Wondering about the ramifications of transplanting a small division of jiuzhaigou 1 into a bigger pot prior to leafing out. Late last year(Nov.) I made a small division ~1.5”x4” with one existing culm into a 1.6 gal. pot. This year ~24 new culms arose with only a couple of the earliest leafing out. As the parent plant more than tripled in culm count this year I would like to transplant the division before shooting season to avoid high maintenance hassles later on as both plants sent up shoots continuously from spring to fall. Fargesia’s don’t appear overly fussy in this locale.

Pro’s & con’s?

pics: May and Nov.

_________________
"memory is the future of the past"

I have J1 too, and I've found that you just need to have a significant amount of root mass with feeder roots on each division to make them successful. This species is not quite as easy to divide up as rufa, but it's still pretty easy based on my experience.

Instead of going with 1 culm divisions, I would suggest splitting what you have on the bottom part into 3 sections ensuring each one has an equal amount of energy since too little mass will cause them to just die off.

_________________
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the response yet what I am inquiring about is transplanting that plant into a 5 gal pot before more of the culms leaf out. Those shown in upper photo are the ones that grew branches, the other 20+ later shoots in the bottom photo just have the top tuft.
Not looking to increase stock at this time just to make care of plant easier, less frequent watering, etc. when everything fills out and new shoots begin. Actually, was surprised so many shoots came from that tiny division.

_________________
"memory is the future of the past"

I think you would probably be ok. I tend to wait till later into spring generally because i want more rhizome mass and your probably not going to have a can full of rhizomes. on the other end of it by upsizing your not cutting any rhizomes so theres no real reason for the plant to go into shock. water well you can hit it with a b vitamin fertilizer to help limit any stress or if your unsure you can wait till spring. I have put divisions in one size and decided on another not long after on a few occasions no issues here just not my preferred method. you don't tend to want to little root mass in a big pot . always seems to have to much moisture in the can in my experience. so if upsize smaller can sizes at first. the larger the root mass the larger difference in size you can upsize successfully ,what i have noticed over the years

_________________
Jason Floyd
Hangtown Farms

Emmett Idaho
Zone 7A
Potato country

I'd make sure the mix is especially airy and free-draining as a) Fargesias are not that keen on pots - at least here - b) given the substantial pot-upsize and c) this time of year when root rot can be problematic.

john

_________________
johnw coastal Nova Scotia

good point on the soil mix

_________________
Jason Floyd
Hangtown Farms

Emmett Idaho
Zone 7A
Potato country

I'm finding that fargesia divisions take at least 2 full seasons to fill out a pot from a 1 culm division most likely because it cannot handle stronger sun and warmer temperatures in the summer here which cause the leaves to really curl up, but at least it doesn't kill them. It seems to be the same problem that moso has. Fargesias seem to prefer a cooler climate with higher humidity and precipitation.

Here's a J1 division that was taken back in 2014 which still hasn't spread out from the middle. It may do so next spring, but fargesias other than rufa here grow way slower than the do in the pnw.


The nitida seedling is having the same issues however it seems to be sun burnt more than anything else. These plants have a fairly narrow range of climates they can grow well in.


This denudata from last year only managed to make some tiny culms, but since they are throughout the pot, I expect better results next spring.

_________________
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

You're spot on Steve. The Fargesias do well here but they're really best on the coast. I'm on the coast and we get about 112 days of fog a year, the fog persists till late morning and rolls in again in the evening. We get just over 53" of rain a year rather evenly distributed by the month (at least on paper). Summers are cool. Temps here: summer starts in late June and we might see 31c in a warm summer but about 22/23c is average, 32 is rare; summer nights are generally below 15-17c. This past summer was unusually warm and humid (east coasters might laugh) but we only got to 29c (84F!) once. Springs are especially cool, rhodos can flower for weeks on end. We have real winters from mid December well into mid to late March with a storm of some sort every 5 days. If the ground freezes it can take weeks to thaw given our low Spring temps. Wind is a real problem. The Zone is 6 where I am but as cold a zone 6 as is possible; the southern tip of NS is 6b, 7a and 7b with even cooler summers and foggier by a long shot. Soil is poor, rocky and mineral.

