Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

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LA Bamboo
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Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by LA Bamboo »

I'm in southern Louisiana and planted 2 oldhamii, 2 golden goddess, and 2 Alphonse Karr bamboos roughly 4 months ago. I cut one culm off each oldhamii and planted 12 single node cuttings...only one rooted, but is doing great.

I'd like to get as many culm cuttings as possible to root over the next few years, as I have a 2 acre lot with plenty of space. I want to keep the rhizomes intact and use only culm propagation. No plans to try again until next spring, but I was wondering if anyone had advice based on personal experience with clumping culm propagation. What is the best time of year to attempt this with these three varieties? Also, I've seen people plant single node cuttings both vertically and horizontally. Which way do you recommend?
LA Bamboo
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by LA Bamboo »

Ok, so I'm guessing culm propagation isn't very popular. Is this due to low success rate?
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

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I don't think there are many list members who live in climates where they can do it. I have had a tiny bit of experience with it. It is my understanding that some species are much easier to do this with.

Look into air layering, you live where it is humid enough to consider. Sort of the same thing, some species are easier. The example I saw had wet sphagnum moss I think packed at the branch compliment then wrapped in foil then in plastic. It has been long enough since I saw this that I may be slightly incorrect about what I just said but I recall the unveiling and there were several small starts that were snapped of basically and potted. I suspect that any strategy that would encourage root growth at the branch point should work.

This was Robert Saparito from FL doing the demo in CA and the CA boys said it does not work so well here due to much less humidity.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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LA Bamboo
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by LA Bamboo »

Thank you for the info. Lack of heat or humidity is certainly not a problem here. Air layering seems like a great option for me. I'll give it a shot let you know how it goes.
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by needmore »

B ventricosa I think lends itself to this and it is hardier than Oldhamii. Plus the variegated form is quite attractive, I have 2 of them here and they are presently shooting and turning burgundy on the new culms.
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Glen
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by Glen »

I'm in southern Louisiana and planted 2 oldhamii, 2 golden goddess, and 2 Alphonse Karr bamboos roughly 4 months ago. I cut one culm off each oldhamii and planted 12 single node cuttings...only one rooted, but is doing great.

I'd like to get as many culm cuttings as possible to root over the next few years, as I have a 2 acre lot with plenty of space. I want to keep the rhizomes intact and use only culm propagation. No plans to try again until next spring, but I was wondering if anyone had advice based on personal experience with clumping culm propagation. What is the best time of year to attempt this with these three varieties? Also, I've seen people plant single node cuttings both vertically and horizontally. Which way do you recommend?
Generally, I will grow a plant in a pot and divide it into single culm divisions in late February, just before new leaves start to grow. If new leaves are growing, then new roots are already growing, and they will be harmed by the division process. I also believe the plants have a larger carbohydrate reserve before growth begins. It seems to me that the plants do not recover from any disturbance as well if it occurs after they have started their spring growth. I find container division is the most efficient way to produce fairly large plants quickly. It also will result in 100% success, if done properly. I have started in the spring with a couple 3 gallon potted plants, divided in February, and had a couple dozen three gallon plants ready to be placed in the ground by October.

Since you do not want to use division, and I have some experience with cuttings in a similar climate, I will tell you what little I know:

I have seen many Bambusa oldhamii plants that were started from single node culm cuttings, so I am sure they can be started efficiently this way. I have generally seen the cuttings done like this:
http://www.gatorventures.com/bamboo/b-oldhamii.shtml

Tips:
-As for timing, I recommend late February or early March, just before new leaves start to grow, for the same reason as discussed above.
-Remove most or all leaves, and the smaller branches.
-Cut the large branches back to a couple buds.
-Cover the culm node a few inches deep, but leave the upper buds on the branches above the soil.
-Some growers place the cuttings in pots at an angle (45 degrees) with the buds facing upward.
-Keep the cuttings in the shade until new growth has emerged.
-Water the cuttings every day, unless it is raining.
-Many people like to keep the hollow culm full of water.
-Use fairly large culms that are 2 to 3 years old, as they should still be vigorous and contain adequate stored reserves.

I have started some Bambusa multiplex plants this way, but with low success. The plants were very small, and needed an extra year to catch up to even small single culm divisions. I have not heard of anyone having much success with Bambusa multiplex cuttings. The nursery plants that I have seen always seem to have been started by division. In my opinion, a small culm diameter variety, like Golden Goddess, will be more difficult to root, as the culms have less volume to store reserves to keep them alive during the rooting process.

