The Hἲppy B֎֎mboom Threat

[xilman]

Originally Posted by jvang

bamboo arrived today! was advertised as 4 to 7 foot tall plants... i suspect theyre over 10 feet tall!

Ph. vivax is a good choice for somwhere with lots of space. They could well end up 10m tall in a warm site, and produce culms up to 70mm across when well established. Beware, though, as they are leptomorph bamboos (i.e. spreaders) you will need to pay attention to them every year and ensure they do not go anywhere unwanted.

[jvang]

Originally Posted by xilman

Ph. vivax is a good choice for somwhere with lots of space. They could well end up 10m tall in a warm site, and produce culms up to 70mm across when well established. Beware, though, as they are leptomorph bamboos (i.e. spreaders) you will need to pay attention to them every year and ensure they do not go anywhere unwanted.

indeed, we placed the 3 foot deep bamboo barrier last year to prevent the spread of the rhizomes. the climate here in the SE USA is supposed to be very similar to mainland China where many Phyllostachus variants grow naturally; it's possible that these could grow to 50-70 feet tall in a few years!

planted everything today, appears to be more around 6-8 feet tall now:

[kruoli]

Do you have any recommendations for climate that goes to -20 °C in seldom cases that is not too invasive and gives the possibility to get some nice sticks?

[xilman]

Originally Posted by kruoli

Do you have any recommendations for climate that goes to -20 °C in seldom cases that is not too invasive and gives the possibility to get some nice sticks?

Yes.

Depending on your site, look for Fargesia species, which are clump forming and anywhere from 60cm to 4m high, or Phyllostachis which are runners. Some are moderate 2m-highh, 1cm culms when mature, some are giants >10m high with 7cm culms. Every colour of culms from green, through yellow, red-brown, black and violet. In a cold climate they will not reach maximum size and will spread rather more slowly and are easy to keep under control with a bit of care every spring to see where the rhizomes have reached. My Ph. nigra (black bamboo) is the only one causing any significant running problems and that is in a climate which very rarely falls below -5C.

Go to a good bamboo site, of which there are many, and do a search on these two genera. The site will doubtless tell you of others which survive down to -20 or -25.

Beware: at such low temperatures you must expect some leaf damage but the plant will survive nicely and will recover again in the spring.

[LaurV]

Originally Posted by jvang

planted everything today, appears to be more around 6-8 feet tall now:

Nice! If the shipment took as long as my aliexpress deliveries (electronic related small/cheap stuff which I buy periodically and arrives in 2 months or more), then they grew in the boxes from 4 feet to 8 feet. Kidding.

Is that yellow thingie in the back Mike's lambo?

[jvang]

Originally Posted by kruoli

Do you have any recommendations for climate that goes to -20 °C in seldom cases that is not too invasive and gives the possibility to get some nice sticks?

https://www.bamboogarden.com/cold-hardy-bamboo

i'd stay away from phyllostachus species since they really prefer hot weather and you need to manage the rhizomes with a trench or deep barrier. fargesia is generally very cold hardy and is a clumping bamboo that will require zero rhizome management.

Originally Posted by LaurV

Nice! If the shipment took as long as my aliexpress deliveries (electronic related small/cheap stuff which I buy periodically and arrives in 2 months or more), then they grew in the boxes from 4 feet to 8 feet. Kidding.

Is that yellow thingie in the back Mike's lambo?

shipping was less than a week from oregon, quicker than expected!

yellow thingy is my corvette, just got it last month. looks a lot nicer in pictures lol

[jvang]

got some new shoots growing! other than a few dead leaves, everything's growing pretty well. we got some fertilizer to add over the next few days to give it a boost. got a bunch of grass and weeds poking through the mulch so i'll have to take care of those.

[Xyzzy]

Originally Posted by LaurV

Is that yellow thingie in the back Mike's lambo?

[xilman]

Originally Posted by jvang

got some new shoots growing! other than a few dead leaves, everything's growing pretty well. we got some fertilizer to add over the next few days to give it a boost. got a bunch of grass and weeds poking through the mulch so i'll have to take care of those.

The bamboos will take care of the weeds for you!

[xilman]

Originally Posted by jvang

got some new shoots growing! other than a few dead leaves, everything's growing pretty well. we got some fertilizer to add over the next few days to give it a boost. got a bunch of grass and weeds poking through the mulch so i'll have to take care of those.

You don't have enough yet, but when you do Phyllostachis species make good food. When the new shoots are, say, 20-30cm high break them off. Peel the leaves away, chop into lengths (and lengthwise for the wider portion) and boil for 3-5 minutes.

Delicious. We had Ph. violescens and Ph. nigra last night.

[jvang]

Originally Posted by xilman

The bamboos will take care of the weeds for you!

how will they do that?

Originally Posted by xilman

You don't have enough yet, but when you do Phyllostachis species make good food. When the new shoots are, say, 20-30cm high break them off. Peel the leaves away, chop into lengths (and lengthwise for the wider portion) and boil for 3-5 minutes.

Delicious. We had Ph. violescens and Ph. nigra last night.

the place we bought em from said not to harvest any until the plants are matured. not sure how much it'd harm the plants to take the shoots right now. culms are still under an inch in diameter so probably a few years until theyre producing larger shoots