Fargesia nitida new generation

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johnw
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Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by johnw »

I have noticed that many if not all new nitidas flush out this year's culms in the autumn whereas old generation ones waited until the next spring to do so. Have opthers noticed this? Is it just a function of juvenility or do we have a new feature?

johnw - 22c & sun today.
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Fargesia nitida new generation Ivany IMG-20130911-00084.jpg
Fargesia nitida new generation Ivany Halifax-20130911-00085.jpg
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
ShmuBamboo
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by ShmuBamboo »

I have three of them and some are putting up new culms with leaves at the top only, which is typical of my other Fargesias here. It may be your seed variation or local climate. Weather is getting cold and wet here early this year.
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Leo S
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by Leo S »

my old generation nitida used to grow and leaf out in the fall all the time. I ha a no name old generation and 'Nymphenburg', they both grew new culms in fall. they also had a few in spring. that said, they were not vigorous, never filled out the way I would have liked. when they went to seed before dying, I harvested seed and planted it in pots. Intially got 50 + seedlings, it has been almost 10 years and only a couple seedlings have survived. they are even less vigorous than their parent stock. BUT the seedlings seem to grow spring and fall. I figured that was normal. My seedlings still have not filled one gallon nursery cans.

I have had F. nitida growing for some 25 years, never was impressed with it, though it is hardy, visually it always stayed wispy and grass like. F. murielae has not been a whole lot better, but I've only had it 15 years. Nice and hardy, but just doesn't size up.

when I want visual impact, I build the barriers and plant a Phyllostachys or an Indocalmus. within 5 years I have good sized culms for the type for the species. no whimpy bamboo in those groups.
canadianplant
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by canadianplant »

Thats a nice mix of plants there John.....

I always thought Fargesia put out a batch of fall culms. All of mine have. The scabrida put out culms all season before it died. The (borinda or fargesia) yunannensis started to put out another batch of culms (its in its second year and in the ground). It slowed down a bit when it got warm then took off a month ago when temps stayed steady at 20C highs (its been 4 - 8C above normal temps all september again)

My rufa seems to put out culms every fall. One year its one or 2 then the following its a massive batch equal to the spring, with an upsize. I cant wait to see how my nitida seedling does next year. Ill try to remember to keep an eye on when and if it puts out its shoots up here.
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by needmore »

Leo S wrote:my old generation nitida used to grow and leaf out in the fall all the time. I ha a no name old generation and 'Nymphenburg', they both grew new culms in fall. they also had a few in spring. that said, they were not vigorous, never filled out the way I would have liked. when they went to seed before dying, I harvested seed and planted it in pots. Intially got 50 + seedlings, it has been almost 10 years and only a couple seedlings have survived. they are even less vigorous than their parent stock. BUT the seedlings seem to grow spring and fall. I figured that was normal. My seedlings still have not filled one gallon nursery cans.

I have had F. nitida growing for some 25 years, never was impressed with it, though it is hardy, visually it always stayed wispy and grass like. F. murielae has not been a whole lot better, but I've only had it 15 years. Nice and hardy, but just doesn't size up.

when I want visual impact, I build the barriers and plant a Phyllostachys or an Indocalmus. within 5 years I have good sized culms for the type for the species. no whimpy bamboo in those groups.

Leo, if the mood strikes you might try an F denudata, for me it is much more interesting than F nitida or F murielae. I have some Fargesia rufa, nitida, and denudata to 6' and although denudata seems stuck around that height the past 2 seasons it has a very attractive form. With Fargesia (in our area anyway) always source the largest one that you can receive!
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
johnw
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by johnw »

let me clarify what I said about the ng nitidas. Yes they do send up new culms in the summer. However og nitida did the same but remained leafless until the following spring whereas ng ones as yuou see are flushing new leaves in the late summer/autumn. I was wondering if that was because they are juvenile.

