Boo Shoots for 2014

[needmore]

Whenever I use manure, I will try to go for the freshest stuff I can find because that will still have the most nitrogen. I really doubt a few inches of fresh manure will generate enough heat to burn new shoots unless you also throw on top a layer of plastic to hold the heat in.

You may doubt it but it will certainly cook them, remember my post about manure cooked moso shoots?

[stevelau1911]

How many inches of it did you use?

I've traditionally mixed the fresh manure in with dried leaves, compost, and grass clippings, but haven't seen shoots get cooked despite temperatures clearly rising from the decomposition.

If the manure causes a big temperatures rise, I intend to hold off on it until the last frost appears to be over.

[mountainbamboonut]

Steve wouldn't soil temperature under a thick mulch surrounding a bamboo be artificially high already?

I have 6'' of compost, straw, leaves, etc and I'd think that the soil temperature would be considerably higher around the boos because of the breakdown activity and mulch. If this were the case then theoretically wouldn't mulched boo's shoot sooner than those plantings that didn't have any?

[stevelau1911]

Based on my needle thermometer readings, I've found that in the spring when it is warming up, the mulch has usually been cooler than soil underneath bare soil. Once the bacteria breaks down the organic material to a certain point, the heat generation just seems to quit. The heating effect also doesn't seem to happen if it gets too cold. It seems like mulch delays the heating up of the soil in the spring.

Putting down clear plastic will also have a pretty good heating effect on the soil underneath however you really need to monitor the temperatures because I've seen the tops of shoots get fried that way. That's why I'm taking no chances and removed the double solarization layer inside my greenhouse as soon as I saw the ice in the water barrels completely melted. If that shoot is only partially fried and still survives, you could end up with a deformed half a culm. Composting with a plastic layer on top really holds in a lot of heat.

I have played around with the plastic mulch and the clear kind definitely heats the soil better than the red or black types. Here's how I've applied it, and it does seem to speed up the shoots when they are rising so I guess it's safe to have it on once you know where your shoots will emerge.


You are fairly down south so I think you may expect shoots in the next 2-3 weeks on a lot of bamboos.

[rickw]

Steve, maybe you don't know how Deep South I am, I'm south of I-10 and a couple of miles west of Mobile Bay. My Moso put up shoots on March 10th last year. We get lots of rainfall this time of year and when it hits a warm spell, the Moso puts up shoots. We've already had Japanese Maples and Plum trees blooming.

I also use fresh manure on all my bamboo. I clean up around the barn once a week and dump it straight on the bamboo, no problems so far. The horse apples in the picture are at least a week old, they're darker because it's rained 3 straight days.

[JWH]

Chimonobambusa Tumidissinoda starting to shoot.

[terrabamboo]

yay for moso shooting early.
pray for no more freezing




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mountainbamboonut]

Whoa Terra that looks like a big upsize, is that the case or just the photo? If you are supposed to get sub freezing temperatures what measure can you to to protect them? I'd think tall tomato cage like structures with field fencing and a 6Mill plastic enclosure would keep new shoots alive.

[stevelau1911]

Whoa Terra that looks like a big upsize, is that the case or just the photo? If you are supposed to get sub freezing temperatures what measure can you to to protect them? I'd think tall tomato cage like structures with field fencing and a 6Mill plastic enclosure would keep new shoots alive.

If you take a look at the size of the grass blades, dried bamboo leaves along with the fairly high number and color of the moso shoots, they aren't that big. At that size, an upsize can still happen especially when rhizomes are already running with almost complete top kill. Even though those leaves don't look so good, those culms definitely have juice running through them, and they are pumping energy down below.

Based on the size of the existing culms, that seedling was started in 2011, and that's why it probably won't be very cold hardy in zone 8 on an extremely cold winter. In regular progression, it should pop the 1 inch mark in 2016.

[Tarzanus]

Steve, I think that thickest shoots might be in the finger thick range. One good season and mild winter could be enough to reach an inch. I think zone 8 offers good chances for it to more than compensate for winter damage during the spring and summer, especially considering shoots are already out and will re-leaf in, let's say middle of May.

[johnw]

Whoa Terra that looks like a big upsize, is that the case or just the photo? If you are supposed to get sub freezing temperatures what measure can you to to protect them? I'd think tall tomato cage like structures with field fencing and a 6Mill plastic enclosure would keep new shoots alive.

Here in the north they sell hollow cylindrical foam covers for water pipes to prevent freezing. They come in various thicknesses from 1" to 5" or more diameter. About $2 each for a 3ft length. Bet they would be perfect to protect shoots on frosty nights though you might have to plug the hole at the top with a paper towel.

[stevelau1911]

This may not be much, but it's my first fargesia rufa shoot inside the greenhouse which has averaged about 30F-65F in the past 2 weeks. It's kind of odd how it can barely get into the teens outside while it can get above 60F in the greenhouse simultaneously.

There are still blocks of ice floating around in the water barrels, but they should be shrinking a bit everyday.

[mountainbamboonut]

I wasn't saying that those Moso shoots were as thick as a Viking's leg, just that there seemed to be some good upsize from the existing stock.

[stevelau1911]

When they lose their sheaths, they will tend to look about 20% skinnier especially for moso.

This is what I like to call a real upsize. It's even a more extreme case than what my bicolor put out last spring.

This is not one of my mosos. It takes a fairly warm climate to go from 1/8 inch culms to a 1 1/2 incher.

[mountainbamboonut]

I noticed today that my purple bamboo and my P. Vivax are both putting up new shoots. This P. Vivax planting has only been in the ground since last October. Since shooting is happening now my 30 chickens have all just lost their free-range privileges for a while. I cannot risk them pecking one of my babies. Sorry ladies.