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Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:45 am
by Andros2240
I’ve recently planted 73 bare root clumping bamboo plants out in the field here in Uruguay. 7-9 days ago to be exact. A couple days after planting we received a good amount of rain and with the clay soil they have here some plants seem to be water logged/starting to die. Dropping leaves and culms turning brown on a handful of plants. The soil is waterlogged on some plants. We also have more rain coming sometime midweek.

I’ve lost bamboo plants before by overwatering them in pots with soil that does not drain well. I’m wondering if potting all plants in a perlite/coconut core mix would have been better.
It is also the beginning of the summer season here with temps fluctuating into the mid 80s-90s. And all plants are positioned in full sun.

Is there anyway to save plants that look like they are on their way out? Ones that already have all culms brown? Should I pull the mulch off of plants to allow for more drying as they do not need water?

Thank you, Andy

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 11:37 pm
by needmore
Andy, in my experience it is tough to get browning bamboo to recover unless it ends up producing survival shoots. I think I would go ahead and pot the brown ones to see what happens. In general, I think bare root bamboo is not ready to go inground and for sure not in clayey soil. Next time maybe sort of 'heel them in' rather than plant directly, I would take fresh running bamboo divisions and bury them al in a big/deep mulch pile, then after they root there, lift them and then plant or pot up.

Many species of bamboo can tolerate wet/heavy soils once established but planting directly into wet/heavy soils is tough on them. But in general, bare root plants can be tough to get going w/o some babying initially so direct planting is tough!

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 3:22 pm
by Andros2240
I don’t know if it would be beneficial or not but dipping plants in a rooting hormone? Would that help? I have plants in pots a coconut core and perlite mix. Would it be better to have plants in shade or sun? Some plants are from rhizomes and others are from culm cuttings. The B.Gideon’s blue is from a rhizome division but culm died right away.The South American sun here is strong and fierce.

I was able to bring back 1 G.atroviolacea but it is one of the plants that are t looking to good.

Thank you, Andy

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 6:18 pm
by needmore
Hormone would not likely help. Bare root and culm cuttings need a good start and heavy soil is not a good start. I recently thinned some culms and chopped them into sections, then I placed them on a couple inches of mulch and then covered them with several inches more. They are in about 8-10" of mulch now, my mulch is the well shredded type and turns into soil quickly but it also holds lots of water.

I've not tried this method before so I don't know if it will work, some species do much better than others so we'll see. Next time I think I'll just lay the entire culm down after shortening branches while leave dormant branch buds and bury the whole thing in mulch. Previously I potted each section in the mulch and all off those died so I'm not sure my method will work with this particular species but I'm sure it will work with some. Right now about 40% of the cutting are shooting new branches but no guarantee they are also rooting yet.

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 6:55 pm
by needmore
starts.jpeg
Here is a pic where you can see new branches firing but my gut says that this particular bamboo will not work this way but I'll try anyway.

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2022 3:04 pm
by Andros2240
That looks great, I’m going to try my hand at air rooting B.Oldhamii this year as I don’t want to cut any culms as of yet. I could use another 40 plants as a large windbreak privacy screen.

I’ll see how that goes. I’ve seen a few videos on you tube using peat moss and rooting hormone with plastic wrapped around a branch than foil wrapping the plastic.

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 12:12 am
by Alan_L
Just let those create whatever little branches or shoots or leaves that they want to -- it's a good thing and shows that the plant is alive! (And wanting to store energy so it can start getting bigger again)

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 2:44 pm
by Andros2240
Has anyone had success propagating B.Oldhamii from culm cuttings? Beginning of summer best time to do this before new shoots start to come up?

The Bamboo nursery where I purchased my plants seemed reluctant in showing me any methods after the fact. Told me divisions are the fastest way to propagate but with clumping species seems it will set the mother plant back.

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 4:49 pm
by needmore
Yeah, Oldhamii will work from culm cuttings. The cuttings take a year or more to really be ready to plant so often nurseries don't like the wait and do divisions instead as they are a bit faster.

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 5:56 pm
by Andros2240
Is now a good time to take divisions from oldhamii? I do have a double row of oldhamii I could take from. It is the start of summer months here with temps anywhere from high 70s up into the low 90s with cooler temperatures at night.

They do sell B.Oldhamii here but they are smaller plants from micro propagation and are slower to size up not doing much until the second year.

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:24 am
by needmore
I've never paid attention to the time of year to do it, I suspect that there is a proper one, I did just see an old demo that said right before shooting is the only time they do it, but I'd do it if I were you and see what happens. The video I saw was produced by Bamboo Sourcery in CA and I suspect you can find it on their website, or LMK and I"ll find the link I used. They had one about a year old that is starting from the fresh cuttings and another that followed up on those pots.

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:40 am
by Andros2240
I think I know what video you’re mentioning. I’ve seen the video bamboo sorcery put out but I’ll check it out again.

Rhizome divisions with culms are best to do before plants start to shoot?

I’m kind of hesitant on doing oldhamii culm cuttings right now if they take a year to plant out as I return to the states to work at the end of May for 5-6 months.

Re: Saving newly planted waterlogged bamboo

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:07 am
by needmore
Probably best before shooting, worst right after.