Air layering will work in some cases, as some Bambusa species will grow roots into the air during wet weather. As Brad mentioned, Bambusa ventricosa is such a plant; of course, it will also root fairly easily from cuttings. I do not know if air layering will work well with Bambusa multiplex, as I have never seen them produce aerial roots. Even if it would work, it would be much more logistically difficult to air layer a large number of Bambusa multiplex plants than it would be to divide a containerized plant into single culm divisions.

I have heard of people cutting partially through a culm near the base, so they can lean the culm and bury it in a trench while it is still attached to the parent. The branches are left above the ground. In theory, each buried culm node will produce a new plant. I have a feeling this will work with Bambusa multiplex, but I have not tried it, as dividing potted plants is just so simple and effective.
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by LA Bamboo »

Hi Glen, excellent information. I have a few hundred feet of fence line that I want to visually block out (then maybe plant a backdrop for my pond one day), so I figured I'd get faster and larger culms in the ground. I'm guessing it will take me 8-10 years to really get a good barrier because I don't want to drop a few thousand on plants. 4 more oldhamii did just find their way into my yard. I'm going to buy 4 more to keep in pots and divide in case my culm propagation attempts fail.

Some of my oldhamii have a couple of culms that are healthy but laying horizontally. I have them tied to stronger culms so I don't mow over them, but am considering laying them down and pinning them into 1g pots with potting soil. Does this seem like a viable way to get a few more plants for next year?
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by needmore »

With a species that is known to produce viable culm cuttings, for a long fence run why couldn't you use entire culms left intact? Selecting the right age candidate and burying it with the branches pointed up seems like it would produce a row of new plants at the nodes? Same process on a larger linear scale.
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by needmore »

On an unrelated note, I'm in a marginal climate for this but couldn't resist - Dendrocalamus sp. 'Parker's Giant'. It arrived after a long shipping journey all dried out and dropped 40% of the leaves, the package weighed a fraction of the shipping weight when it arrived it was so dry. I was not optimistic but babied it and within 3 days the leaf buds were sprouting and a few weeks later this guy emerged. Nice upsize. Thought I'd tempt you as well!


pkrs.JPG
pkrb.JPG
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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LA Bamboo
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by LA Bamboo »

Enormous and clumping? Yes, I want it! Who did you get it from? Or maybe with how dried out your plant was, I should get it from another source?

I did pin down one small culm and pinned it into 3 small pots. I took a pic, but res is too high and don't know how to compress jpeg on Win10 yet...so I'll take another pic later.
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by LA Bamboo »

needmore, I've seen a couple videos of large culms being planted. I recall they cut holes between nodes for water retention. This looks like a perfect method for me, but I'm guessing I wont have any large culms for a couple/few years. My interest in bamboo started a couple years ago, but we were renting and I didn't want to have to deal with moving or getting rid of plants. We just bought our place in December, so I now have a little over 2 acres to play with.

I want to stick with clumping bamboo, and the bigger the better. That Parker's Giant seems perfect for me.
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by LA Bamboo »

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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

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LA Bamboo wrote:needmore, I've seen a couple videos of large culms being planted. I recall they cut holes between nodes for water retention. This looks like a perfect method for me, but I'm guessing I wont have any large culms for a couple/few years. My interest in bamboo started a couple years ago, but we were renting and I didn't want to have to deal with moving or getting rid of plants. We just bought our place in December, so I now have a little over 2 acres to play with.

I want to stick with clumping bamboo, and the bigger the better. That Parker's Giant seems perfect for me.
I see lots of Oldhamii when driving around here, not sure if that is the case in your area but if so I wonder if people would let you cut a culm or two? Maybe offering to help prune an overgrown clump. In Hawai'i I noticed that some growers would jam the cut culm into dirt to get some in the culm interior, I'm sure that help with moisture retention.

My Parker came from Tropical Bamboo in FL, the condition was not really their fault, I went cheap on shipping and live far away from FL so that caused the dry out. I will order from them again, they ship well. It would be worth paying a tad more for quicker delivery, mine traveled more than a full week in very hot weather.
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

Post by LA Bamboo »

Very little bamboo in my area, at least that I've seen in person or advertised for sale. The Parker's is listed for 9b, and I'm in 9a. Can you recommend a 9b clumping giant (6-7"+ diameter)? I'm sure the Parker's would grow, but I'd rather get something optimal to my zone. I'm having trouble finding anything bigger than oldhamii for my zone...everything seems to want 9a+.
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Re: Clumping bamboo culm propagation advice please

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Oldhamii is probably it. The Parker has experienced 26F w/o damage in FL, I'm sure it was brief and not frequently exposed to that.
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