Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

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rcb1
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Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by rcb1 »

So my shoots survived that light frost last week, but in the last couple days, there are a few that aborted. I don't think the two are related, as the aborts were not the tallest or most exposed - and at least one came up after that.

What I've noticed is, it seems like the ones that did abort tended to be furthest away from previous growth. There will be lots of shoots in a row from what look to be the same rhizome, followed by a gap, and one lone one a few feet further out that doesn't make it (or does, in one case).

Could this be happening because that section of rhizome is just too young / not quite established enough to shoot successfully, but tries anyway just in case it can pull it off? Like the plant might try to throw one hail Mary out near the tip of the rhizome, which is a total gamble but sometimes wins big?

To me, it makes sense that they might do this.. but I only have a few bamboos that haven't been in the ground that long, so it could have just happened by chance.
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needmore
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Re: Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by needmore »

You might be correct, I have not had that observation though, in fact today I whacked several that were far out as I did not like the spacing, I had waited too long to do this as there are already branches out so it was a waste of energy for the bamboo to wait that long but...meanwhile some closer in are clearly aborting.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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rcb1
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Re: Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by rcb1 »

That's why I thought it would be interesting to ask here.. something that looks like a pattern and seems to make sense, is sometimes just small sample size, and totally false :)
Tarzanus
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Re: Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by Tarzanus »

I don't think shoots furthest abort, it's more like the ones that start last die off eventually. For me, that means shoots on the northern side of the grove and deep inside the shaded clump of older culms. The ones that are growing far away from older growth tend to be more vigorous and even start earlier - especially the southern side.
Steve73
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Re: Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by Steve73 »

Tarzanus wrote:I don't think shoots furthest abort, it's more like the ones that start last die off eventually.
I have observed this as well.
Tarzanus
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Re: Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by Tarzanus »

This year, I've noticed another thing. My Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Spectabilis' started shooting early, but only on southern side, where it ran out of it's desired position. I stomped on all the shoots and planned to cut the runners off eventually. now, month or so later, it started shooting again - and it's strange because the new shoots are larger. It might be that newer buds on rhizomes had been awaken because I killed off the first wave and since bamboo have spring shooting hormone in its system, it restarted.
Alan_L
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Re: Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by Alan_L »

Is it possible that you have 2 plants mixed together there? (Both the same variety) Could happen if your original division had more than one rhizome section in it.
Might be an explanation.

Could also be that you stopped a lot of them early. My bissetii seems like it's been shooting for 3 weeks or longer, and I culled most of the earliest shoots.
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Re: Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by Tarzanus »

I planted it from a small pot in 2012 or 2013. First time I noticed that. I did see shoots that started in the winter and then stopped growing though. First time as well. Strange thing is that first flush of shoots started from new buds and the ones I saw in winter remained dormant. Now with the second flush these sleepers woke up as well. First flush of shoots poked out on southern side of the grove that is warm. Every year I see shoots starting there first, but not full month apart, a week perhaps because the soil is warmer there. It never happened that the second wave started on the same spot of southern side where I already removed the first round of shoots (I still have to do the digging and removing rhizomes!) and to my surprise now the emerging shoots are even larger than month ago. Really confusing.
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Re: Are the furthest shoots the most likely to abort?

Post by fredgpops »

Re direction of new shoots. I have a few locations of bamboo groves that are near neighbors. I have been successful controlling where I want those groves to spread. I water, mulch, and fertilize where I want it to run (and don't water/fertilize/mulch other areas). I would think it would be more difficult to control if the bamboo had a propensity to run south. Rgds
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