Propagating through cuttings

[Rynamor]

Being a complete novice at propagating bamboo, I looked on the internet and found a couple of guides on the process. Though several varied on where to cut in relation to the node, how many branches and how many leaves to reduce, which part of the culm to use, etc., I have tried with 2 different clumpers now with varying results.

B. Vulgaris (not 100% sure, owner didn't know what it was).

I took about 10 cuttings from a culm, from several different areas. All seem to be doing well about 3 months in. Some have taken off and I believe they have rooted, lots of new growth. I even ran over one with a lawn mower, and it is coming back from that. Seems pretty easy to do. I transported these in a tub of water and potted them immediately upon getting home.

'Clone-X'

I got these from Roy. I transplanted the bottom 10ft or so and we cut the culm there. I figured why waste the rest, and tried to pot some up to see if they would root. This was a couple weeks ago. I potted up 1 that day but was out of pots. I put the rest in a tub of water until I could get to them. I potted 2 more in potting soil a few days later, but was still short a pot and left one node in the tub and forgot about it. About 2 weeks go by, and I happen to remember the node that is in the tub of water. To my surprise, all the branch nodes have grown out a bit and are growing leaves. The growth was even more surprising because it seems to have grown more than the potting cuttings. Also looking at the node, it had those small root-looking 'things' (excuse my terminology) that you sometimes see on the bottom nodes of bamboo. I had wrapped the node in newspaper in the tub of water, I'm not sure if this helped cause this or what.

My question is, has anyone had any success storing a culm cutting in water for that period of time before potting? If it does not root I certainly will not be heart broken.

Usually I take a ton of pictures, but I didn't have the camera this time around...

[boonut]

Both of those bamboos are pretty easy to propagate. I haven't left any in a tub of water, but after saying I wouldn't do anymore B. Lako cuttings for a while, I did about 20 and then we had rain for over a month... seems like every day. The bottom line is they stayed soaked. They are all going crazy. I normally don't see that kind of growth for a while longer. So... is the lesson the more water OR the less you let the culm cuttings dry out, the better chance you have of losing the new boo? Some of the answer is knowing when to cut back a little so the new roots don't rot.

I really like hearing what other people are doing with culm node cuttings. Keep up the great work and report back on your success. Take lots of pics. I am sure there are lots of "methods" that work... perhaps you are on to a new and improved way.

[Bamboo Conne'isseur]

I finally planted my D. asper, and I also took a few cuttings as well. I had air layered a culm with a branch close to the bottom, and noticed a good benefit from doing so. I left one set of leaves on the layered one, and noticed something positive. After doing so, the leaves did not curl up at all, while the one that did not have any small roots at the nodes did. Maybe I am jumping the gun too soon, but I think its a positive sign. The leaves appear as if its just a regular plant; showing no signs of stress at all. I would be willing to bet that the one I did it with will take for sure. The other I hope will work out too, but I am sure that its few leaves will die and fall off. Might the one that keeps its leaves be able to possibly produce photosynthesis when it has more roots, thus giving it a little advantage? I don't know, but I thought I would find out.

[boonut]

I have had problems with larger leaf bamboos. The bigger the leaf, the quicker they dry out. I tried cutting all the leaves back about half way... that doesn't work either.

I have had a lot of luck with air layering culms that are still connected... and then wait until you see roots before severing the culm. I did a D. Sinicus that way... it just took a while to put up new shoots since I did the air layering right at the lowest node so that I could protect the rhizome buds.

I gave that one to Chuck Theroux... and it wiggled in the pot until he put it in the ground. It firmed up really nice.

[Roy]

I have had problems with larger leaf bamboos. The bigger the leaf, the quicker they dry out. I tried cutting all the leaves back about half way... that doesn't work either.

I have had a lot of luck with air layering culms that are still connected... and then wait until you see roots before severing the culm. I did a D. Sinicus that way... it just took a while to put up new shoots since I did the air layering right at the lowest node so that I could protect the rhizome buds.

I gave that one to Chuck Theroux... and it wiggled in the pot until he put it in the ground. It firmed up really nice.

Boonut,

You got any updated pictures of your D. sinicus? I see a few of your pictures in the gallery, but they look a year or so old.

Any that look like this yet?

[Michael]

Roy,

That picture looks more like moso than anything else.

Michael

[Roy]

Roy,

That picture looks more like moso than anything else.

Michael

Probably a little too big for moso.

[Roy]

Rynamor,

Sorry to have hijacked your thread. I'll quit now.

