Experiment pays

[Steve in France]

My Parvifolia which is a two year old division has done very well this year. It went from a pot to a four foot by four foot planter about two feet high last Summer. I used only compost in the planter , no soil. It was watered everyday and I used Osmocote time release fert , plus four applications of Ironite and Miracle grow about every week to ten days.
From the six 1/4 inch culms of last year , two of which were broken in the snow. I have 38 new shoots from 1/2 inch to 1 1/4 , most are around the 1 inch mark. As we move every 4 to 5 years I've been into pushing growth rates for the last few years , I think I've finally figured out the formula. Maryland Summers help a lot too , but having seen old groves of Bamboo here and in the National Zoo in D.C. the weather is far from the most important factor. I still believe water is number one, then top feeding. Iron is also a key , max green for max production.
Here's the pics

[philippe smets]

congratulations to you steve,


when do you give iron to your boos ?


thanks for the picture

[Steve in France]

Thanks Philippe, I'm using Ironite which is both iron and high Nitrogen, I use it about four times per year . Not lots just two or three handfuls per plant per time. I also used it just before shooting season which they say one should not do because it promotes small growth on many small culms. Seems to work ok in my climate but European cool Springs maybe different.
Markj is using an iron sulfate ? mix I think , he just appied it so we will see in a week or so how well his Bamboos improve.
Iron and then some high N lawn fert should work as well as Ironite.
Best Wishes
Steve

[Matt in TN]

Wow - great results!

[Polo]

Very nice shoots you have there Steve

greetings

Polleke

[Steve in France]

Thanks again guys. This plants was a small single culm division in a 25 gallon pot , which produced 6 , six or seven foot culms last growing season each of about 1/4 inch. One original culm from last season can be seen in the second pic between the new culms. The old culms are the typical Parvifolia 45 degree angle. many of the new culms are angled too but some are upright. Upright culms on Parvifolia are a sign it's maturing. I've removed two shoots that where at a very bad angle. I've pushed the plant so some smaller latter shoots may abort, normally Parvifolia does not abort any culms as it's not a food Bamboo but more of a Timber type.
Later
Steve

[Markj]

Nice one steve - Nothing showing here yet need some your warmth...

Any size up over in your old place.

[Alan_L]

Steve,

I grow Phy. aureosulcata in raised beds similar to yours, and I just want to point out that rhizomes have escaped from the bottom of my beds. You'll want to make sure you rhizome prune around those boxes! A barrier of 36" above ground is apparently not the same as a barrier of the same height (or even less) underground.

[Steve in France]

Mark . it was a bit of a whistle stop tour as you know, but, I did get a few pics of the old garden in France. Lots of stuff around an inch to an inch and a half. Shanghai 3 was round the two inch mark. I need to spend a season or two there to get things really going. I'll post pics later

Alan , thanks for the info , I hope I do get the odd rhizome coming up in the lawn as I need a couple of ivisions of this Parvifolia clone for a two old members of the board. I'll expand these beds this year and may well do them in stone. If I make a cement base for the wall that projects back under the compost I should be able to turn back most runners.

Post Later
Steve

[ShmuBamboo]

As Borat would say, "Very nice!" Bamboo shoots that is.

[stevelau1911]

That is very impressive. Compost must work very well and that raised bed probably adds to the soil temperature as it can heat up easier. Bust 38 shoots all well upsized.... that's just crazy.

After looking at my Parvifolia, it only have 3 shoots all less than 1/4 inch in diameter and it would be a big disappointment if all of them turn out that small. They're smaller than the originals, but hopefully they're just scouter shoots that don't represent the standard size of my shoots that I should be expecting in the next few days.

[David]

Very nice Steve! I think you may have a good recipe, the results certainly make it seem so. Iornite has jumped in price here but Lowes still has the best deal at around $20 for a 25# bag. I suspect I should dose mine again since the flood likely washed/ leached lots of nutrients from the soil.

Congrats! Very nice size up!

Regards,

David

[needmore]

Steve - how is your trimmed bed looking at this point? My original concern was floppy culms, I've had storm damage to my bamboo 4 days in a row this week and the Parvifolia took it the worst. All 3 groves now have 40% of the new canes almost laying flat so I ended up with the flop anyway.

[Steve in France]

Hi Brad , sorry to hear your culms are laying down on the job. Mine are still upright or at the angle they grew. Mark gets problems in some areas of his garden with culms flopping over. I believe it's often related to soil conditions, anchor roots and how well they hold. My Bamboos in France are floppy in some areas, my tenant has been propping them up with re-bar and such. Not pretty but it works until next years culms come. I think if the bamboos are growing on clay with only a few inchs of mulch on top they can have problems getting the anchor roots down. In France I sandy soil and the worst effected Bamboos are in small barriered areas, perhaps confining them has limited root area too much. How one goes about creating good conditions for he best root structure I'm not sure. Perhaps others could discribe there soil and how they find it's ability to hold Bamboo upright in heavy weather. The Bamboos in frace effected are vivax, one of Mark's problem bamoos it also vivax. My Parvifolia in France does not seem to have a problem other than I'd like it to grow faster
All the Best
Steve
Another thought is in areas of poor drainage I've seen floppy culms, I believe this is because the anchor roots rot off. the Bamboo looks fine as it has the fine roots feeding it are ok, but the bamboo is unstable deep down. In sort there are multiple reasons for Bamboo flop and I bet like any good gardener you have a feeling why yours are going down for the count.

[foxd]

I've noticed a lot of floppy culms following the past few days of heavy rain and high winds. Roots not being able to hold the culm erect is part of it, but I think the wind blowing the culm back and forth a lot can weaken it to the point it bends over. I think this because some of the canes still look well rooted, but the cane itself is bending.