Chusquea gigantea

Other things that involve bamboo

Moderator: needmore

Post Reply
Sirius
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:50 pm
Location info: 0
Location: UK

Chusquea gigantea

Post by Sirius »

Hi All,

Here is my Chusquea gigantea.
It has gone into a raised bed. The idea being to provide some screening from my neighbours house. His windows look directly into my garden.
And also to provide a bit of shelter in winter.
Attachments
photo.JPG
Markj
Posts: 906
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:42 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Gloucester, UK.

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by Markj »

With this damp, cloudy weather of late it won't be long till it doing it job. Quite a vigorous plant when it gets going here. :D

And a dam nice one too....
Bamboo...Please note... This plant is seriously addictive and you may lose interest in other, less rewarding plants!
johnw
Posts: 1617
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 1:28 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: EBS - Germany
Location: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by johnw »

Sirius and Mark - Which Chusquea would you reckon to be the hardiest and worth a try in our fog-banana belt? Some say culeou, others that Cana Prieta is tougher and still others aff. culeou. C. gigantea looks very nice.

I saw a big clump of C. culeou at RBGE in about 2001 that was mighty impressive.

johnw
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
Sirius
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:50 pm
Location info: 0
Location: UK

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by Sirius »

Markj wrote:With this damp, cloudy weather of late it won't be long till it doing it job. Quite a vigorous plant when it gets going here. :D

And a dam nice one too....
Thanks. It certainly wasn't cheap......
johnw wrote:Sirius and Mark - Which Chusquea would you reckon to be the hardiest and worth a try in our fog-banana belt? Some say culeou, others that Cana Prieta is tougher and still others aff. culeou. C. gigantea looks very nice.

I saw a big clump of C. culeou at RBGE in about 2001 that was mighty impressive.

johnw
When I went to the specialist bamboo nursery, they suggested the gigantea. They had both culeou and gigantea but said to me that the gigantea gets less damage over the winter. (The nursery is in quite a cold, exposed area). So that's what I went with.
moriphen
Posts: 613
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:07 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Southern New Jersey 7b about 5 mins from Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by moriphen »

I envy those who can grow Chusquea, very attractive bamboo.
M
johnw
Posts: 1617
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 1:28 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: EBS - Germany
Location: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by johnw »

Well I have to track that one down to try in our milder south.

johnw
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
Markj
Posts: 906
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:42 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Gloucester, UK.

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by Markj »

Sirius, in that spot I'd of gone for gigantea- it's a great plant all round, it will really stand out there :D

But, whoever told you it's hardier than culeou is either lying or very much mistaken, it's quite widely known amongst many folks that the opposite is true, culeou is far hardier. Gigantea is fairly hardy but really suffers with dry cold air, it seems to cope with quite low temps when covered with an layer of frost but if theirs little frost 'cause of dry air the leaves burn quickly.

On a personal level, 3 mature plants with culms over 2 inches did not survive winter 2010/2011, all above ground parts were killed. The re-growth was zapped by a -10 this year, they are starting again but it's going to be many years till they recover.

Culeou on the other hand survived very well, 4 separate plants all different forms though, one an upright form was left undamaged by that winter ( Low of -18c ) the others suffered some leaf burn to the tops but are very much recovered.
Bamboo...Please note... This plant is seriously addictive and you may lose interest in other, less rewarding plants!
johnw
Posts: 1617
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 1:28 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: EBS - Germany
Location: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by johnw »

Mark - If -10c zapped gigantea I guess we can forget about it for here. I suppose all the C. culeous these days are seedlings so one never really knows what the habit will be. Is that the case? It seems there were no selected forms even before its flowering so what are the chances of any appearing in the future? Anything in the wind over there?

johnw
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
Markj
Posts: 906
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:42 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Gloucester, UK.

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by Markj »

Theirs a few selected seedlings :wink: Very nice they are too, hard too get though as 99% of them are crap...

Gonna need a separate thread to stop hijacking this one though :blackeye:

Here's a taster pic or two...


Image



Image
Bamboo...Please note... This plant is seriously addictive and you may lose interest in other, less rewarding plants!
johnw
Posts: 1617
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 1:28 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: EBS - Germany
Location: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by johnw »

So Mark did you just happen upon these as you ambled through a nursery or was there a keener in charge that selected them out as special enough for the sales area?

I suppose most nurseries are happy enough just to get C. culeou seedlings rather than trying to propagte them with the inherent losses....

johnw
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
Sirius
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:50 pm
Location info: 0
Location: UK

Re: Chusquea gigantea

Post by Sirius »

Markj wrote:Sirius, in that spot I'd of gone for gigantea- it's a great plant all round, it will really stand out there :D

But, whoever told you it's hardier than culeou is either lying or very much mistaken, it's quite widely known amongst many folks that the opposite is true, culeou is far hardier. Gigantea is fairly hardy but really suffers with dry cold air, it seems to cope with quite low temps when covered with an layer of frost but if theirs little frost 'cause of dry air the leaves burn quickly.

On a personal level, 3 mature plants with culms over 2 inches did not survive winter 2010/2011, all above ground parts were killed. The re-growth was zapped by a -10 this year, they are starting again but it's going to be many years till they recover.

Culeou on the other hand survived very well, 4 separate plants all different forms though, one an upright form was left undamaged by that winter ( Low of -18c ) the others suffered some leaf burn to the tops but are very much recovered.
Markj,

I got this plant from that well known Bamboo specialist nursery in Essex. He has a farm in an exposed area, more so than mine.
The plant itself is an offset taken from a massive clump of his. This plant came through the last winters relatively unscathed. In fact, when I visited in early April, this Chusquea was looking very good, which is what tempted me to buy it.
Post Reply