Rhizomes 2012

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Tarzanus
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Rhizomes 2012

Post by Tarzanus »

Today I noticed first rhizome growth this year on one of the Moso seedlings. I haven't really looked for it, but it appeared during heavy rainfall last night. It's at least five times thicker than anything growing above the ground. :thumbright:

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sully0family
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by sully0family »

these are the Rubro Rhizomes I was so excited about the other night on the chat. Planted in Feb., they only put out a couple of small shoots. The grass clippings haven't been there too long since I didn't start mowing till May. As you can see, they have traveled 3+ feet in a couple months or less; I was always looking for shoots, so I would have noticed them during shooting season. Does it seem uncommon for rhizomes to travel this fast or do the old studies hold true about red Margin?
Mike O
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sully0family
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by sully0family »

Rubro must be one of the first to travel because now I am seeing this in the remaining plants out of the 8 planted in Feb. except one. There was nothing there earlier in the week, and now they have gone from 3- 12 inches. I did notice that the spectabilis rhizomes that I started my trench barrier around have grown a couple inches into the empty trench.
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stevelau1911
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by stevelau1911 »

It seems like rubro, yellow groove and bissetii are the most aggressive runners in both # of rhizomes and the distance they run which makes them the best screeners. I believe it might be due to how good their tap & feeder root systems grow. When I was digging up a 140lb multi-culm division of yellow groove for someone, it was a solid mass of roots that reached as much as 8 inches deep.

So far with this year's drought, there has been absolutely no signs of rhizome growth on anything yet, even with the ones I try to water once in a while. Usually the most rhizome growth occurs from september through october around here, but if there's not enough warm weather and precipitation, rhizomes can run only a matter of inches. By keeping around 1ft of leaf mulch on my moso bicolor, I'm hoping that it basically keeps the rhizomes nice and moist to help them run farther with minimizing the amount of water they get. I'm not sure if it is due to the development of new roots, the completion of leaf growth, or lower sun angle, but the bicolor doesn't seem to be curling leaves as much as it once did.
bamboothew
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by bamboothew »

I noticed today that my harbin-inversa (1 gal plant in the ground since this Spring) has dolphined a rhizome about 2 feet away. Pretty amazing for a plant in about 3/4 shade :)

Also noticed rhizomes escaping from 3 sides of a 15gal pot of Phy. nidularia 'June Barbara' that is a 2 gal plant from this Spring. This one is labeled as a very slow runner, so perhaps this furthers my theory that there is no such thing as a slow runner in my climate :eek:
God Bless,

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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.
stevelau1911
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by stevelau1911 »

Regardless of the warm summer and pampering, there is still no sign of new rhizome growth yet on any of my bamboos so the dry conditions might be taking a toll on the shooting season for next year. Most running bamboos tend to spread out a few feet on their 2nd or 3rd year, but then focus more on height gain after that, and with only a few exceptions, many bamboos only seem to run as far as I pamper them. Even though upsize and spread is not impressive here; bamboos seem to be hardy enough to continually get taller year to year so I can kind of treat them like tropical clumpers. Of course I wished I could grow the real thing and get 100ft by 12 inch dendrocalamus culms. I'm expecting around 35X3 to be around the genetic potential of the best performers in my climate.

On the other hand the bananas seem to be thriving with the increase in temperatures as my musa itinerans mekong giant is approaching 3ft while the largest musa basjoo is approaching 12ft by 7 inches in diameter. They also appear to be making pups, some as far as 1ft away perhaps due to the 1ft deep planting, and my bananas are only watered occasionally. I wonder if I can get them up to 1ft in diameter.
pokenei
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by pokenei »

Thick rhizomes means thick shoots for next year's growth. Wish I have that kind of size.
It's been hot and dry for the most part for me. I also try not to water too much for fear of root rot.
For now, my bamboos seem to hold their ground. Not much growth above ground and no rhizome activity either. The only exception has been Rubro which has put up 2.5 upsized shoots so far this year.

My musa basjoo is also slow growing. It is currently around 5 feet-ish. I planted it in a raised bed corner that get full afternoon but are completed shaded out during morning and later afternoon hours.
stevelau1911
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by stevelau1911 »

I believe that it also requires a bamboo to expend energy the same way in which it produces new shoots when rhizomes are formed. I have witnessed many juvenile bamboos which have focused almost solely on rhizome growth on their first season, and it might perhaps be a survival mechanism to ensure that the bamboo has a place to store energy in case there is top kill over the winter, or get grazed heavily by deer. I think the best case scenario is when rhizomes grow early enough so that the bamboo has enough time throughout late summer & fall to recharge its starch levels, and maximize the capacity of its rhizomes, maturing its buds at the same time.

I currently have a 9ft tall phyllostachys dulcis 1 culm division in a 15 gallon container which is nicely leafed out, but due to the short growing season here, it is possible for this plant to skip a shooting season next year while it grows rhizomes for 2 years, and then puts out upsized shoots for 2014. I'm surprised that not even my potted bamboos seem to show any rhizome growth yet, and these guys get the sprinkler on a daily basis. They also show no signs of dry soil or root-boundedness as I keep them all split up or up-potted on a regular basis.

