Bamboo shoots 2018

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UPBooMatt
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by UPBooMatt »

I realize this isn't exactly a "shoot" but I'm just by going to leave this here.

Was poking around in my strawberries and noticed something. Something coming from my rubromarginata. A big fat (between the two culm sizes ~3/8" rhizome a full 8 inches away from the original "rootball". It came up for air (allowing me to explain "dolphining" to the wife) for about 6 inches and has since dove back down. I had time a couple days later to brush some mulch aside and it's definitely down another 8-10" in the direction it's growing (south east...home?...lol)

So obviously I'm thrilled that this thing is running already, and it's just another sign of a happy healthy plant.

A question I have is, not that I have any intention of digging around all over at the moment, but since this one made its self seen, and is heading within 90* of the least favorable direction of course (side 4 of a 3 sided barrier...lol), what are thoughts about digging the end and redirecting it back into the center of the grove? The soil is new this year and very loose so it would be very easy/gentle to do so, and since it's so early in the running season I'd love to try to coax it back into the middle.

Good idea, waste of time, too much risk of damage?
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UPBooMatt
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by UPBooMatt »

One more shot to illustrate how far it's come, and how far it has to go to be in the lawn...it may already be there down deeper... :twisted:
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UPBooMatt
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by UPBooMatt »

Well, it's too late now. I moved it. And I think I'm glad I did. For one, it was already longer that I thought it would be, and only 6" or so from the lawn. Plus, now it should stay within the grove at least for a while.

I moved the mulch and dirt and from where my previous picture showed it going down it continued to dive past the small A. konjac, and directly under the Oriental lily. Fortunately I was able to work the last 4 or so inches out without moving the lily at all.

From the point where it surfaced it is 21" long! So it's come at least 26 inches from the original "root ball" I'd say she's on the move.

I reburied it a few inches under the mulch, and stuck in a stick to keep the tip pointed parallel to the grove, for now...lol. It'll be saying hello to the spectabilis in another 20" or so if it keeps this up. :D
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Tarzanus
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by Tarzanus »

It doesn't really matter much how you move the rhizime, in a few years they will be all over the place. You can, however, make sure the shoots in a year or two will emerge where you placed the rhizome.
UPBooMatt
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by UPBooMatt »

But remember....zone 5...b...lol. I can only hope in a few years there's rhizomes everywhere in this bed.

I'm sure you're right, and by then I won't be so enamored with seeing them, but right now their precious and if I can I will keep them in check where they will be able to be protected over winter.

Incidently, an idea I had for rhizome pruning was to simply make sure the ground is shoveled clear a foot or so away from the grove. Winter freezing here may just take care or any rhizomes that run that far for me...
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needmore
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by needmore »

I think that most of what one can find to read about rhizome spread in a zone 5 like yours is wrong, I think the basic premise is flawed and my zone 5b/6a confirmed that. Although your winters may be harsher your summers are long enough, warm enough, and wet enough. You should expect yours to run rampant and I'd bet that they will indeed do so, that bed will be a mess in another year.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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UPBooMatt
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by UPBooMatt »

You say mess like it's a bad thing Brad...lol? If it does indeed become a "mess" of rhizomes I think I'll be thrilled, that means a mess of culms right? I'm more than willing to do the maintenance on it so I say let'em run rampant. I wish I had the space to really let them stretch, but it is what it is.

I'm looking to add to the knowledge about zone 5 bamboo in any way I can. I'm pretty sure I've read just about everything out there pertaining to cold weather boo growing so far, and I agree, the overall feeling is that simply being in a colder zone will slow, or stop them from running. I've seen that advice passed along many places. I'm not counting on that to happen, and like I said, I'd prefer they do go crazy and provide me with as much plant mass as possible to get them through that cold. That doesn't necessarily means that they won't run like mad if the summers are hot/wet enough though, as you said.

Any thoughts on using exposed ground/freeze damage to control rhizome spread? I.e. shovel a clear path ~2 feet in front of the grove, will that kill the rhizomes in the ground if it freezes solid and for several months? Or would they survive being connected to the non-frozen ground grove? Might this cause unintentional damage further up the rhizome, or would it simply act like severing them at the frozen point?
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by wind-borne »

youthful Genf, blending into the chaotic present
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Tarzanus
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by Tarzanus »

Will freezing take care of rhizomes? Certainly not. Temperature should be really low and possibly combined with very wet (saturated) soil at the time of freezing. At least that was number 1 cause of rhizome damage here in our heavy clay soil.

In Zone 5, I would expect some damage, yes, perhaps even top-killed plant, but it will establish rhizomes and even after complete top kill, it should start growing runners by mid summer at most. If there's no damage (or minimal), I've seen runners starting to crawl around together with new shoots in the spring. That way, bamboo will be smaller overall, rhizomes will stay a bit smaller and won't travel as far away from the plant, but it will spread.

Shovel will expose the runners, then you'll have to pull them out and cut them off at the edge of your expected bamboo grove. I use pickaxe at least once per year and go all the way around my bamboos. It's not easy task to do, but I managed to contain them so far. You don't need to take rhizomes out. If you are moving the grass around, you can just cut off the rhizomes and leave them. They will push out numerous survival shoots and there will be tiny bamboos all around, but if you cut the grass regularly, they should run out of energy in a year or so.
UPBooMatt
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by UPBooMatt »

wind-borne wrote:youthful Genf, blending into the chaotic present
Funny your should post this wind-borne...I just snapped this today, between rains, of my juiz 1...new shoots, old, just wonderful.
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needmore
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by needmore »

Rhizomes in 80F humid, rainy weather can grow a few feet in a week so they'll expand with vigor. No, I'm with Tarzanus, cold is not a strategy to limit them. The mess comment I made was I hated them in flower beds, the removal process can destroy plants in the bed so in that sense they can be a pain.
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UPBooMatt
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by UPBooMatt »

Ahh, that's my bad, I shouldn't really have called it a "bed." The lilies and other stuff will likely be moved to other, actual FLOWER beds this fall for next year's growth. They were only space fillers for this year. Or maybe they will stay and get eaten by boo...lol, that's fine too. The strawberries are the only thing I intend to keep in permanently with the boo grove, if they get along well. I just had so much unused space that it seemed like a shame not to plant anything else in the fresh dirt. Plus it helps keep the wife happy... :D

And I agree 100% with that rhizome growth comment...we've had 85-90*+ for the last few weeks, and humid as all get out. Not much rain to speak of but I water daily when it doesn't. That rhizome definitely did the growing I saw in less than a couple weeks time. I look at my plants multiple times a day usually, I would have seen it.

And got it, ixnay on the "frozen rhizome" pruning idea...lol
Tarzanus
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by Tarzanus »

Companion plants under bamboo is worth of new topic. I am not sure if strawberries would thrive there, competing for water. I have noticed some plants don't mind growing in dense rhizome mess (mass) and dome that just fade away. I was more than surprised how phlox seedling grew into nice flowering plant. It often shows signs of thirst, but it's growing better than it should. Snowdrops thrive as well which really puzzles me.
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by needmore »

I grew nice crops of broccoli & cabbage in my bamboo mounds this spring.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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UPBooMatt
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Re: Bamboo shoots 2018

Post by UPBooMatt »

Mmmm....cabbage....

Found a 4 branched node on my new rubro culm this evening. I know 3 is normal, how odd is having a 4th? It was getting dark when I noticed it but I'm all but 100% sure it is 4 individual branches.
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