what happened to my shimadake?

Controlling pests of bamboo

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sully0family
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what happened to my shimadake?

Post by sully0family »

Just looked at my new shimadake shoot (2 months old) and was shocked to see this. What happened? There was an earwig on it when I discovered this, but could they do that? As you can see in the other pic., the plant is still green, for now. this was one of my favorite shoots :( . Any advice would be appreciated.
Mike O
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Last edited by sully0family on Mon Jul 16, 2012 3:59 am, edited 2 times in total.
Tarzanus
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Re: whar happened to my shikadake?

Post by Tarzanus »

Earwigs could damage bamboo, but only when it's still soft. I have a lot of them in my bamboos, but they are carnivores and they seldom eat plants. When they do, it's usually soft parts like flowers or fresh leaves. They do tend to search for holes and places to hide. That's what the damaged culm offers at the moment - good hiding place.

That kind of damage had to be caused by much larger animal. I'd say a rabbit or a vole. Culm will most likely break at some point when it leafs out completely. You can try securing it somehow. I'd place several wooden sticks around the culm and tie everything tightly together with several knots. That should immobilize the damaged culm and protect it a bit.
sully0family
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Re: what happened to my shikadake?

Post by sully0family »

I don't believe there are voles hear, but there are rabbits and seldom a deer.This shoot has been hard and leafed out for at least a month. Are there any diseases that cause this? It seems the rabbit population is down this year;between Fox,coyotes,fisher cats and cats I haven't seen any rabbits around this year.
Alan_L
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Re: what happened to my shimadake?

Post by Alan_L »

I have a culm that was damaged that way, I supported it with a stick, and it's been growing and healthy for a year. The top growth needs a surprisingly small strip of culm in order to survive.
johnw
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Re: what happened to my shimadake?

Post by johnw »

The clean straight edges without any signs of gnawing is puzzling. Did you just remove the sheath to discover thi or whittle it to clean ups? If the former I'd say it rotted while still in the sheath when very very green.

The heat here - 28c on the coast but 38.5 inland (that must be a record) - seems to have dissapated, cliuds have rolled in but it is still very dry here.

johnw
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
sully0family
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Re: what happened to my shimadake?

Post by sully0family »

Johnw. I also found it strange about the straight edge. I did nothing but remove a little grass. Rot crossed my mind but I only water once a week. I'll support it like Tarzanus and Alan L say, since it is still super green and living. Now I'm paranoid about what's next.
Mike O.
stevelau1911
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Re: what happened to my shimadake?

Post by stevelau1911 »

You could perhaps splint it with some nice strong wood, then duct tape the entire bottom to make sure that section doesn't snap when it gets too windy. Another safety precaution would be to tie it to the larger culm to prevent the wind from blowing it around. As long as you keep it alive, it can keep providing energy for the rhizomes throughout this season, and perhaps a few years.

I believe that rot may have been the main cause of that compression in the lower internodes.
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