A couple of pics
Plus a weed seems to be making 2 inch 30 foot culms look small

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Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size

Here are pics for Shanghai 3 2011 and Parvifolia 2010

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Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size

Holy Hannah Steve!

They look great, especially impressive is the erect habit of Shanghai #3.

Obviously they don't mind cold infiltrating through the wooden sides.

johnw - +15c and spitting rain.

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johnw coastal Nova Scotia

Down to climate John, I figure there is not a much better climate than here for ph Bamboos . Not so good for humans tho
best Wishes
Steve

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Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size

Could say the same for here with Fargesias and at 15c!

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johnw coastal Nova Scotia

Looking good

Unachievable growth rates as compared to here or your place in France.

Gonna have to keep those rhizomes in check though

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Bamboo...Please note... This plant is seriously addictive and you may lose interest in other, less rewarding plants!

Steve, was outside when I missed your call, I'll try to catch you as well. Is the parvifolia leaning or doing the parvifolia angled thing? I wonder if it needs a heavier, clayey soil in a box or mound? I have some very large culms laying totally flat on the ground with the branches all growing up the same side, I think those were undermined by voles though, my other 3 patches of it are thus far very vertical.

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Brad Salmon, zone 5b/6 Southern Indiana
Winters -20 to -25C. Summers 30 to 35C , humid. 115 cm annual precipitation, frost free from May through early October. 259.3 meters elevation. Growing 150+ species. http://www.needmorebamboo.com/

Hi guys , Mark post some pics, good to talk the other day, cool weather Parvi size up is great news.
Brad , it's a mix of things on the parvi angle, I cut all the old culms out last year in shooting season so I had more shoots going toward the Sun , plus 45 degree shoots. Some where effected by heavy weather. This years culms are all the upright ones, the next few months will see if they stay that way. I'm letting Parvi look a bit of a mess until next shooting season, my Parvi shoots in shade head for the sky and do not angle. A lot of 2 inch plus culms this year, way more consistant that Shanghai 3. Shanghai 3 has a mix of 1.5 to 3 inch culms. Three inch Shanghai 3 culms are about 3 feet taller than a 2 inch culm, so I guess it's topped out. Shanghai 3 is getting the look that Jos had a few years ago. The staged level of branches, I'm hoping next year will see a few more three inch culms and then I'll cut everything but the big ones out.
Talk soon
Steve
p.s. The weed is not a weed but Tetrapanax papyrifer 'steroidal giant' , runs like a weed or a Bamboo tho

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Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size

Thanks for sharing the awesome pics, Steve! Don't have Shanghai 3 but parvifolia is showing phenominal growth here: I got mine last year in late summer and potted it to size up a bit but now wish I had put it straight in the ground!

I wish you hadn't shown the Tetrapanax, though: been resisting getting that one for years but now I'm convinced that I must have it

How long has it taken the Tetrapanax to get that large?

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God Bless,

Matthew

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Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.

The giant weed has been around for about the same time period of three years. Tetrapaxax will get full size leaves and be about six feet tall in it's first year, cold Winters will cut the plant to the ground , but it comes back in Multiple locations from the root. They do run like mad and are pretty easy to propagate, small off shoots sometimes do not have enough roots early season to make a good division. I keep meaning to measure the leaves they must be heading for four feet across this year.
All the Best
Steve
p.s. Just measured a leaf I could reach at 45.5 inches by 36 inches

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Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size

Wow, those are huge leaves!

You're not helping my exotic plant addiction any, though

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God Bless,

Matthew

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Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.

After a recent thunderstorm with several inches of rain, a couple new parvifolia culms at the edge of a small grove here now lean almost horizontally.
Apparently, the wind convinced them all to lean in the same direction.

I find that the leaning of parvifolia culms is not that bad as they still don't have that many leaves. Usually the culms in the middle of the grove manage to stay upright. What I find is that the culms along the side of the grove tend to grow at a slight angle away from the center of the grove. Once more foliage is added, and it rains, the already leaning culms tend to lean even further due to being too top heavy. Another explanation could be that the shoots are reaching towards the sun for more photosynthesis, but when I took divisions off only 1 side last year, the new edge culms that were straight never leaned. Perhaps it might also be due to the depth that the rhizomes typically grow as parvifolia doesn't seem to get that deep in comparison to other bamboos, but I really have no idea.

The great thing about this is that I don't have to stake a parvifolia grove apart in order to get more sun since it does it already however a large grove with leaning culms can make it more difficult to mow the lawn around the grove. I think one option to prevent this from ever happening is to tie many of the culms to each other with a roll of yarn before they start leaning too much.


Your bamboos are definitely upsizing and spreading at a much faster rate than mine are over the same amount of time. I could imagine that these species can really tear up the ground in a hurry in a zone 8b where there is just enough of a winter to fulfill the chilling requirements for bud development.

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