Why is Moso so hard to grow large?

[Robbie78]

So I'm having my house built and I didn't get the amount of land that I wanted but I'm still going to have a nice grove, I'm guessing it will be 10x40, I'm going to go with Moso or vivax but I can't decide. Ether way I'm going to get 2 20 gallon specimens I want a little privacy right away, I've heard Vivax will grow faster and size up quicker but Moso is prettier and takes longer. Thoughts?

[TheGreenMan1982]

If Phyllostachys nigra and Phyllostachy aurea grow quite well in my area should i assume moso will also do ok here? or is moso a much more fussy plant to grow. I'm concerned we might be a bit on the tropical side in this area for moso to do ok.

[zxylene]

I know why mine doesn't grow large because it kills to the ground every winter so far.

[Robbie78]

Well I went to Bamboo Garden today and bought 2 15 gallon and 1 20 gallon Moso . I won't get them until the end of June but I'm so excited to plant them at my new house. They were all real healthy and shooting. Most of the shoots were at least 1.5 inches. There going to get lots of sun and I'm going to baby them and I hope I'll have a nice grove in a few years. While we were at Bamboo Garden we got to walk in the middle of there grove and it was so cool.

Oh and another really cool thing is that the Moso we got Ned grew from seed in the 1980s. I'm honored to have his Moso cultivar in my yard

[philippe smets]

Oh and another really cool thing is that the Moso we got Ned grew from seed in the 1980s. I'm honored to have his Moso cultivar in my yard

that's cool, I m sure he s going check from where he is on your groove ....

[troutarm]

I purchased a 3 gallon pot of Moso 6 years ago and planted it here in Richmond, VA, zone 7 A/B. This year my biggest cane has reached about 30 feet and is still growing. I am guessing that it may hit the 40 foot mark this year. The cane seems to be about 3 inches in diameter but I haven't measured it. Every spring there are one or 2 canes that are always a lot larger than the rest that shoot. I can't wait until I can get a 5" to 6" diameter cane!

I have several different types of bamboo growing here on my property. All of the bamboo seem to start leaning towards the east after they mature and get all of their leaves on them. I originally thought it was because they were growing towards to open area but my bamboo on the other side of my house that is in an open area does the same thing. It seems to be leaning towards where the sun rises. Has anyone experienced this?

[stevelau1911]

Moso does seem to lean towards the sun just like dulcis which makes a lot of sense since it is a giant bamboo that has adapted to competing with trees in its native climate. It only makes sense that the shoots try to grow towards the direction of the light.

This picture clearly shows that the shoots do seem to point towards the direction of the where the sun rises which is away fro the camera. Once the grove gets even bigger, that should become very apparent as the shoots try to outgrow the canopy.


I also don't think that moso is very hard to grow to large sizes. It's just that the rhizomes almost always need to have 2 seasons of growth or more in order to produce shoots so it may appear to grow slow at first.


I really don't know if such a huge jump in size could mean a dormant year for 2014 as it will take a while for the bamboo to get energized again, but here's an example of what may be possible after another upsize from a grove similar in size to what mine will be once it gets nice and leafed out. It's definitely not slow to size up. It just has a nice big size potential so it may take a long time to reach its full potential.
http://lesbambous.fr/forum/viewtopic.ph ... &start=300

[erm1981]

This is how we do it in South Carolina. Moso, Moso, Moso.......these pics are from the local Moso Grove in Anderson, SC. My parents still live there and I visit them often. I live down in Charleston where I brought some moso seedlings with me to experiment with. Notice that these large moso canes in Anderson are growing in the under story of some very large trees. Makes you wonder how much sun they really require to get to this 5"+ size I saw some shoots come up this year.

[stevelau1911]

Notice that these large moso canes in Anderson are growing in the under story of some very large trees. Makes you wonder how much sun they really require to get to this 5"+ size I saw some shoots come up this year.

Some reasons that may happen are that the roots of the tree dig deeper into the soil, allowing the bamboo roots to get deeper. Also shoot buds may not be as easy to sprout under the shade. Another reason may simply be an adaptation to produce bigger culms that can get tall enough to reach the top of the canopy and get sunlight.

You might also just happen to have better soil there, but one question I have is, how deep do the culm roots get when they are over 5 inches in diameter?

[Alan_L]

Some reasons that may happen are that the roots of the tree dig deeper into the soil, allowing the bamboo roots to get deeper.

I don't understand the mechanism of this, unless tree roots regularly die, leaving the soil less compact. It may actually be so, but I don't know. I think I'll check my botany book to see if there are any answers.

[stevelau1911]

I don't understand the mechanism of this, unless tree roots regularly die, leaving the soil less compact. It may actually be so, but I don't know. I think I'll check my botany book to see if there are any answers.

That's a pretty good point as aeration doesn't really work unless space is created for new roots to expand into eh. I was thinking that tree roots may encourage water to seep deeper into the soil, but there's really no data that can be easily accessed to find out about the soil conditions underneath a large tree.

[Tarzanus]

Bamboo and deep tree roots do not compete. Bamboo roots are fairly shallow. Roots will go deeper if there's not enough water in the top layer of soil and if fertile topsoil layer is thicker than usual. In the forest (or under large trees) fallen leaves usually make soil more fertile aerated and softer, topsoil layer is usually thicker as well.

In the shade culms tend to get higher with less leaves. If light is limiting factor, thick bamboo canopy would shade out itself, so it's growing larger (not diameter, culm height), more upright and with less leaf mass. That way it gets more light that get's through forest canopy.

[rickw]

Digging up an old thread: 6 year old Moso from a 5gal, 4ft tall plant, looks like it will reach 20ft with 1 1/2"dia culms. The younger smaller planting of Japanese Timber still has it on size.

[terrabamboo]

rickw, what kind of fertilization/watering do you do, if any?

also, regarding the moso in anderson, SC: I have noticed that where rotten stumps and other organic matter is high on the forest floor, bamboo tends to upsizecompared to a section of the same forest floor where it appears dry and without much organic material. it could be the case in anderson that there are plenty of fallen trees and rotting wood. or maybe someone is just fertilizing at off peak hours

[rickw]

I add fresh horse manure starting at the first of the year til it puts up shoots. No supplemental water, don't need it where in Mobile (50+ inches per year and the wettest period right before shooting season).