I always thought that it might be worth a shot to buy a couple of outdoor floodlights, the ones with the spikes on the bottom, and equip them with infrared heat bulbs (PAR 38 floods). Since the heat transfer is due to radiation, the actual plant tissue would absorb the radiation and warm up, irrespe...

Turns out it's mites. Saw the webbing and the tiny pink bodies this morning. I've doused with neem oil, which quickly got rid of the mites on my other tropical.

Hi - I've been growing a very small specimen indoors for a year now and it has been doing very well. Recently, however, I've noticed leaf curling lengthwise at the tops of the tallest culms, which are only about 2 feet. I water once or twice a week with about 1 cup of water. It is in a 1 gallon pot....

True, some of those Fargesia's would be seriously scorched by full sun, >90 degrees, and no precipitation for a week or two straight - but not all. Both Rufa and Robusta 'pingwu' (and potentially Scabrida) would likely be fine, or experience little damage with proper care (water, mist, mulch), parti...

I agree with mixing up the varieties - for one thing, looking at that much of the same bamboo will get boring. You could look at using some Fargesia's (clumpers). Rufa, Scabrida, Nitida, Murielae and Jiuzhaigou should be hardy in your zone, but they grow relatively slowly and they are not likely to ...

Mackel - I aspire to achieve even a faint whif of your greatness.

I hope you're right because, as I mention above, my Robusta and S. Fastuosa looked fine indoors and are now declining fast. I think I shocked them with the immediate sun. Here is a pic of the Robusta. Still learning I guess...

Steve - I'm having the same debate. I decided to take out all of my plants that got top-killed (while in the garage!) and a few other hardier plants. I figure the top-killed plants have nothing to lose. My two spectabilis rhizomes have sprouted quite nicely so I take them out on warmer days for extr...

Seems it may have been either over-watering or an N deficiency. I started applying a high N fertilizer as a foliar spray and the condition of the plant has noticeably improved over the last few days, with a deeper green coloration in the foliage and healthy looking new leaves.

I am in the process of re-landscaping my pool area and I have to hide some very unsightly pool equipment. Between the concrete pads on which the pool equipment sits and the concrete pool deck, I have a strip of perhaps 3' x 5' for planting a screen (the thicker the better). The spot gets sun for abo...

Thanks all - quite interesting. I have been known to be over-zealous with watering. I have only had the plant about two weeks, during which it was subject to 1. nursery irrigation 2. a big Floridian rainfall and 3. about 2 modest waterings by me. I will let it dry out for a week or two and evaluate ...

So I got two plants from Beautiful Bamboo and rather than being able to pick the healthiest looking ones, I had to get ones that I could actually transport from Florida to Ontario, Canada. They both exhibited similar issues. Leaves are "streaky", almost variegated-looking. Some leaves are ...

A cool pic from my recent trip to Beautiful Bamboo (more on my blog). That's a Bambusa Lako culm he's on. Are these guys pests or just visitors?

Hi - I was in Central Florida but I was hoping to arrange shipping. Much easier to carry the plant across the border than to ship it across. I'm back in Canada now, but will be in Chicago in early June.

Hi - it's not really local, but if you are ever in Central FL, Beautiful Bamboo has lots of it. I was just there a few days ago. They are roughly half-way between Ocala and Orlando.