Hey guys,

I just finished building two big planter boxes. Each is 2x10' and 3' high:



I'd like to transplant some bamboo from my parents' house, which you all helped identify as Golden, into these new planter boxes. I wanted to ask for some tips to make sure I do this right.

The last time I did this, I cherry-picked clumps of 2-3 15' tall, healthy-looking culms of Golden, and chopped out the section of the rhizome they grew from to create a "rootball" about the dimensions of a basketball that had 2-3 fully-grown culms attached to it. Then I transported about 5 of these sections back to my house, placed in the planter box, tied up the culms to protect from wind, watered, little fertilizer. They did very well. Here is a before and after pic.

One "section" / rootball, freshly xplanted:


2 years after xplanting (today):


Different angle:


I'm plananing to repeat the process this weekend for my new planter box! Any suggestions to improve this process? Waiting til early next spring before they start putting up shoots is not an option for me -- it's this weekend or never.

Also, I'm planning to mix two kinds together. I have some Yellow Groove that is beautiful, but it's just not putting out the density we'd hoped for because it's in tiny (2' x 1') ceramic pots. Also I'm convinced the ceramic pot heats up, transfers heat into the dirt, and makes the rhizomes unhappy. Here they are now:



Is there any problem mixing Yellow Groove with Golden in the same planter box? I'd probably alternate the rootballs.

Thanks for your help! I'll post pics when it's all done.

I'd put just a single plant in each planter. Not just a single type, but a single plant. Okay, maybe two. The reason is that this is only 20 sq. feet of growing space, and in a couple of years it will be packed with rhizomes. It would be better to have all of those rhizomes from a single plant than to have several different plants competing.

Just my opinion.

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

That's a good point. My gardener mentioned something about this notion of a box getting packed with rhizomes. Is there a FAQ somewhere on how best to deal with this when it happens? Perhaps I can take out some dirt off the top and slice off chunks? Or do I have to totally dig the plants out, hack away, and replant them? Eesh.

Maybe I'll put the Yellow Groove in one box, and the Golden in another.

Thanks!

As soon as you start cutting rhizomes (in order to make more room in the box), there's a good chance you'll end up with multiple plants -- a rhizome that isn't connected to the rest of the network is now an independent plant.

I have the same situation myself, as I've built a few 3'x3' boxes for single plants. At some point I'll need to do something about that, but I'm not at that point yet. I suspect that removing the box sides and chopping off the rhizomes that are wrapped around the outer edges will be my solution, but don't know.

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