Only Rufa was shooting, and they were only a couple inches tall -- they're fine!

Everything else still shows at least some green and leaf buds are expanding.

I second the demo bar idea. It's all I ever pry with and has a very slight bend now. That just makes it better at prying when you turn it so the bend is up.

Brad, sounds like you need a nice big mattock!

Time for an update a month later: every Phyllostachys is in great condition! Aureosulcata forms virtually no damage (a few culms show crispy leaves, but most culms show nothing but healthy green. Ph. atrovaginata has about 25% crispy leaves, the rest green. Ph. rubromarginata has about 33%-50% brown...

Note that bamboo culms have a limited lifetime, so will die after a few years naturally depending on species. I didn't read closely but not sure if you said that these were all only a couple years old or if some were older.

I thought this would be a good place to document the temperatures that the polar vortex caused here in the St. Louis area in Feb 2021, and what damage my bamboos suffered as a result. Damage seems minimal so far besides some obviously crispy leaves, but I'll post more in a couple weeks. The attached...

Also, the white fuzzy/sticky substance is likely from mealy bugs. It's doubtful they are causing the shoots to abort, but if there are a lot of them you may want to take care of that. I'd recommend the least severe treatment methods first as I try to avoid pesticides as much as possible.

Were all of those culms alive and full of leaves when you planted?

I like the really tall spindly one that seems to be leafless except a couple at the tip

I'm excited to follow along with your garden's progress again.

That's amazing growth for just a few months! I wonder if no cold period will set it back? It might be too young to "care" about that.

Bigger lot than in CA it seems. Didn't you say that there's not much topsoil? How does an 80' clump stay upright?

There is adequate drainage in those tubs, right?

Agree with Brad and to me 'Aureocaulis' is a bit deeper, richer yellow/gold than 'Spectabilis' is. The culms in your photos look like they have that deeper, richer color but could just be exposure, soil, etc.

When I bring any of my plants (not bamboo) out of shade into sun, I do it slowly with gradually more sun exposure only if the plant has lots of leaves that it will keep. If it has none or few leaves, straight into full sun -- you want those new leaves to be accustomed to full sun from the first minu...

Don't feel too badly about not knowing how to handle a potted bamboo -- it's not always easy to figure out, even if you're an experience plant person. A few years back I had a life-long nursery owner tell me to "score the roots and it will take off" of the potted bamboo I was buying. (Advi...

My advice is to baby that plant the first couple of winters: tarp over it so it is not exposed to cold winds, and so that heat from the ground will help keep under-tarp temperatures higher than outside. Your goal is to keep as many green leaves on the existing culms through the winter so that you ge...