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Help me get started growing bamboo!

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 3:54 am
by Luc_E
I would like to grow some backyard bamboo for its many uses. I would like to make cane poles for fishing for both personal use and to sell. I would like a bamboo plant that could withstand my Northwestern Ohio climate. I am going to start growing with very little information, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated!! My main question here is; What kind of bamboo should I get, and where could I get it?

Re: Help me get started growing bamboo!

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 4:01 pm
by needmore
Greetings! NW OH will be a challenging place to grow bamboo, anytime your winter temps go below say +5F you'll start to get damage and below 0F you'll have considerable damage so think about your typical winter relative to those terms and you'll see what I mean. Despite that, if you can accept that you may annual die back of the bamboo, there are species that should send up new growth in April each year and by June it will be leafed out and you'll have bamboo again. So from mid winter through June each year you might have no above ground growth.

I would suggest that you consider one of these members of the Phyllostachys genus: Aureosulcata a pretty form that is green with some yellow stripes on the canes; the 'Spectabilis' form of Aureosulcata which has lemon yellow canes with green stripes; or Bissetii a nice growing all green cane form. These 3 have your best chances in winter and all will make cane poles after 3-4 years. There are many sources, if you want to get mail order try Bamboo Garden in OR. If you want to drive you might try Burton's Bamboo Garden in Morrow down near Cincinnati.