Replanting Bamboo

Ask questions about growing bamboo

Moderator: needmore

Post Reply
Chris_EST
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2017 11:02 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Parkville, Maryland USA

Replanting Bamboo

Post by Chris_EST »

We brought a house close to a year ago and the previous owner had planted and bamboo three years ago, but could never get it to spread. This year it seems to make taking off. Rhizomes keeps popping up in the yard, I keep trying to dig them up and put them closer to our fence line, but each time I do it, the rhizomes I seemed to replant dies off. I don't break off the rhizomes, I dig it all the way at ground level and then cut where it attaches to the rest of the bamboo plant.

Not sure what type of bamboo it is either.

How can I get it to replant without dying?
[img] https://ibb.co/fL0hVk
https://ibb.co/hT5ubQ
https://ibb.co/fL0hVk [/img]
Eric
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat May 02, 2015 11:27 am
Location info: 0
Location: NC zone 7

Re: Replanting Bamboo

Post by Eric »

The normal way to transplant bamboo, which is probably your only practical option, is to transplant in late winter/early spring, maybe a month or so before the time it starts sending up new shoots.
cole
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2015 11:42 pm
Location info: 0
Location: PA, Arbor Day Zone SIX, baby!

Re: Replanting Bamboo

Post by cole »

Just to add to what Eric said ... you have a runner sending out underground rhizomes. What you see are the shoots that are called culms. Most of the living energy is in the underground rhizomes. To transplant, you need a substantial section of the underground rhizome, harvested while it's still packed with energy - as Eric wrote. Dig up a couple of feet (the more the better), gently keeping it as intact as possible. Be especially gentle with the tiny anchor roots. Whatever you damage will force the plant to have to recreate. Then plant it at a similar depth. The culm(s) may or may not survive. If they do, they'll collect and channel more energy to the rhizome for the next shooting season. When I transplant running bamboo, I usually don't bother with culms. I just dig up four five foot sections of rhizomes. It's easier to make the 100 mile trip from my source.

Your error is likely that you are transplanting culms with very little rhizome. You want at least three healthy eye buds, but the more the merrier.

I'm just a newb, so I defer to the seasoned experts on this site. But that's my 2 cents. Good luck!
Tarzanus
Posts: 1457
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:05 am
Location info: 0
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia

Re: Replanting Bamboo

Post by Tarzanus »

The photo shows shoots that are still growing. Wait at least another month or two before you dig those two shoots and take the rhizome with them to their new location. I would wait for both shoots to fully leaf out before digging them out. I would do it during shitty weather in the end of summer or early autumn. If you get them leafed out in early summer, I'd go for that. Mid summer is usually too hot and too dry for us. It would most likely be fine, but I would rather wait.

The second option is to dig out rhizome sections as already mentioned above. You need to do that in early spring or late winter when the soil is thawed and the shoots are not yet starting. At that point, there's a lot of energy stored in the rhizome and if you take a rhizome cutting that is long enough, you usually get a healthy division. in a few months when the spring arrives.

Good luck.
Post Reply