Accidentally severed rhizome on parvifolia

[stevelau1911]

When I was cutting out the grass to get ready for my 2nd layer of manure this year, I badly under-estimated the length of the rhizomes and severed one by accident. These guys grow right on the surface and get hidden by the thick grass. I didn't want to take any divisions off it yet since I wanted it to make larger culms next year, but I hope its not that big of a deal when I have over 30 rhizomes, some over 5ft long. I'll just give it additional water and fertilizer to make up for the loss and hope it makes another rhizome right where it was cut. I broke rhizomes on a few other plantings too, but that is not as big of a deal.

It is 3ft long with some root growth on the end and a quickly advancing rhizome tip with its body around 3/4 inch in diameter. I planted it in a 5 gallon nursery pot and put it in partial shade. I put the tip of the rhizome facing up and applied juicy root(root stimulator) on the roots to hopefully stabilize it, and won't be as disappointed if this becomes a viable division.

Is there any chance something like this can become a viable division?


As shown here, I like to cut the grass away before setting down the manure so that it gets absorbed by the roots quicker. Maybe I need to cut away another 1-2ft of grass since rhizomes still have a month of growing left.

[ghmerrill]

I make the perimeter bigger around my boos by just laying compost down right on top of the grass. Mostly it smothers the grass. Anything that pops up through it, I get with a shot of roundup.

[Alan_L]

A few layers of newspaper over the grass, with compost/mulch on top of that will smother and kill grass too.

[foxd]

I use cardboard with mulch on top.

[millerlightman02]

I use cardboard with mulch on top.

foxd .will the new shoots come through the cardboard the following spring?

[stevelau1911]

I guess I could of just added enough manure to smother the grass, but I'm definitely OK with the severed rhizome because it looks like it has grown about 3 inches since it has been severed and might have enough stored energy to turn into a viable plant especially since I added juicy roots onto the little bit of root growth that was there.

I applied about 200lbs of horse manure over a 9ft diameter area over the entire area that I expect to see shoots next year which is about 2-3 inches all over.

Here's how it looks afterward. I hope this is enough to get me some 15footers next year. The tall one above the rest was measured at 8ft 3inches today making this jump into being my 2nd tallest bamboo.

[needmore]

Steve, are you saying that a severed rhizome has grown 3 inches, since it was severed?

[stevelau1911]

Yes

More like 4 inches now, but it is over a 1/2 inch diameter rhizome which has the potential to reach 8ft if turned into a whip on the mother plant, but I'll be happy if it reaches 2-3ft before I have to top it and let it branch out before it expends all its energy and flops over.

This has happened on many of my vivax divisions where I didn't catch them soon enough due to the fast growth and once they decided to abort due to a shortage of energy, they shriveled up, but this time around, I'll top the shoot once it gets tall enough to make a few branches.

[needmore]

Are you talking about an underground section of new creamy white rhizome that you accidentally severed? One with no culms, no green coloration anywhere, and cut from the section of rhizome that has culms?

[stevelau1911]

It was severed about 3ft back from the rhizome tip and the total length of the whole thing was about 6-7ft depending on where it originated which is crazy long considering it is not even september yet so the section does have some roots on the lower nodes. I never expected them to travel that far since I was digging out the grass several feet away from the nearest culms. Another rhizome has probably replaced it by now.

There's very little root mass formed which makes it very hard to establish, but I potted it up anyways hoping it has enough saved energy to generate a small culm and get established. Most likely it will grow a few more inches, and stop growing to rot away, but I've been using root stimulators to try and revive this section. I think it still has a better chance than the tiny rhizome sections they sell on ebay.

[needmore]

So... you have a 6-7 feet long piece of bare rhizome - no clums attached - and it is continuing to grow longer since being severed and potted you say?

[stevelau1911]

Nope, it was severed towards the middle with around 3ft of rhizome for the division, but based on the spot I severed it, there had to of been about 3-4ft until the closest culm so I'm basically working with the youngest section which may or may not survive even with optimal care.

[needmore]

O.K. let's see if I got you now...you have a piece of bare rhizome that includes the growing tip and about 3 feet of rhizome from the growing tip back, and you are saying that it has grown 4 inches in 3 days?

How about posting a picture of it now and one in a few days so we can see the growth progress, I'm dying to see this!

[stevelau1911]

Yep, it's only 3ft of rhizome in a 5 gallon pot so if it didn't just uncurl itself in the pot and look taller it grew a few inches and should keep growing once it warms back up. All I need it to do is start making a few branches and I'll probably top it off. Would you suggest putting this thing in full sun or some shade to up my chances of success of survival?

Here's how it looks today at around 9 inches


I'll use a similar size shoot off the same plant for a growth benchmark.

[foxd]

I use cardboard with mulch on top.

foxd .will the new shoots come through the cardboard the following spring?

Usually the cardboard only lasts about a growing season. I used this method for the Sasa veitchii in the front yard and it didn't seem to have a problem putting up shoots the next year.