Fall Shooting - Big Mistakes!

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Eric Layton
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Fall Shooting - Big Mistakes!

Post by Eric Layton »

Mistake #1
A couple of months back I was cleaning up around the garden and had a couple bags of NutriMulch (turkey manure/wood bark blend) that I had not used yet this year. So I thought, hey, bamboo likes manure, I'll just spread it around my clump of Ph. rubro. Well a few days latter I noticed the tips of the leaves yellowing. Most likely suffering from fertilizer burn. It wasn't too bad and I left it alone.

Mistake #2
With our dry climate, we are concerned with water evaporation when irrigating and there are even laws about not watering during the hottest part of the day. About a month ago I happened upon some soaker hoses that were on sale and thought this might work for my garden and bamboo. Well, they worked great! Very slow flow, soaked the ground deep, no run off, you get the point. One was placed around the afore mentioned rubro.

Not Now!
I was out doing some fall clean up when I noticed one of the biggest shoots ever in my clump of rubro, almost 3/4" and about half a foot tall. Closer inspection revealed 20+ shoots going gangbusters. In the spring that would be good news, but it's the middle of October! What should be done? Do I let it go and hope some pull through the cold winter? Or should I cut them off now to help conserve energy for next spring? I guess all the extra fertilizer and water was the signal that it's time to grow. Sheepishly asking for advice....Eric
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BooKing
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Post by BooKing »

my vivax aureac. is doing the same thing right now. I tried as best as possible to reposition the new culms and bury them in extra dirt/compost I put on top of them and I topped off with 3 or 4 inches of mulch.I used some small rocks to hold down the culms. Don't know if this will work butI hate to see those new shoots turn to toast in the next few weeks... :?:
Thuja
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late shoots

Post by Thuja »

I had to go out and check my rubro after reading your post. I did fertilize slightly in late summer/early fall but didn't get shooting like you're describing. Wow, 3/4" is nice size, and I believe yours is a newer planting too? Sorry, I don't know what is best to do about the late shoots. Maybe Brad will have an answer for that. Fall has been unusually warm here so far, so I don't know if this is a contributing factor in late shooting. I would think if it would get cold enough then you could mulch your new shoots very heavily and maybe they could just go dormant for winter. But if it stays warm like this I don't know. :roll: My only guess is to just leave them be and see what happens. It just seems too painful to chop off perfectly good shoots. I guess you could eat them. :shock:
--Mike
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Eric Layton
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Photo of late shoot

Post by Eric Layton »

My sister-in-law from Laos has always threatened to raid my bamboo for the shoots. I keep telling her, not yet they are still getting established. If it is best to cut these off before winter, I guess she could have these. Here is a photo of the confused shoot.

<img src="http://xs50.xs.to/pics/05414/OctRubro.jpg" title="Free image hosting powered by xs.to">
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needmore
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fall shootzzz

Post by needmore »

Eric, I really don't know what is 'best' but I usually leave them alone as I figure the plant knows more than I do about what's best for it.

I would not bother to try to save them with mulching or anything else, I'd suggest letting them go. Perhaps cutting them off would conserve some rhizome resources but who can say that they would generate a new flush of shoots if you do that, further weaking the reserves?

I have had A Gigantea shoots get to about 3 feet tall, stop growing, endure -12F and colder, and then to my amazement they not only survived they started going vertical in the spring and fully developed.
I have seen no other species at my place do this, only the hyper-hardy native Gigantea.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
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Eric Layton
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Post by Eric Layton »

Thanks for the reply Brad, I can't imagine it going too much farther before the really cold nights stop the shoots in their tracks. My pumpkin and tomato plants are already toast. By the way, the 1-culm A. gigantea that I got from you put up 5 culms this summer and is nearby along with the bissetii. I will see how they endure the winter here.
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Thuja
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1996: -29*F;
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Arundinaria gigantea 'Hoosier Strain'

Post by Thuja »

Ya, my Hoosier Strain A. gigantea put up 5 shoots, then aborted 1. It will be interesting to see how it does this winter. Its leaves seem thinner than other bamboos' so it's surprising that they can hold up in the cold.
--Mike
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needmore
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hoosier gigantea

Post by needmore »

Yes, indeed, I'm quite curious to see how both of your Gigantea's hold up this winter. Hopefully it's not just a Hoosier thing! As I recall, even the first winter for me they help up just fine.

Keep me posted!
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
Mike McG
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Late Shoots

Post by Mike McG »

Eric,

I rarely get late shoots on Phyllostachys unless it is a new late/winter division. In that case the new shoots are small and just continue to eventually leaf out. We only get a few days below freezing and a few early morning minimums in the range of 15-20F. If the Bambusas get late shoots, as they frequently do, sometimes they will abort, but more frequently they just stop growing until it warms up in the spring and they restart where they left off.

In any case, I think Needmore is correct and I would just leave them alone and find out if they survive or not. Good luck.

Mike near Brenham TX
BooKing
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Post by BooKing »

My vivax aureac has put up 8 new shoots in the last 2weeks...we had over 1foot of rain in the last week- :? I am getting ready to build an ark out of my bamboos.....
EBinNC
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Post by EBinNC »

I have aurea and Vivax a. shooting along with another unknown Phylo. My Alphonse Karr is also in its second round of shooting due to all the rain.
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