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Thanks, Jon

Hi Fred,

Hope you got my PMs.

Thanks, Jon

I agree that those look OK. Aside from normal leaf drop, there is often yellowing or thinning of leaves after transplant. They may also shed some leaves if the density of planting is increased. If the pots had a little room around them, this would be less of a factor. Your potential problem in long ...

I'd guess F robusta, only because that is the only Fargesia I have that regularly sends up shoots that far out of clump.

^^^ What he said, but I'll answer your question about the "membrane" or root barrier; a 60 mil barrier 24-30 inches, say about 2/3 - 3/4ths a meter deep, will block running bamboo rhizomes (running roots). However, the bamboo will not do well if roots are enclosed in too small an area, so ...

Those leaf tips in picture are on a culm in thriving part of grove, it's diameter around 2.5 inches, just the one I had a picture of. The runners producing newer smaller culms have similar leaf tips to your picture.

Below is a picture near base of vivax culm cut last winter due to toppling since roots were up against the barrier. Might not be as thick what you have, but proof they can be thicker and stronger than reputation once well established. I don't fertilize them any more, which might be a factor too. Lik...

Looks like the vivax shoots I have, both regular and aureocaulis. I'm not sure vivax completely deserves its reputation for being weak and thin walled. It was that way indeed for the first ten years or so, but the culms coming up now are markedly stronger and thicker. We get snow and wind here, now ...

I'll concur that F robusta can take full sun, at least around here. One thing I have seen is that some culms will die in newly planted divisions because the rhizomes they were on or near were damaged during division. Even if they do not make it, the division as a whole will probably be fine.

If it is a running bamboo, you would need the trench and barrier. If it is in fact a clumping bamboo, you should be fine if the trees are not in completion with the roots. As you noted, the root mass on clumping bamboos dense and tight enough to out compete most anything it is in direct contact with.

The only mass flowering of a Phyllostachys I have witnessed first hand was P flexiosa. In that case, younger rhizomes at the edges of groves sent up little "survivor shoots". All mature culms in the grove died after flowering. I had permission to dig as many of the shoots as I wanted from ...

If anyone gets some P nigra or Hennon seed, I'd be interested in some. Also willing to do viability tests on any fresh bamboo seeds if anyone has some and does not want to bother, will pay shipping/handling.

If you are trying to grow the planting, don't trim them at al until they start to loose color or past prime.

If you are trying to maintain at around present size, I'd go for pruning later in summer, or perhaps fall or winter.

Whatever bamboo is available to you which has large enough diameter culm, would be my guess.

Hard to tell from those pictures, probably some sort of Phyllostachys.

If you get a good picture of emerging shoots, it is possible to ID from them most of the time.