Giant Timber not looking too healthy

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Gerryo619
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Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by Gerryo619 »

I need some suggestions on how to make my Oldhamii look healthy. I have a lot of brown and yellow leaves. So far one new culm for the season. There is one older thicker cane that must've been from the original plant. This culm is all yellow and patchy and almost looks rotted out. Should I just cut this down to the dirt? Or what else should I do. I don't think it's a lack of water since I give it a good soaking every couple of days. By the way I live in San Diego Zone 10a. This plant gets direct afternoon sun. Thanks
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DesertDweller
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by DesertDweller »

Gerryo619 wrote:I need some suggestions on how to make my Oldhamii look healthy. I have a lot of brown and yellow leaves. So far one new culm for the season. There is one older thicker cane that must've been from the original plant. This culm is all yellow and patchy and almost looks rotted out. Should I just cut this down to the dirt? Or what else should I do. I don't think it's a lack of water since I give it a good soaking every couple of days. By the way I live in San Diego Zone 10a. This plant gets direct afternoon sun. Thanks
The only time mine have ever looked that way was shortly after transplant, probably because it was blisteringly hot (110F+). Shot in the dark here, but are you sure they're getting enough water? Not my oldhamii, but a few of my others have looked that way if I neglected to water them well enough once the weather ratcheted up a few degrees too warm for their taste.

As far as the yellowing cane, I have noticed on my oldhamii that those with the most direct sun exposure seem to have the most yellowing of the older canes. Leaves are beautiful, but lots of the same cane coloration you are seeing. It is definitely more pronounced with greater exposure to strong, direct sun, at least in my case.
Gerryo619
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by Gerryo619 »

Thanks for the response. I really don't think it's a lack of water. I water it at 2-3 times per week and usually give it about a gallon of water. YEsterday I actually sawed the big ugly yellow cane off so now I'm left mostly with last year's culms and one new one from this year.I am just at a loss on what to try next, I am always hesitant to add fertilizer since I haven't had the best of luck with it in the past. I have another Giant Timber that I planted one year prior that is looking nice and healthy compared to this guy, although it is in a different part of my yard that gets a lot more shade...
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by needmore »

Speaking out of ignorance here but I interviewed for a job in zone 9b CA and visited the local bamboo nursery. The owner said that Oldhamii doers not like wind and generally looks crappy after winter.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Gerryo619
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by Gerryo619 »

Thanks for the response. I guess I will just wait a month or so to see if there is any improvement. I would assume if there's going to be any improvement or new growth, it will be around this time of year through summer. I will keep the post updated. Thanks
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

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Gerryo619 wrote:Thanks for the response. I really don't think it's a lack of water. I water it at 2-3 times per week and usually give it about a gallon of water. YEsterday I actually sawed the big ugly yellow cane off so now I'm left mostly with last year's culms and one new one from this year.I am just at a loss on what to try next, I am always hesitant to add fertilizer since I haven't had the best of luck with it in the past. I have another Giant Timber that I planted one year prior that is looking nice and healthy compared to this guy, although it is in a different part of my yard that gets a lot more shade...
I can't speak for your locale, but here in AZ, when we get up into the 90F+ territory, the oldhamii I have in full sun need water almost daily or they'll look similar to yours. If yours that aren't in full sun look better, there might be some relationship. Full sun is pretty rough on them, from my experience. Even with all the water, you can tell from a mile away which ones get the most sun.

Waiting to see how the shooting experience varies between the partial and full sun specimens. The one that gets the most shade is easily the most robust and has a huge cane popping up already (the 1st to do so).

At least our experience with sun seems to be consistent. :D
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by Gerryo619 »

So this guy isn't doing much better still. So far I've gotten one new shoot this season and it has grown diagonally. Whereas with my other giant timber (one year older) that gets a lot more shade, is thriving. It has put out around 6 really thick new shoots so for this season. Needless to say it LOOKS a lot healthier also. So...that brings the next question..should I try to move him to a spot with more shade, similar to my other one, or will the transplant kill it? I really can't see it ever looking or thriving the way I had intended it to when I first planted it there...
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by T9D »

Those leaves are burnt from being to dry. It's possible there wasn't enough roots for the amount of top growth when they dug it up. So even if you water it a lot it won't get enough water in the hot sun.

I had the same thing happen to my Decora the first year. Plus to make it worse I was watering it plenty but after I dug it up it was bone dry a ways down. The water wasn't soaking down for some reason and I think I needed more rich soil too.

I think you should try shading it some and watering a bit more. Maybe give it some mild small fertilizer. If it was me I'd probably pull it up and put it in a pot with some very rich compost and soil. Keep it well watered and cover it with something that lets half sun half shade in. So the full sun isn't on it. In full hot sunny days I water my bamboo every day with a huge bucket of pond water. Thrives like that.

When it's healthy again maybe next spring stick it back in the ground, make sure there is a lot of rich soil mixed in, in a large area around it. Doesn't look like you went to far around it with good soil.

