemed like it gave the energy to the one next to it; which is doing real good. Though I don't know if it could have been hit by a frost.

Aborted shoots sort of just turn soft and shrivel up. Yours sounds like it was damaged (by wind?) and it's not the same thing.

_________________
Alan.
My blog: It's not work, it's gardening!

Thanks.

jp

They first stop growing and appear normal. Then they get paler color, sheath can get straw color and stay the same until something turns it over. If it's already large when it aborts it will soon collapse under it's own weight, shrivel up and die. In any case, when you pull out dead aborted shoot few weeks after it stopped growing, it should easily come out. I assume it quickly transfers most of it's energy back into rhizome and other culms.

It wasn't an aborted shoot!

Today, when I got home, the shoot had turned back the other direction forming the typical crook stem of this type of bamboo.

My guess is that I'm going to have several of those culms before this is over.

jp