How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Other things that involve bamboo

Moderator: needmore

User avatar
David
Posts: 1495
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2006 6:42 pm
Location info: 30
Location: Middle Tennessee (Murfreesboro) USDA Zone 6b/7a Record low Jan 1966 -14*F Frost free April 21-Oct.21
Contact:

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by David »

I've tried it both ways and empirically I can say that feeding high nitrogen fertilizer at the end of the season is a good way to hurt or kill bamboo. The high nitrogen promotes late tender growth that does not have time to "harden off" and will die with the first really cold spell. Now if you live in 7b or warmer then you might get away with fertilizing late in the season, but not where I live. I have killed a lot of bamboo trying different things and late fertilizer is one of the best (where I live) ways to do it.
David Arnold
Middle Tennessee Bamboo Farm
USDA zone 6b
Alan_L
Posts: 2966
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:13 pm
Location info: 81
Location: St. Louis area

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by Alan_L »

For clarification, does it kill the whole plant, or just the new tender parts? I can't see it being a way to eradicate an established plant.
User avatar
David
Posts: 1495
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2006 6:42 pm
Location info: 30
Location: Middle Tennessee (Murfreesboro) USDA Zone 6b/7a Record low Jan 1966 -14*F Frost free April 21-Oct.21
Contact:

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by David »

I was referring to young not well established plants. When I tried late fertilizing some plants died, but most were just injured with some top growth killed. I personally would not fertilize old groves with high nitrogen products late in the season. It does not make sense to me to stimulate a plant that is about to become dormant.
David Arnold
Middle Tennessee Bamboo Farm
USDA zone 6b
Alan_L
Posts: 2966
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:13 pm
Location info: 81
Location: St. Louis area

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by Alan_L »

Agreed! Except the confusing issue is that they say that turf (lawn) grasses can store nitrogen during the winter, so fall fertilization is important. Maybe that only applies to the cool-season grasses? Since bamboo is a grass, this could be confusing for people.
JohnC
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:29 pm
Location info: 33
Location: Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by JohnC »

Probably a lot of this as with all other things about bamboo is very dependent upon the climate and conditions it's growing in.

As for grass I've read there are cool season and warm season grasses and that they need to be fed accordingly and that it's a bad thing to feed some grasses in the spring too much depnding on type and climate etc. So again I guess it varies completely with climate and conditions.

Here we let (encourage) our grass to go dormant in the summer because there is almost no precip. all summer in this climate and we're on a well so we can't afford to water all our grass and we certainly don't want to waste time mowing all summer. :)
stevelau1911
Posts: 3088
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:15 pm
Location info: 42
Location: upstate NY zone 6B
Contact:

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by stevelau1911 »

Just to get back on how to get bamboos to get really big very fast I just visited my neighbor today who has a 22 month old moso seedling that has broken the 6ft mark, stem to highest leaf, over 7ft including the pot, and the largest culm appears to be around the 4/10 inch mark at the base which puts it on par with my big seedling which is at least 2 years older grown outside. This is way too fast especially for moso, but it looks like this guy knows what he's doing. Is this typical for moso?

As far as the growing conditions it is grown in a heated greenhouse which ranges from 35-60F over winter, with very good sunlight and spends the warmer months outside. It generally shoots once in February, then again in the middle of summer getting a bit bigger each time. The soil itself is a mixture of home-made compost, and sandy soil from outside, and it gets about 1/2 gallon of water once per week. It also either gets watered by pond or aquarium water and never with artificial fertilizers. As far as thinning, he doesn't thin it unless they are very old shoots that are just in the way, and it looks like there are 9 culms on this plant at the moment.

Here are some pictures showing how it already has some mature characteristics such as branches on branches, spots on new shoots, less pronounced internode, 6 branch-less nodes before branching, and possibly smaller leaves this time around.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Alan_L
Posts: 2966
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:13 pm
Location info: 81
Location: St. Louis area

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by Alan_L »

stevelau1911 wrote:As far as thinning, he doesn't thin it unless they are very old shoots that are just in the way...
So a 22 month old seedling has "old" culms? :lol:
stevelau1911
Posts: 3088
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:15 pm
Location info: 42
Location: upstate NY zone 6B
Contact:

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by stevelau1911 »

I actually have a few 44 lb bags of azomite which I have used solely for my vegetable gardens. After using it on just a portion of the garlic, this stuff does seem to help in producing larger fruits on average so I have to wonder if it can also help bamboos produce larger shoots. It really has the most drastic effect on the size of the tomatoes since they tend to suck up nutrients quickly and grow very fast. I'm literally getting larger than golf ball sized cherry tomatoes.

