Bamboo in pots

[Jerry Hamilton]

Is it best to put a boo in a pot that is just bigger than the bamboo or is it best to use a bigger pot? They will be in them till early spring.

[Joseph Clemens]

In your case, where you're planting in the Spring, I'd opt for the smaller size. It's easier to pot a plant when the root ball remains intact from the pot to the planting hole. A larger pot might not have a cohesive root ball formed until much later than a smaller pot.

I just received three new running bamboo species in one gallon size and planted them into five gallon size pots where they are adapting well to my conditions here. I have been keeping them well watered and in the shade, but have been gradually moving them so they get more sun every few days. I too expect to plant them out by Spring.

[Matt in TN]

This surprises me! I'm not doubting you, as I know next to nothing about the subject, but it seems like the larger the pot the more room the rhizomes would have to grow and expand. From the pictures I've seen of some people's bamboo in pots they become rootbound very quickly.

[moriphen]

Is it best to put a boo in a pot that is just bigger than the bamboo or is it best to use a bigger pot? They will be in them till early spring.

What kind of bamboo are we potting?

[Jerry Hamilton]

It will be mostly runners.

[moriphen]

Then Joseph is right, You have a earlier "spring" then either of us. The runner will be pot bound and ready to be explode out of a smaller pot. You will have a sold root mass that you can remove by just cutting the plastic pot. I presume you will be planting this next spring? correct?

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yes, I will be planting in the spring.
Thanks for the replies.
Jerry

[va_highlander]

This surprises me! I'm not doubting you, as I know next to nothing about the subject, but it seems like the larger the pot the more room the rhizomes would have to grow and expand. From the pictures I've seen of some people's bamboo in pots they become rootbound very quickly.

I think the point is that a rootbound plant is desirable in this particular situation and therefore a smaller pot, one that will become rootbound more quickly, is better than something with more room.

[needmore]

I am currently digging divisions and I opt for the largest pot that I can afford to fill with soil - and drag in & out of the hoophouse. I just potted a 2-culm Parvifolia division I'll use to start a new grove next year and put it in a 25 gallon pot. I do try and get long sections of rhizome and the large pots help stuffing in long sections.

You have time yet this summer Jerry to get plenty of new rhizome and root growth going. Earlier this year some root bound 2-gallon pots I bought, I potted in the squat 5's which are quite larger and those have already fill up those pots nicely. Rarely will I use anything smaller than the squat 5's which are 14 inches in diameter. If these are not full next spring, then I'm not ready to plant them and will wait until they are.

[Jerry Hamilton]

You have time yet this summer Jerry to get plenty of new rhizome and root growth going. Earlier this year some root bound 2-gallon pots I bought, I potted in the squat 5's which are quite larger and those have already fill up those pots nicely. Rarely will I use anything smaller than the squat 5's which are 14 inches in diameter. If these are not full next spring, then I'm not ready to plant them and will wait until they are.

Thanks Brad,
That is what I was thinking. I know my unkown black that was potted about three months ago was root bound when I up sized the pot 2 days ago.
Jerry

[Joseph Clemens]

Precisely - potted bamboo can, over time, become too pot-bound which can hinder their continued growth. If the potted bamboo has insufficient root/rhizome growth that the contained mass of media in the pot is not woven together by roots and rhizomes when it is removed from the pot for planting, some clumps of media containing few roots, can fall loose and cause those roots to break off. This can happen at any time, but if the potted plant has sufficiently penetrated the media with roots/rhizomes it will happen less, because the roots/rhizomes will hold the media together. If you use a small pot, say, #3 to #7 gallon size, the plant will likely grow sufficiently to fill the pot with roots/rhizomes by Spring. But if you were to use a #15 gallon or larger pot, you might need to wait longer for sufficient root/rhizome growth for best plantability - larger pots = more media = more weight, (the described damage can happen more readily in the larger pot sizes because the extra media weight puts even more stress on those roots that have grown into clumps of media after the pot is removed and before the plant is inserted into the ground) unless there are even more growth and penetration of roots/rhizomes to further bind this heavier root ball.

Of course, if your divisions are larger than, for instance, a #5 pot, then you should probably use the next larger available size, such as a #7.

In my climate Summers can be brutal (though some are cooler than others) on nearly all of the temperate species and even some of the tropical clumpers show heat damage, especially in very hot Summers, having new leaves that wither and dry up on new culms and branches, even when well watered. Considering this I will probably plant my three new acquisitions as soon as the Summer heat subsides, they have already filled their #5 pots with roots and rhizomes - I can tell because the roots and rhizomes are coming out of the bottom drain holes.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Thanks Joesph,
I will up size on the pots but not to a size that I will have to wait until later in the year to plant them.