My 1 phyllostachys kwangsiensis is already 3ft tall, and working on its 2nd shooting wave for this year which should be taller by another foot or so, but this seedling is still showing no signs of wanting to put out a single rhizome.
Tarzanus
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by Tarzanus »

It seems that Moso seedling decided to leave the container. It's a large container and bamboo started growing thick rhizomes in all directions. That's the only seedling from last year that showed extremely vigorous behavior. It actually started running in the first year, right after it almost got killed by poor waterlogged soil.
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needmore
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by needmore »

The rhizome growth that I am after is where I'll not see it so how do you know whether or not any has initiated? Shallow rhizomes that are visible/exposed to light seem to me to fire off immature buds creating scrawny culms so I don't expect much from those I can see therefore I try to avoid poking around in the ground looking for them.

In pots where you water daily/feed the rhizome growth will explode on most species so it may be a little misleading in terms of how aggressive a bamboo will be once in-ground.
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stevelau1911
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by stevelau1911 »

There are quite a few signs of rhizome growth initiation. Some species like moso bicolor will noticeably yellow and drop some older leaves right with the onset of it. Since all my bamboos have a layer of mulch, there will be rhizomes that get attracted right to the surface, often causing whip shoots, and some bamboos tend to spot the surface before diving back down again, but not the really fat ones that grow straight, and deeper. After a couple weeks of initiation, there is sometimes soil cracking, and root hairs appearing right under the mulch.

I believe that rhizome growth will commence right after we get some significant rainfall. Even the spectabilis is not running yet, and that should be the first species to put out rhizomes here. Most of my bamboos are not curling their leaves so it is possible for some rhizome growth to have started without detection yet, especially if they are growing a bit deeper. Many of my bamboo groves are no longer that juvenile so maybe they won't always spot the surface with their rhizomes anymore.
bamboothew
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by bamboothew »

I spotted a golden dolphin almost 9 feet away from my aureosulcata 'Aureocaulis' and there are still months of growing season left :|
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Tarzanus
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by Tarzanus »

In pots where you water daily/feed the rhizome growth will explode on most species so it may be a little misleading in terms of how aggressive a bamboo will be once in-ground.
True, but not with Moso. Seedlings that were planted in the same soil, got the same conditions and received the same amount of love showed more or less aggression when compared. Only one managed to fire off short rhizomes in late summer during the first year, survived most of the winter without major protection and then performed nicely in the spring and started shooting around 2 months earlier than last year. Other last years seedlings that managed to survive the winter are all in poor condition, smaller than seedlings from this winter. There is a huge difference among these specific seedlings, I'm sure about that. In a few years I'll be able to compare aggressiveness against other bamboos, all planted in ground in similar conditions.
On the other hand, almost all bamboos started shooting in the last couple of weeks, dropped some leaves and some of them had shown rhizome growth. I didn't dig around them to find them, heavy rain washed off dirt and grass clippings
stevelau1911
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by stevelau1911 »

I'm kind of surprised that moso bicolor is the first one to run, so with 1ft long near 1 inch thick rhizomes already, I think the pampering is finally starting to pay off. Over the 1.5 month span without rain, I think having the sprinkler on it twice a week is making a huge diffence. Its the only in ground bamboo I still water regularly since I reallycdont mind if the more established groves only run a few inches each year as long as the drought doesn't kiol them. Aside from spectabilis and parvifolia, I'm currently growing mostly slow runners in my climate which still have the ability to reach a good size.
stevelau1911
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Re: Rhizomes 2012

Post by stevelau1911 »

This year's rhizome growing season has been pretty late, or non-existent on most bamboos so far, but with the near 2 inches of rain we got in the past week, a few of them have started to do something. Many bamboos tend to run less and less as they mature while they focus more on putting out larger culms. I believe this is due to the short growing season. It takes 3-4 months with our relatively cool dry summers, sometimes longer for bigger culms to fill out their energy capacity in the culm enough to have energy reserves to expend in rhizome growth so by the time the culms are done growing, it is already cooling down to the point where rhizome growth is difficult. This allows a juvenile plant to run a few feet in the first couple years, then start slowing down and growing more like a clumper afterwards. This might apply to the northern part of the UK, and all throughout the Ontario/ great lakes area. I just hope that the lack of precipitation doesn't stunt the size of next year's shoots.

I believe that the earlier shooters such as bissetiis, and aureosulcatas get done growing quick enough to bypass this limitation allowing them to still run several feet a year, even when they get bigger.

Atrovaginata: This one has 2 rhizomes which look like they will turn into whip shoots.


Here's one from last year
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These ankle breakers seem to never be able to work themselves back into the soil unless I really loosen it up with organic matter or manually work them down.
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Dulcis: When I took a field division a few weeks ago to send away, there was one part of the rhizome that came loose so I potted it up, and even though this was after shooting season, it still produced two small shoots.
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Edulis bicolor: I never expected this to happen, but the sprinkler must be working if my moso bicolor is producing the most rhizome growth out of all the bamboo. I grow some vegetables in the same area so this guy gets watered all the time resulting in rhizome growth 5 weeks ahead of when it started last year regardless of the drought.

There might be more of them down there, but here are the ones that surfaced.
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There's another rhizome directly beside this one so I decided to turn it up and hope it turns into a viable division while all the rest of them got pushed down. I guess the hot mulch, manure, and watering really draws these rhizomes upwards.
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I think rhizome growth might have a very good correlation with how bushy the plant is because this is already so loaded with leaves that I had to use stakes to keep the culms from lying on the ground from the start of July. Notice how dry the grass looks in comparison to the bamboo.
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On the contrary, a bamboo like the decora which nearly died over the drought hardly produce any leaves, and has no rhizome growth yet.
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