P. Nigra Henon

[benboo]

Hi I already have p. atrovaginata and it sized up fast. how quickly will a 2 gallon p. nigra henon size up?

[tomgun]

There are too many variables, but here in Central California in my yard, the Henon sizes fast but not as vigorous as the Incense. I've heard the Henon will get bigger here, though.

I'm just talking progress, not when they will get to their ultimate size. That will be years in for either one.

[benboo]

Yeah that's what I have been thinking... whats the longest that the rhizomes have produced shoots out from away from the main patch/clump/grove?

[Alan_L]

There's no answer to that question. It depends on the following: your climate, how much sun it gets, how much water, how much fertilizer, what type of soil you have, how long the plant has been in the ground, etc. Do you mean in 1 year? In some climates, 10'-20' in one year is possible. In others, just a few feet.

So you see, there's no simple answer.

[trepanier]

like alan said but to give you an ideal my 1 gallon henon went from a foot with two culms to 4/5 feet with 7 culm and my henon was not mulched, watered or fertilizer at all this year or last it seems to be full of energy

[benboo]

That is what I figured, so I bought a 2 gallon pot because it wasn't that much more than a 1 gallon. I hate waiting for bamboo to come in from the mail....

[stevelau1911]

If you're growing henon in the Buffalo area, I would suggest tarping it every winter until it gets to a decent size because it is not even close to -4F hardy as a juvenile plant. The culms are pretty hardy and re-leaf, but it seems like any leaves exposed to the wind get fried. Mine tripled in height despite the leaf burn so hopefully it will attain more hardiness as it gets older. I think 30ft tall 2inch diameter culms should be possible here if it gets protected long enough to size up.

Here's how it looked back in March. I protected it with a couple leaf bags on the north side, but it still got burnt while other bamboos stay much greener without any protection.


It looks OK now after making 4 new shoots and the original culm got very bushy as its leaf buds can last through the winter. It went from 1ft to 4 culms reaching the 3ft mark, so I'll protect it better this winter and hope it reaches the 10ft mark with next year's shoots.

[bambootony]

Hello Benboo,
My P. Nigra has been a disapointment, as Needmore had cautioned.
My inground top-killed and the potted has not had but maybe one small shoot.
Maybe it is this speciffic genus???
Not nearly as hardy as most sellers websites describe...
Your climate-species may have better results.

[benboo]

If global warming is real I should be able to grow bamboo no problem in the winter
Thanks for the advice! Could you cover it with a tarp for the winter? or is burlap or something else more effective?

[stevelau1911]

It usually still gets into the single digits several times every winter in this area with sub-zero once in a while and juvenile plants are generally much less hardy than the mature form so they may be 5-15F less hardy depending on their size. I'm quite a bit east of you so your area might get even less protection of extremes from lake Ontario.

Burlap doesn't help much because first it is porous and when winds are gusting past 55mph and it is in the single digits, the plants will get fried and it is also a dark barrier which doesn't let sun get through on warm winter days.

It requires a clear plastic barrier, a nice solid tarp or wintering over cover which can block out the wind completely in order to make it very effective. I've overwintered 7 month old moso seedlings with a triple layer of clear trash bags which came out OK in the spring and at that age they're almost as sensitive as some tropical clumpers. It is also important to press down all the culms and then lay the plastic over the whole thing so that the culms are kept close to the ground where they get the most protection plus whenever it snows, there's another layer of protection. They will pop back upright in the spring. Some of the leaves touching the plastic may still burn, but if you put some milk jugs filled with water and some fall leaves in there, it can be minimized.

Here's a thread with a video on winter protection. The wilt-pruf doesn't do much help, but the cover should keep them evergreen. http://www.bambooweb.info/bb/viewtopic. ... 27&start=0

[benboo]

Thanks I want to avoid winter damage!

[stevelau1911]

My P. Nigra has been a disapointment, as Needmore had cautioned.
My inground top-killed and the potted has not had but maybe one small shoot.
Maybe it is this speciffic genus???
Not nearly as hardy as most sellers websites describe...
Your climate-species may have better results.

Bambootony, I think I recall you are also a zone 6 grower, but I think you may have had a less hardy form of henon given that there are many sources of it that may vary in hardiness. The one I had that only had 1 culm and some short bushy growth seems to be coming back pretty strong despite a 40% leaf burn with a bit of northwest protecting using leaf bags. Mine came off ebay and it looks doesn't look mid-identified either as a field division last year and it looks hardy enough for zone 6 here. I know I probably should of gotten a huge division of it off Bigone5500 last year, but I'm pretty satisfied with the results so far.

After making the initial 4 culms in the spring, this summer it made 3 more culms about the same size and I've counted 4 rhizomes surfacing already which are clearly bigger in diameter than anything I've seen from it in the past. One of the summer shoots is getting near 4ft tall.

[benboo]

over time can you make a bamboo more familiar and stable in the cold?

[Alan_L]

The plants may be less cold-hardy than they should be their first few years, but once they size up a bit they should reach their reported hardiness.

[stevelau1911]

Here's an update on the henon which is looking more and more attractive as it puts on more foliage. If henon holds true to its -5F cold hardiness, this might be my largest bamboo in 2 years if it keeps up its growth rate.