So far, the only bamboo that is staying very small for me is my kwangsiensis seedling which continues to stay clumping and send up marginally upsized new shoots. I plan on giving it a couple handfuls of this stuff just to see if it helps out at all. I'm not sure if the maturation of a shoot bud is similar to the maturation of fruits & vegetables. It's probably a waste of my fertilizers, but it is worth a try.
Alan_L
Posts: 2966
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:13 pm
Location info: 81
Location: St. Louis area

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by Alan_L »

Steve -- unless you do a side-by-side test with two plants of the same species, age, size, and growing conditions (one with fertilizer, one without) you really won't be able to draw any conclusions.
stevelau1911
Posts: 3088
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:15 pm
Location info: 42
Location: upstate NY zone 6B
Contact:

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by stevelau1911 »

I'm pretty sure it works on vegetables because I've seen pretty noticeable differences in the size and quality of things like peppers and tomatoes when I use azomite and don't use it. It doesn't seem to size of the foliage, growth speed of the stems & branches or number of fruits.

The only problem is that I only have 1 kwangsiensis seedling, so I think I'll give it a couple handfuls since I have enough of it. There's no point in dividing it in half just for the sole purpose of testing it out when it might just be on the verge of breaking out of the seedling stage.

Here's how they advertise it.
AZOMITE® is a naturally rich soil re-mineralizer for plants and a unique trace mineral booster for animals.

AZOMITE® is mined from a mineral-rich volcanic ash deposit in Utah (USA) and contains over 67 trace elements. This broad range of minerals is distinct from any volcanic deposit in the world.

AZOMITE® increases crop yields, improves plant immunity and brings profits to farmers when applied even in addition to a typical fertility program.

AZOMITE® increases lean gain in animals, improves their health and brings profits to farmers when applied even in addition to typical mineral feed additives.

AZOMITE® contains every essential micro-mineral needed by plants and animals, including a wide range of rare earth elements and other minerals not included in fertilizers or animal feeds.

AZOMITE® is 100% natural. It is mined, crushed and sold without any chemical alterations or additions. It is certified for organic use in crops and animal feed.
stevelau1911
Posts: 3088
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:15 pm
Location info: 42
Location: upstate NY zone 6B
Contact:

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by stevelau1911 »

One of the things I've always wondered is why bamboos would not shed their leaves like deciduous trees. My guess is that they are adapted to perform photosynthesis through the entire spring which provides the shoots a continual flow of energy. That's why I have often staked thick clumps of bamboo apart in an attempt to expose more leaves to the full sun in the spring through shooting season. It may even help warm up the soil under the thick canopy to promote more shoots, but it is only my speculation. I believe the amount of photosynthesis in the spring may be just as important as the energy stored from the previous year in regards to the size of the shoots.


3 of my groves are simply too big to protect now so they do face the threat of leaf burn, but I hope they are hardy enough to handle the upcoming winter, staying completely evergreen to support a good up-size next spring. They also don't bend to the ground easily anymore.

For something like this, I guess the best thing I can do is apply a ft of leaf mulch, and water the grove thoroughly before winter arrives.
Image
stevelau1911
Posts: 3088
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:15 pm
Location info: 42
Location: upstate NY zone 6B
Contact:

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by stevelau1911 »

When there are enough culms, it's pretty easy to use strings to direct some of the culms away from each other so more leaves can have exposure to full sun. I think it can give the plant a slight edge in photosynthesis.

Image

Image
stevelau1911
Posts: 3088
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:15 pm
Location info: 42
Location: upstate NY zone 6B
Contact:

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by stevelau1911 »

One thing I couldn't help but notice was that even on the same generation of culms, the larger culms tended to develop smaller leaves and overall less foliage for their size as opposed to smaller culms. I intend to add some milorganite, ironite, and a bag of gypsum once it seems like the culms are fully hardened off.

11ft culm with tiny leaves, and unlikely to put on heavy foliage
Image

It just looks like the culms in the 6-8ft range seem to be much more efficient than the ones over 10ft in terms of the potential photosynthesis/ energy spent to produce the culm ratio.

It seems like the bigger culms get, the more photosynthesis they can provide, but they also tend to get less and less efficient as the size increases.
User avatar
needmore
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:14 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Kea'au, HI

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by needmore »

I think you just implied that it takes small culms to efficiently make big culms or big groves and that is not what happens as large groves produce lots of large culms and few small ones.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
Nicholas
Posts: 248
Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 10:09 am
Location info: 0
Location: Austria

Re: How to maximize the size of next year's shoots.

Post by Nicholas »

Without a proper setup using control groups, a reasonable sample size and of course the same conditions and clones this is all just a lot of educated guessing and gut feeling.

For one while a larger culm may have less leaf mass in relation to a smaller one it might be able to store more energy.
The same goes for tying culms apart. You might get a bit more photosynthesis but in dry areas you could increase the evaporation rate to a point where it is detrimental to the plant.

What further complicates matters is if you do many things at once (Heavy feeding and mulching, tying apart etc etc) you won't be able to tell what had the most profound effect on growth.
Add to that the fact that a bamboo might have its two or more year cycle of strong vs average shooting.

Even just in their third year outside my bamboos are shooting very differently with the same amount of watering and fertilizing (Atro had a big year last year but only performed averagely, the one year aureocaulis went crazy while the two year huangwenzhu did not impress at all)

What I am trying to say is that by all means people should pamper their plants if they have the time and energy for it but there is probably only so much you can do before you kind of "max out" what can be achieved and any effort on top of that will only have a tiny effect.
Post Reply