Or at least get rid of the dead grass around it for now. Make a circle wall of dirt so it's kind of a bowl around it. Then water it so it pools up in there and water every day. Maybe throw some compost out side the circle so the soil around it will be more rich and hold water better. May need more nutrients too. I mix some urine with water once a week or so, keeps them green and growing (1 part urine with 10 parts water).
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by Gerryo619 »

Thanks for the response. Since my first posting on this topic I have layered it with rich mulch and pulled out a lot of the grass that was around it. I also gave it a bit of lawn fertilizer, but I haven't seen any improvement, unless I just being impatient So you think if I do pull it out of the ground I should try planting it in a pot until next season, as opposed to planting it directly into the ground in a shadier area?
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by T9D »

You can wait a little longer and see if it starts putting on leaves. As long as it's not getting worse. At some point if its doing ok it will start adding leaves and eventually drop the old dry ones. I'd still try to keep so much sun off it though. Try digging down a very small area about a foot deep and see if it's getting water down there. Also it may just be putting everything it's got into rhizomes and roots though, so all the growth is underneath. Once that is done it would start putting energy into everything above ground. I really think it was just getting to hot and to much sun for how small the roots probably were when you planted it. It just couldn't get enough water through the roots to feed all the top in hot dry weather.

I have a big ole pot of bissetii that they barely gave me any roots. It's not doing much at all and I have to water the heck out of it. So it's basically maintaining. But we haven't even had super hot temps yet. I think it's probably growing roots to catch up to all the top growth above. It just now started growing some new leaves though when I looked today. Some of the older leaves got a little scorched, but not many. So yeah I think yours is the same thing but with hotter temps and bigger it's probably getting hit worse. When the roots catch up it will probably be fine. Lower the amount of sun though!
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by Gerryo619 »

Alright, I guess I can leave it be for a while longer. I will continue to give it attention to see if it gets any better. You might be right about the roots not being strong enough when planted. This one was purchased at Home Depot and they very well may sell these right after being propagated and potted. As far as giving it shade where it currently is, I would have to build a made-shift shade. Assuming only the bottom of the plant would need shade? As opposed to the whole plant..
Thanks again for the response!
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by fredgpops »

Oldhamaii shoots in late fall and winter months and gets beat up by wind and cold. It's hard for it to grow tall because the wind and cold stunt the culms. If you plant it in a protective area you have a better chance for success. This species loves water and a lot of manure. This is gopher candy and I think most rodents like it. I'd say this guy is better suited for urban areas than out in the sticks. This species does extremely well in S. California where it is used as a hedge. I believe it was brought into the US primarily for this function. Buddha Belly is far more hardy. I have oldhamii and it's a pain in the tush compared to other lower min temp bambusas. Rgds
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

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fredgpops wrote:Oldhamaii shoots in late fall and winter months and gets beat up by wind and cold. It's hard for it to grow tall because the wind and cold stunt the culms. If you plant it in a protective area you have a better chance for success. This species loves water and a lot of manure. This is gopher candy and I think most rodents like it. I'd say this guy is better suited for urban areas than out in the sticks. This species does extremely well in S. California where it is used as a hedge. I believe it was brought into the US primarily for this function. Buddha Belly is far more hardy. I have oldhamii and it's a pain in the tush compared to other lower min temp bambusas. Rgds
Totally agree with this. As above, my experience is right in line with this. My most sheltered, shaded oldhamii is putting up the biggest up-sized cane at the moment, has the most foliage and is easily twice as lush as the other 15-gallon specimens I put in at the same time, more or less, last year. The ones in full sun with little shade always look ratty(er) and the further into the shade I go, the nicer they look.

Here's the most sheltered one:
oldhamii_pic3.JPG
For a more side-by-side comparison, here are three others I have nearby. These looked more or less the same when planted, but this one is the furthest into the sun and gets the most direct light, pretty much all day. Healthy leaves, but the canes are fried yellow from this side (but oddly still green when viewed edge-on from the right):
oldhamii_pic2.JPG
Further to the right are these other two specimens (and further still, you can see the Buddha Belly). Notice how much nicer they look, increasingly so as you go further into the shade at right:
oldhamii_pic1.JPG
I'm curious to see how shooting season will differ between these. The right-most B. oldhamii has put up two canes already out of season, on-par with the size that was already there. Hoping for better in the fall when we hit monsoon season. Nothing from the left-most plant since it went into the ground. :|
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by T9D »

Interesting comparison Desertdweller. I wonder if it will get more sun tolerant though as it get's more mature and gets a bigger root system and shades itself more too. I don't have oldhamii but my Decora did the same thing the first year. The second year I watered it like mad and its root system was more mature and then it all really took off and looks healthy now in full sun. I wonder if oldhamii can do the same. But I guess either way he needs to try to shade it more for now, that sun is giving it a beating.
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Re: Giant Timber not looking too healthy

Post by Tarzanus »

Deeper and better developed root system will certainly help. To make it's roots go deeper, you have to water it abundantly and less often. That way, roots will go deeper, searching for water when soil on top starts getting dry.
Self shading could work, but in the end the plant is still exposed to full sun and some of the leaves are more shaded than other. If sun is too strong, I guess the leaves that are hit the most would look damaged. The sun itself can be a problem, but in most cases, damage can be result of sun/wind combination that sucks moisture out of the plant almost instantly if roots can't replenish it in time.

I covered my young plants with white glass-fiber mesh. It worked great and they could take full sun with ease. Without it, there was more brown than green.
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