Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

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Snowbird
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Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by Snowbird »

Hello,

I was introduced to this site through an email from a fellow grower. I've been doing a lot of reading trying to find out how bamboo will perform in my climate. so far, my best guess is that i can subtract about 1/3 off the recorded heights the folks in zone 8 are getting. does anyone of here have mature groves growing in a similar climate to salt lake city, ut? the zone maps put us around zone 5b or 6. i'm in my fourth growing season with several types of phyllostachys, semiarundinarias and a couple fargesias. so far, the ones growing in full sun are still bushy but starting to size up in diameter and the ones with less than 6 hours of sun are getting taller with fewer culms. my initial plantings were for privacy but as the boo bug got its claws in me i started looking for anywhere to put it. i'm now starting to rethink some of those placements due to the possibility of them being too large. so, does anyone have experience growing in a similar climate?
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needmore
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by needmore »

Your 5b/6a will differ from mine quite a bit but I'd guess that your:

Phyllostachys - biggest will get 18-20 feet, slightly more if you are 6a, more like 15-18 in 5b
Semiarundinarias - will probably stay under 10, maybe 12 feet

Assuming the above get lots of sun, are well fed & watered.

Your Fargesia will probably be in the 6-8 foot range.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Snowbird
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by Snowbird »

Thanks for the reply, needmore.

after 4 growing seasons:
--my bissetti is filling out and 9' tall. it seems to be the best suited for my area. (2 gal)
--semiarundinari fastuosa is sizing up and 12-14' tall now. it is my second best performer and my quickest to size up in both culm diameter and height but not filling out. (1 gal)
--phy aureosulcata's are all around 7' and filling in. these i'm most curious about the overall height, especially the yellow crookstem. (1 and 2 gal)
--phy viridis 'robert young' is existing but not growing. it hasn't done well over winter and hasn't produced any new culms. (1 gal)
--phy nigra's are all beginning to grow but he henon is the winner here. it filled out and sized up in diameter this year but not height (only 8'). i assume this may be due to the hot west sun location. (1gal)
--phy rubromarginata hasn't done much yet and is in the same location as henon. it was a root bound 3 gal that did have plenty of rhizomes with buds. thinking it may need more shade.
--pl viridistriatus's all died over winter and haven't come back. same for semiarundinaria yashadake. (1 gal)
--far robusta -- most died over winter but the wolong survived. it has been growing slowly in the shade with the rufa. (1 and 2 gal)


thanks again for the help. if you have any thoughts on the heights of the aureosulcata's i'd love to hear them.
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by benboo »

I'm in the same situation.... I want the largest bamboo in the same climate
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by stevelau1911 »

I think the best candidates for the largest bamboo(diameter and height) possible in zone 6 would likely be either parvifolia or atrovaginata since they both don't get much leaf burn and come back much stronger the next season. My parvifolia went from 3.5ft to 4.5ft this year and the atrovaginata went from a bit over 2ft to a culm over 7ft, this year, but the parvifolia produced much more culms. Both of them are on their 2nd season and with the way they've bushed out this year, I'm expecting both of them to easily break the 10ft mark easily next year especially because I've given them all much more fertilizer this year. I think they both have the potential of developing 2.5inch culms by 30ft here.

The giant species like moso, henon can grow, and might get to a decent size, but they require tarping in the winter, and still might get leaf burned even when they get larger so I doubt they can get that big.
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by benboo »

Can you find parvifolia anywhere cheap? I already have atrovaginata
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by stevelau1911 »

I might be the cheapest source for parvifolia, but I won't have any available for another year. I think Needmore might have some available since he's been growing it for a while. I really want to let mine up-size a lot next year so that it looks like a nice grove, and if rhizomes run over 7ft away from the center of the plant next year, I'll let those become whip shoots, isolate them, and pot them up to divide since divisions will have a much smaller effect on the plant once it gets bigger.

I've been feeding/watering & mulching this plant with hundreds of lbs of organic material so it can real big really fast so it should really put on a show next year. Rhizomes are already starting to run which is a good sign. It already has about 20X the foliage it had at the end of last year.

Here's a picture from 2 weeks ago.
Image
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by ocimum_nate »

Image
Image
Image
This shows my Phyllostachys rubromarginata over 5 years it has stayed tight since it was planted
I have only ever had one shoot come out about 1.5' from the main clump
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by needmore »

I would be surprised if you can't get your Aureosulcata 2x the size of your Semiarundinaria. Feed heavily, keep watered, full sun, winter protection for a couple years and it should get bigger.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by ghmerrill »

I'm very impressed that you have had that kind of growth on your Semiarundinarias.
How sure are you on the Id's of the plants? Same with henon there.
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by Snowbird »

I'm not 100% sure on anything but most all of these came from a reputable dealer. so far, the ones that have started to display characteristics of the mature plants are looking correct.
my pictures aren't very good for i'd but here are a couple.

S. fastuosa 'temple bamboo'
Image

this one is almost up to the lower powerlines. it is planted where it a depression and receives mostly east sun, which may account for the fewer culms and more height. this one is also still tagged with its info.
Image

phy. nigra 'henon'
Image


i wonder if my s. fastuosa is just a fluke or if i'm really going to have some tall phyllostachys. i'm going for medium heights on here but i'll take what i can get.


thanks again for the help
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by needmore »

Don't know if we can really extrapolate but I finally killed off all my fastuosa, it never got above 7-8 feet here but I have 25-30' canes of different Phyllostachys, so?????
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Snowbird
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by Snowbird »

needmore wrote:Don't know if we can really extrapolate but I finally killed off all my fastuosa, it never got above 7-8 feet here but I have 25-30' canes of different Phyllostachys, so?????
wow, are the 25-30 footers out of the giant bamboo category?

my bamboo was protected during the first winter but only mulched since. I have used a lot of compost (horse/sawdust), lawn fertilizers, mulch and drip hoses for my bamboo. aside from that and a little root prunning they are on their own until they're older. I like the idea of mature bamboo but was kind of planning on sub 20' heights for all but the henon and nothing larger than 30'. maybe my climate isn't as harsh as i thought.


nate,

it will be interesting to see how my rubromarginata performs in its location. i hope it remains close to the rootball like yours.

--seth
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needmore
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by needmore »

Funny, henon remains an unimpressive runt for me but I have roughly the following heights on the tallest canes - not the average cane:

Glauca yunzhu - 25-28 feet
Yellow Groove to 30 feet
Spectabilis 25-28 feet
Atrovaginata - to 30 feet
Bissetii to 30 feet
Rubro 25-28 feet
Viridis 25-28 feet

Several in the 15-20 foot range - Makinoi, Dulcis, Harbin Inversa, Nuda, Megurochiku, Stimulosa, Glauca Notso, Propinqua beijing, Parvifolia - most of these are still upsizing and should end up in the 20-25 or more range.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Re: Bamboo heights for zone 5b-6

Post by Snowbird »

Those are very respectable sizes for your zone. i can't imagine that here but maybe it'll happen. i'd certainly be happy with 2/3 the growth you've had.

I have two labradors and usually a third visiting that all love bamboo leaves. their favorite is the glauca yunzhu which, for me, has not been very upright on its growth. that has allowed them access to the entire culm, rather than the bottom two feet. when my youngest pup was teething she would gnaw on the newest culms, which were averaging about 8' each time they tried to upsize. it was my fastest growing boo but the dogs have changed that. i hope to protect them a little better this year and see if i can't get them a little more up right but i'm worried about the wind damaging the boo as it moves. do you have any ideas how to accomplish this without the damage?
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