Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2020 11:54 am
Greetings! Yesterday evening (a Friday) I was driving down a residential street in my S. Florida town and came across a landscape crew hauling a load of standard B. chungii culms over a backyard fence, and stopped to get the story. Seems this healthy, 15-year-old clump will be removed in its entirety due to a utilities conflict. The crew had started late and they were leaving the site with half the culms standing and the other half cut down to about 8'. They return Monday to resume removal, roots and all.
I saw the possibility of collecting a few propagules of underground material and got the OK from the foreman and property owner to be on hand Monday and collect what I can of it. Then I came home and started researching, as I'm an absolute beginner at this. Besides delving into the archives of this forum, I've been reading through the 1995 INBAR propagation manual and Kenneth Brennecke's 1980 papers on division for the ABS, among other things. But on the chance that this post is published and read within the next 48 hours or so, perhaps some forum members can offer some experience-based advice on collecting viable propagules from this particular variety. I have that much time to come up with a plan and get prepared. I understand that it's a bit past the optimum season to try this, but hey, it's free chungii, so why not give it a shot?
My manpower is limited to myself and I don't have any sophisticated equipment (e.g. power saws), though I think I can get some help from the landscapers in cutting. I'd like to collect man-portable chunks of material that can be carried away in 5-gallon buckets (transport is a standard sedan). I want to stay out of the way of the crew as much as possible. So far I have a notion that I might start digging on the side of the clump where the culms have been cut down, while the crew is busy cutting the other side (the clump has a footprint c. 12' wide). I figure that once they start their own brute-force excavation work, the material will suffer too much damage.
Any advice on what to look for, what to expect, what else to read, what to bring etc. would be greatly appreciated!
I saw the possibility of collecting a few propagules of underground material and got the OK from the foreman and property owner to be on hand Monday and collect what I can of it. Then I came home and started researching, as I'm an absolute beginner at this. Besides delving into the archives of this forum, I've been reading through the 1995 INBAR propagation manual and Kenneth Brennecke's 1980 papers on division for the ABS, among other things. But on the chance that this post is published and read within the next 48 hours or so, perhaps some forum members can offer some experience-based advice on collecting viable propagules from this particular variety. I have that much time to come up with a plan and get prepared. I understand that it's a bit past the optimum season to try this, but hey, it's free chungii, so why not give it a shot?
My manpower is limited to myself and I don't have any sophisticated equipment (e.g. power saws), though I think I can get some help from the landscapers in cutting. I'd like to collect man-portable chunks of material that can be carried away in 5-gallon buckets (transport is a standard sedan). I want to stay out of the way of the crew as much as possible. So far I have a notion that I might start digging on the side of the clump where the culms have been cut down, while the crew is busy cutting the other side (the clump has a footprint c. 12' wide). I figure that once they start their own brute-force excavation work, the material will suffer too much damage.
Any advice on what to look for, what to expect, what else to read, what to bring etc. would be greatly appreciated!