Leo I am very surprised to hear of your nitida seedlings. Here, aside from culm colour, they all appear uniform in growth rate (year 2 in 2 gallon pots and to 2ft tall) without dwarfs or giants for which the ng murieliaes were well-noted.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by Leo S »

johnw wrote:let me clarify what I said about the ng nitidas. Yes they do send up new culms in the summer. However og nitida did the same but remained leafless until the following spring whereas ng ones as yuou see are flushing new leaves in the late summer/autumn. I was wondering if that was because they are juvenile.

Leo I am very surprised to hear of your nitida seedlings. Here, aside from culm colour, they all appear uniform in growth rate (year 2 in 2 gallon pots and to 2ft tall) without dwarfs or giants for which the ng murieliaes were well-noted.
Hi John
Yes, I see roughly the same, new autumn culms of OG nitida would stay leafless (usually) over winter, leaf out in spring, spring culms would leaf out at top, then fill out the following year. But that said generally, there were a lot of exceptions, to the point where I thought of nitida just as a spring and fall growing bamboo, which sometimes leafed out right away and sometimes did not.

John-you are in a coastal environment, I suspect your climate may have something to do with your success. My climate is more like Brad's, only 1 growing zone colder. Cold, often dry winters, summer with nasty hot spells, sometimes quite long. Almost always a very dry spell Aug-Sept. AND, my native soils are derived from limestone. I suspect this combination is part of the reason Fargesia in general don't do well for me. Other is, my Phyllostachys have the good sunny spots. Perhaps my Fargesias are too heavily shaded for optimal growth.

I think with my nitida seedlings, I had the pots in where I grow my bonsai, I may have been keeping them too wet. Bonsai are watered frequently. Of course if I move the pots away from the bonsai, they get forgotten about and end up drying out to the point of fatality. I still have a few seedlings left. I will keep playing with them, but I am not going to put a lot of energy into them as there just hasn't been any pay off. I might plunk a few in the ground again, see what happens.

Brad, I will keep F. denudata in mind, and the next time I feel the urge to try again with Fargesia, I will pick one up. I need to visit your nursery again, its been 7-8 years since the last time, and check out how your plantings are maturing. Of course I will call ahead, just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten.
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by johnw »

Just an update on those new generation F. nitida seedlings that looked so tragic in mid-winter, recovered and are now growing like mad. Unusual to see curled leaves but those two get a lot of southern sun and we desparately need rain now and its hot.

Two new culms appeared last week on F. denudata Lancaster #1 which has been watered every two weeks of late.

24c and humidity on the rise. Very warm tomorrow.
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johnw coastal Nova Scotia
ShmuBamboo
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by ShmuBamboo »

I am moving my nitidas here (type form) into full shade, as in late afternoon sun where my Rufa, Scabrida and Robusta do just fine here, the nitidas seem to struggle and leaf curl, leaf burn and look like crap.

My Jiuzhaigous are in full shade as well, but they look completely different (upright habit, open leaf growth, etc.). The Jiuzhaigous put up a few shoots, but they remain weak and spindly.
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Re: Fargesia nitida new generation

Post by Tarzanus »

Shade usually makes bamboo to grow more upright, compared to those in more sunlit location. They shade out the soil around them that way, which is necessary for various Fargesia, Borinda and other mountainous bamboos that like to grow in relatively cool soil. Foliage also protects the inner leaves that would otherwise get burnt, especially during winter.

My rufa doesn't mind 37°C and full sun, while it's watered every now and then, leaves were only a bit bleached on several locations with the strongest sun. F. denudata on the other hand, kept in much more protected location, wilted it's leaves most of the summer, but seems to be thriving. Despite voles beneath, it manages to put out many shoots, compared to lousy summer last year (without wilting), it's doing great.

Another surprise for me is B. fungosa (or whatever it is - ebay seeds), it looks like it has spikes instead of leaves during the day, but after it cools down in the evening, it looks happy as bamboo can be. It also gets shade during the evening and morning, so it's leaves are unfolded enough for it to thrive. It's already getting to 3cm diameter. Hope for a mild winter again...
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