I'm interested in knowing if bamboos exist that will thrive into the single digits, completely frozen pot and not get killed. I'm assuming fargesia rufa might be able to do that, but I'm not sure. I know cherry trees, poppy plants and peonies can take it in a pot over winter without damage, but I have some rufa divisions I want to try.

I know the ground will freeze sometimes and make it down into the teens on the coldest months, but I'm not sure if a -20F rating on a rufa is necessarily that root hardy.

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Hello Steve,

I don't want to discourage your efforts but I have not had much luck overwintering bamboo in pots. It seems that even if the plant survives the rhizome buds are killed and you end up with a plant that will not shoot. Frozen rootballs also lend to plant desication and top kill. I have overwintered spectabilis, and rubro during mild winters with short freezes, but last winter I lost almost all of 200+ pots of several different varieties. Everything in the cold frame even though it did freeze during short intervals survived. Interestingly some pots survived outside this winter, but come to find out that the ones that were doing well had sent rhizomes into the ground.

Rufa seems to be one tough plant, but I'm not sure even it will tolerate frozen roots all winter.

David

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David Arnold
Middle Tennessee Bamboo Farm
USDA zone 6b/7a

The rule of thumb is that plants in pots (not just bamboo) will survive the winter if they're hardiness rating is one zone lower than yours. So if you're zone 5 and the plant is zone 4 hardy, it should survive in pots.

You can always bury the pots in the ground for the winter, and mulch over them a little. The goal is to tie the plant to the temperature of the ground, not the temperature of the air (a pot above ground is tied to the temp of the air).

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Alan.
My blog: It's not work, it's gardening!

I grow most of my bamboos in pots here, and we got down to 12 degrees here this winter. And it was a long winter, with more snow than we have had in something like 20 years. Several ideas to help keep them alive and thrive better:

1) Do not let the rhizomes be exposed to cold damage, or they will more then likely croak. Or be set way back in the following growing season. Bury the pots in mulch. I have an 8 inch layer of wood chips in the area that my bamboo pots are in. I sink the pots in the chips and mound them around the pots.
2) Overpot them. Overpotting them (pots with at least 2 inches of dirt around the rhizomes and root ball) will keep the rhizomes insulated better. I found that rhizomes growing against the plastic pot sides tend to die off from frost damage.
3) Grow hardy types of bamboos. Phy. nuda and the aroesulcatas and several other Phyllostachys are pretty bullet proof, as well as most of the Fargesias, and Indocalamus, as well as the true types of Arundinaria.
4) Use a greenhouse. Even at 12 degree lows this year, I managed to keep several less tolerant types alive in a greenhouse that are said to tolerate 18 degree temps. All but my Alophonse Karr made it just fine. I think that Alphie is going to bloom on me this year though.

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Happy trails...

I was thinking about this the other day and considering variations of the idea.

One idea I was considering was a raised planting area which would help contain a bamboo that was only hardy to my zone. Any rhizomes venturing near the edge would get frozen.

Another idea was a lowered planting area where the rhizomes would be kept warmer by being deeper in the ground. Not sure how well drainage would work on this one.

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My Bamboo List.

"Take Dog apart. Disinfect. Reassemble."

If fargesia is the most bullet proof bamboo that exists and rates at -20, I could probably let my divisions sit out in the cold without putting them in the ground. I don't think I can do the same with any of the other potted bamboos I have. I'll probably throw one in the ground just to see how much a difference it makes. It looks like fargesias don't even get leaf burned at single digits so I'll try letting them sit in pots over winter. Bissetii might also make it through so I'll let one of those sit just to test it's cold tolerance.

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http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

I will wager now Steve that they'll all croak - the Fargesia included.

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Brad Salmon, zone 5b/6 Southern Indiana
Winters -20 to -25C. Summers 30 to 35C , humid. 115 cm annual precipitation, frost free from May through early October. 259.3 meters elevation. Growing 150+ species. http://www.needmorebamboo.com/

It never hurts to try when there are enough plants. I will have to keep some of my moso seedlings outside because I simply don't have enough space to put so many 3 gallon pots unless I put them all over the house. I'm planning on getting the 90watt led light on ebay to keep them alive. http://cgi.ebay.com/2009-New-Pro-Hydrop ... 1|294%3A50


The only problem I encounter is that I'm not sure if red leds will really help out bamboos since I'm not expecting them to flower.

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http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

My Fargesias suffered a lot of damage this past Winter. I have 2 different varieties, not sure exactly what they are. One, that has been in the ground for over 5 years lost all of its leaves and some of the late shoots from the Fall. The other, in the ground for about 2 years, suffered complete topkill. I think the main problem here was a cold Winter but more so WIND.

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Jeff

Steve- I think you may be in zone denial, as Brad has described it. I lost nearly 200 pots of some really hardy bamboo last winter, and I'm a 1/2 zone warmer than you. The published hardiness ratings mean nothing if the plants roots are frozen and a cold wind is sucking the life out of the leaves. (In fact they don't mean much now in real life. I don't know who made them up, but many of them are no more than fiction!) To put it more bluntly than my first post in this thread, No there are no bamboo no matter how hardy that will winter over at 0-5°F in pots. If you were to bury them in the ground, or pile lots of mulch on them then yes some will survive, but then that was really not your question. BTW your moso will be the first to die.

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David Arnold
Middle Tennessee Bamboo Farm
USDA zone 6b/7a

Thanks I guess you've already done my planned experiment so theres no point in wasting any rufa divisions, but 200 is a pretty big # to test. Cherry trees, peonies, giant rhubarb, perrenial poppies, apple tree seedling, some type of lily and onions have all passed the test for me, but these species stay dormant during winter and are cold hardy up to zone 3-5 maybe 2 versus fargesia rufa rated at zone 5.
I guess they do the ratings taking in account the bamboo is planted in the ground where temperatures may be insulated 15-20degrees warmer on cold winter nights. Its a huge difference considering rufa will stay evergreen in the ground while dying in a pot.

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http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

Yea. I was in zone denial too. Because I had some success wintering over potted bamboo during the recent mild winters, I thought maybe most would make it fine. My pot overwintering this year was a costly lesson. I was afraid to sell any of the survivors because I thought they might be damaged, and in fact most of them did not shoot. Wisdom is not without cost!

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David Arnold
Middle Tennessee Bamboo Farm
USDA zone 6b/7a

I have been wondering why my boos that were in pots are not shooting. I have Spectabilis, Yellow groove, and another type (verdict is still out on that one). I did not get those three inside before it hit -3. The spectabilis and yellow groove are not doing good at all. The Spectabilis has one culm that is just now putting out leaves. But the rest of the plant looks dead. Yellow groove is still a little bit green but has no leaf or leaf buds. Neither of them have any shoots at all. The other type that I have put out new leaves after I brought it inside. It has sent 2 or 3 very small shoots up. It is my largest boo, of the ones I have in pots. I have been tempted to dig YG and Spec. out to see what is going on. That is probably not the best idea, right?

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Bryan

Bryan I think ripe buds (that would be the new culms) may be more susceptible to cold damage than the rhizomes itself. Really just guessing though, but that seems to be the case. I'd pop them out of their pots and see what they look like. It will not hurt them and it might give you/ us some good info.

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David Arnold
Middle Tennessee Bamboo Farm
USDA zone 6b/7a

I will do it this weekend. The culm on the Spectabilis was a whip shoot from late last summer. It more than likely was touching the house during the cold spell. I don't know how else it would still have viable leaf buds, when the rest of it is doing nothing. I will let ya'll know what I find.

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Bryan