[boonut]

I may have lost my biggest D. Sinicus with all the rain. I cut all the culms but one today. They were goners. There was still some green in the last culm, so all is not lost yet. We are drying out now, so cross your fingers.

The D. Sinicus stayed under water for over a week. I just put it in the ground late last year, so it didn't have time to stabilize yet. I have a cutting from that one in a pot with a 3/4" culm... the first one from the cutting. I also have another one in the ground that is doing fine.

I will take more pics as soon as it looks a little better.

[mantis]

boonut,

our newest member, Havis, really wants some B. lako. Hopefully the one I got from you will be big enough to propagate in the near future. If not I may have to kidnap him and bring him down to the farm with me

He is coming over tomorrow night, and we are going to try to propagate some cuttings from the B. vulgaris that I brought home... it is growing so much that it could really use some trimming, so it would be perfect time to practice.



A question about propagating from cuttings... is it possible to propagate B. multiplex varieties, specifically 'Alphonse Karr'? Gut instinct says it'd be tough, since they are so small, but I know I've been wrong a few hundred times in the past.

[Roy]

boonut,

our newest member, Havis, really wants some B. lako. Hopefully the one I got from you will be big enough to propagate in the near future. If not I may have to kidnap him and bring him down to the farm with me

He is coming over tomorrow night, and we are going to try to propagate some cuttings from the B. vulgaris that I brought home... it is growing so much that it could really use some trimming, so it would be perfect time to practice.



A question about propagating from cuttings... is it possible to propagate B. multiplex varieties, specifically 'Alphonse Karr'? Gut instinct says it'd be tough, since they are so small, but I know I've been wrong a few hundred times in the past.

Piece of cake.

It is possible, but the B. multiplexes are much more difficult than the easy B. vulgaris, although B. m. 'Silverstripe' was my first bamboo I propagated by culm cuttings.

[mantis]

Piece of cake.

It is possible, but the B. multiplexes are much more difficult than the easy B. vulgaris, although B. m. 'Silverstripe' was my first bamboo I propagated by culm cuttings.

I know the vulgaris varieties are notorious for being easy to propagate, which is why we are starting with those. Havis just mentioned to me that he wants to propagate B.m.'A.K.', and I didn't know if it was possible. I know some plants are near impossible (such as B. chungii), but I wasn't sure about multiplexes.

I guess we'll start at vulgaris, then go to oldhamii, and move on from there.

[Roy]

I know the vulgaris varieties are notorious for being easy to propagate, which is why we are starting with those. Havis just mentioned to me that he wants to propagate B.m.'A.K.', and I didn't know if it was possible. I know some plants are near impossible (such as B. chungii), but I wasn't sure about multiplexes.

I guess we'll start at vulgaris, then go to oldhamii, and move on from there.

I've done the "Trench" method with B. chungii and haven't found getting it to root from the branched nodes that difficult. The difficult part is when I want to pot the new plants.

[boonut]

I am convinced you can do most through culm node cuttings. Time of year... how much the boo is in a growth phase... and how much you do after the cutting to ensure they never dry out are all important.

I have had the most trouble with BIG LEAF boos, but I know the answer is just to wait until I get bigger culms to support the bigger leaves. A half inch culm with 19 inch leaves is going to be a problem.

I have done really tiny branch cuttings with B. Vulgaris and B. Vulgaris "wamin"... those are really easy.

Give them a try... you might be the first to document success with Bamboo "????". Please document everything you can think of so that we can all benefit.

Next time you are in town, I will have a B. Lako for Havis... we have to hook him just right. I made a bunch more pots recently. I don't think I lost any. If you come in on a Friday night, we can go Saturday morning to Kinney Bonded Warehouse and pick up some Amaroo pots.

[webgator]

A question about propagating from cuttings... is it possible to propagate B. multiplex varieties, specifically 'Alphonse Karr'? Gut instinct says it'd be tough, since they are so small, but I know I've been wrong a few hundred times in the past.

I have had success with both AK and Silverstripe using whole culm burial. My method involved severing the culm completely, then trimming back all but one or two sets of branches at each node. Then the culm was buried, leaving the leaves exposed. Once rooting takes place you can divide and conquer and will wind up with numerous plants.

I tried using just culm cuttings but with no success.

On the note of success, I also propagate antique roses. My last batch was done indoors in the A/C with an average temp of 75 degrees and are under florescent lighting 16 hours per day. They were misted daily and I have lost only 4 of 45 cuttings in 2 months. I went to this method since I was losing most outdoors.

I wonder if bringing my bamboo propagations indoors under similar conditions would increase my success ratio? Anyone with any experience on this?