Bambusa Bambos

[Eastlandia]

I have several seeds up of this species and am wondering how many years it will take before I can see substantial size. Some books like Victor Cusack's Bamboo World show pictures of "second year growth" which show 1 inch culms bursting out of a small fluffy 1 foot previous growth. This obviously cannot be true if the previous growth came from seeds. Ive seen Fargasia seeds grow larger over several years but are the tropical species different? I'm new to the tropics...and am just wondering ... -eastlandia

[BooKing]

It can happen with Bambusa lako and Dendrocalamus Betung-Hitam. At first it is quite the shock but a pleasant one. These size up FAST. I grew a dozen seedlings of these and they have filled up nicely and are in 20gal and up pots now.

[serenityinbamboo]

I agree with Booking! Here is a picture of my 10 month old lako & (2)10 month old betungs and my lako respectively.

[magsc21]

They will grow fast! I saw some baby bambos at the Texas Bamboo Festival this weekend. They were about 2 feet high in 1 gallon pots and the vendor told me that next year's shoots should be at least 10ft high. They were already very thorny as well. I really want one, but I think I'll injure myself trying to grow it...

As for other tropical growth, I don't know if you've seen this simulator, but it seems reasonably accurate (given ideal growing conditions). http://www.mrbamboo.com.au/bamboo_growt ... pment.html

I've had several bamboos that went from culms about 1/2" in diameter to about 1.5" in one season. It's really fun to watch.
Things size up fast in the tropics!

[BooKing]

It is truly amazing...may have to find some new digs down there in TropicalLand...

[Roy]

I have several seeds up of this species and am wondering how many years it will take before I can see substantial size. Some books like Victor Cusack's Bamboo World show pictures of "second year growth" which show 1 inch culms bursting out of a small fluffy 1 foot previous growth. This obviously cannot be true if the previous growth came from seeds. Ive seen Fargasia seeds grow larger over several years but are the tropical species different? I'm new to the tropics...and am just wondering ... -eastlandia

Eastlandia,

Seedling have always grown slowly for me. My B. textilis took a good 5 to 6 years before I could start getting some decent size divisions from it.

My B. tuldoides "Millennium" has had 5 years of growth and the 3 clumps I have are only about 6 feet tall.

My thousand or so B. m. "A. Karr" have a somewhat different story. I have some 2 year old seedlings that are only a few inches high. I have a small number of seedling clumps that are about 3 feet. The big 3 foot ones are growing in the area where I burn thousands of feet of bamboo culms. Maybe the silica? Bamboo ash?

[Markj]

where I burn thousands of feet of bamboo culms. Maybe the silica? Bamboo ash?

Interesting

[Roy]

where I burn thousands of feet of bamboo culms. Maybe the silica? Bamboo ash?

Interesting

Beats the heck out of me too, but it has to be that there is a connection between the burned culms and the rapid growth of the seedling in the area. And these seedling have to be younger than the seedlings on the other side of the clump. Where these larger seedling are growing is where I was burning for several months while doing my Bamboo Fire Stress Test.

[Eastlandia]

The bamboo web failed for several days for me...I don't know about you guys. and I'm just now looking at this discussion.

So...if I put a seed in the ground, And it grows one year, then the next year I can see massive culms over 5 times the diameter of the first year?

It just seems too much for me... If I planted these in March, and now its august, then next year's shooting season could have massive culms? maybe I'm miss-understanding everyone. but if I'm not, then woopie! -eastlandia

[BooKing]

I planted seeds last July2005 indoors and raised the seedlings all winter giving them excellent light and growing conditions as well as nutrients.
This July, 1 year later culms are as big as thumbsize on some. These were well fed and babied but definately rewarding. The tallest culms are 8feet[should be more but broke off do to some strong winds].

[boonut]

I have about 30 Bambusa Bambos in the ground. The largest is in my back yard. If you go to the pics of Bambos on this site, you can see the one in my back yard. I purchased mine when they were about the 1/8" in diameter. In 4 years, it is already a giant.

B. Bambos starts out looking like a big ball of barbed wire. The second year, you start to see shoots about an inch or so. That's when the fun begins. You now have to get rid of the first year's growth by using extended loppers. You don't want to get any where near the thorns. The thorns are hooked and will get you. Expect some cuts. Each year, I take out about half the old culms and each year the bamboo rewards me with larger and larger culms. The growth from this year is about 15 feet taller than last year's growth. This is one monster bamboo.

If you have temps below about 26, then expect the tips of the culms to freeze back. That just make this bamboo even more determined. Most of the people that visit my yard are most impressed with the B. Bambos. I keep all the branches cut very close to the culm up to 6 feet. The branches are very soft when young... and like rock when older. If you cut the branches when they are just one foot long, they are very soft and it doesn't take away from the culm's look.

They do like water. They will grow without a lot of water, but they will be about half the size they can attain with water. I posted some recent pics on the pics pages here... take a few minutes to look at what your little seedling will turn out like.

Good luck. In terms of growth, I would expect 1 inch in culm diameter a year and about 10 feet in height each year with good conditions.

[Joseph Clemens]

I have several seeds up of this species and am wondering how many years it will take before I can see substantial size. Some books like Victor Cusack's Bamboo World show pictures of "second year growth" which show 1 inch culms bursting out of a small fluffy 1 foot previous growth. This obviously cannot be true if the previous growth came from seeds. Ive seen Fargasia seeds grow larger over several years but are the tropical species different? I'm new to the tropics...and am just wondering ... -eastlandia

Can't say about seedlings, but I once had a tiny plant, struggling in a #1 size nursery can. It finally produced a thin, wispy, 6-8 inch culm, I promptly planted it in the ground (it was late spring). It grew so fast after that, I'm not sure anyone that hadn't experienced it would truly believe me. Within about 4 months it had at least 20 culms, many of which were an inch or more in diameter and 10-12 feet tall. New and larger culms were popping up nearly every day. At the time it was my most green and lovely bamboo. Sadly that winter got down into the teens and it did not survive that cold snap.

[Eastlandia]

alright, well I'm in Indiana, but I do have a greenhouse and can possibly convert a small section of that to a "hot"- house. After several months in small pots my seedlings are only producing new leaves, not new culms. What type of fertilizer does one use on seedlings? -eastlandia

[BooKing]

I use Dynagrow fertilizer.{liquid feed}.

[Eastlandia]

If one year seedlings can produce such large culms should I move my seeds to large 1 -2 gallon pots? I dont think the small starter bukets are root-bound yet. -eastlandia