All in all colder in winter than high mountainous China, the native haunts of many Fargesia species, but otherwise I'd guess quite similar. The Fargesias are also slow as molasses in pots here too, we have to be very careful with them - under-potting and keeping the mix light to avoid root rot.

Here the Phyllos are a challenge as they want heat and rich soil.....no July tomatoes here.

_________________
johnw coastal Nova Scotia

Thanks for all the feedback. I think you are right that the pot may not be filled out yet the way the parent plant has grown this past year and the way my other Fargesias have grown make me reluctant to wait. Pictures are easier than words.

Here is the parent plant back in May and 6 months later.

_________________
"memory is the future of the past"

Here is a GenF I purchased in Sept ’14, divided in Nov. ’14 and the 2 divisions now.
The original shows #1 pot sitting inside the paper pots I used for divisions filled with rocks so the plant wouldn’t tip over if I breathed on it.
I had buried the one shown in the sun in the sand to prevent blowing over. Late summer I noticed a couple shoots outside the pot. When I lifted pot, roots were growing all around the outside of the pot and the shoots had pierced through, shown left side of bottom pic.

_________________
"memory is the future of the past"

Denudata in #5 with only a few shoots in middle of pot before season. Shown May and 5 months later.

In closing;
John, we had one day over 84˚F this year, a whopping 94˚ for a few minutes. I was surprised when you showed your stats before, your avg. humidity 66% was so much lower than here 85%. Took 24" of rain in Dec. to fall 2" short of our 70" avg.

As Steve mentioned cool, humid and wet might be to Fargesias liking.

_________________
"memory is the future of the past"

Wind-borne

Great looking Fargesias! Funny how here they can be so temperamental in pots yet go crazy in the ground once established.

You had me searching for our humidity levels as with so much fog (@ 100% humidity) 66% seemed very low. Found this chart which may be for our airport which is inland about 40km & both colder & hotter, seems like we dry out when the fog lifts....merciful it never gets hot as we'd be a steam bath otherwise. One good thing is that humidity suppresses or maybe even knocks out bamboo mites.

Is your incredible rainfall evenly distributed throughout the year?

john

_________________
johnw coastal Nova Scotia

Here is link to our previous talk with charts of my rainfall and your humidity

viewtopic.php?p=68632#p68632

I would save 'incredible' rainfall for the 35 years I spent on the edge of a rainforest on Maui where our highs (not normal) of 140"/yr, 45"/month, 16"/day were
avg. ~100"

The rain here is much slower darker relentless this time of year. Only been here 2 years so time will tell…

_________________
"memory is the future of the past"

Wasn’t really planning on updating this thread yet wolfedg’s wishes to see progressive growth in the ‘Fargesia in southern Missouri’ inspired me to.
I took a conservative route in Jan. after reading through thread transplanting from 8x8 to 10x10 instead of going larger. Realized earlier this week that was a short-lived solution as I found shoots had burst through 2 sides of the pulp pot. Been raining so much I hadn't noticed the bulges even, so transplanted into a 13x12 a few days ago. So much easier peeling away rather than carefully pushing or cutting. Plant looks a lot more content now.
Less than 2 years old from single culm division shown in OP.

_________________
"memory is the future of the past"

Nice shot there wind-borne. I'm afraid I would find it very hard to resist the temptation to propagate that J#1, all those roots on every new shoot.

What sort of mix do you use? I ask as I find I have to make sure the drainage is particularly sharp for Fargesias potted up in the autumn and care not to overwater.

johnw - overcast and +12c, 25mm. last night.

_________________
johnw coastal Nova Scotia