Private Victoria BC Bambusoides grove this year

[CJW]

Hi there, I am still living in Seoul, Korea but I got pics back from home in Victoria BC Canada.
I have broken 3" mark after 5 growing years. I got this bamboo as a 15gal from the Saltspring Island plant farm back in August of 2004.

Culms this year are over 3" across dia x ~35-37ft tall!

Largest culm is exactly 3.35" or in metric 8.5cm across.


I have been feeding in early spring using grass clippings, 34.0.0.11S, KPN slow release spikes and manure and new soil.
All of these combined with full sun and watering = growth.

I am happy with my results so far.

[CJW]

Here are some new updated pics of the grove.

Tallest culm is just shy of 39ft tall and is 3.35" dia.
Again this was all done in ~4.5-5 growing years just South of Victoria BC Canada.

[Paul Ont]

Hey- Check out the pic I took of a similarly aged (5 year) grove of P. bambusoides in Niagara Falls, ON, Canada. It's on the Bamboo discussion forum under the topic 'Best timber for zone 6'... I think the conclusion of the topic is that there really aren't any good timbers for zone 6!

Impressive growth on your bambusoides, especially when you consider the cool summers that the BC coast is famous for. The most impressive bamboo I've seen in Canada was in Stanley Park, it was a green culmed timber (culms well over 3"), but I was not in to bamboo at the time, so I don't know what the spp. was!

[CJW]

Well, we aren't really all that cool in summer here as we are in the rain shadow and are classed as being Csb or Coastal Med. My average High summer temps for July/ Aug are around ~24c with low humidity. Watering is a must. We don't have your hot and humid summers which is unfortunate. Plants need water.
Highest temps out my way (South West of Victoria) this past summer was 38.5c and a full 2.5weeks of +33c weather. Summer came very late and we had a long but early start to spring. Spring was in late January early Feb.
June was well below normal in terms of temperature and threw lots of plants off.

Coastal mediterranean? Yes indeed.
- My Next door neighbour has a fig farm. We even have a fellow who grows various kinds of citrus, Kumquats, Guava, Golden Kiwis and loquats commercially as well.

My areas lowest temperature is around -3c to -6c during the coldest winters normally. So about Z9a

[CJW]

Hmm Z6 timber bamboo. Well, I think P.Vivax is your best option or Red margin (Rubromaginata). Both grow in Z6 areas in China.

The bigger it gets the hardier it will become.

[Paul Ont]

Thanks for the reply! Being a scientist I had to look at the climate averages, I assume I must have the wrong weather station for Victoria, because it looks like our winter is terrible (it is), but your summer is just as bad... Do you have an inland island station?

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statis ... 0/caon1761
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statis ... 1/cabc0313
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statis ... 6/cabc0308

From that it looks like Victoria is certainly mild.. I think maybe that is based on an incomplete dataset... I included Vancouver too. Might give a better comparison. We don't compare well in records (Van: -15.6C/32.7C; TOR -32.8C/40.6).. Hmm.

Here's an East Coast location that compares well with the west coast:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statis ... 0/cans0167
(YAR: -23.6C/30.3)

[CJW]

Thanks for the reply! Being a scientist I had to look at the climate averages, I assume I must have the wrong weather station for Victoria, because it looks like our winter is terrible (it is), but your summer is just as bad... Do you have an inland island station?

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statis ... 0/caon1761
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statis ... 1/cabc0313
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statis ... 6/cabc0308

From that it looks like Victoria is certainly mild.. I think maybe that is based on an incomplete dataset... I included Vancouver too. Might give a better comparison. We don't compare well in records (Van: -15.6C/32.7C; TOR -32.8C/40.6).. Hmm.

Here's an East Coast location that compares well with the west coast:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/statis ... 0/cans0167
(YAR: -23.6C/30.3)

What you got there is not correct info. The weather network is not the official record. In BC and the rest of Canada it is,
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pag ... ric_e.html

I should really point out a major flaw with the station info for Victoria. Victoria's weather is based on the data collected at Victoria Intl. airport. 1# There is a huge difference between Victoria Airport Data and the Data in the South West part of the south Island. Victoria Airport is a cold air sink so any cold air comes off the malahat and cools rapidly making the airport record much colder temps than anywhere else. In 2009 winter saw -13c recorded for the first time since 1989. However, Elsewhere in Victoria recorded -6c as an absolute minimum during the same arctic blast.
My area in even further south and it's record cold event in 1989 was about -9c. There are many plants such as Eucalyptus trees cordylines, Fatsias and bottlebrushes that predate the freeze. -15c would have been lethal to all these plants. Our record high is approx ~37c for Victoria airport. This was set in 2006 summer. Many inland areas inland hit 40c!

Vancouver is a totally different climate than Victoria and it also sees more snow and less sunshine hours. It is mild but again, Vancouver's data is collected at YVR not downtown. YVR is a Z7b/8a location. Downtown Vancouver is a solid Z8 with isolated pockets of Z8b. There are quite a few palm trees growing there to prove the point well. Delta is Z8b/9a and is famous for Canadian palm trees and magnolias.

[CJW]

Some other plants in my yard.

Tracycarpus Fortunei (chusan palm) and one Chaemerops Humilis


The tree is a Cinnamomum Japonicum.

[Paul Ont]

Palms and Fatsia don't a zone 8 make. Some Eucalyptus can stand cold down to about 0f, but can't stand sustained cold for weeks on end (causes trunk split)... That's what stops us here...

I'll have to go into the Canadian climate archives (which the weather network uses to compile their data, but, apparently not for Victoria). The Vancouver airport is in Richmond, on the water. I've flown in many times. Not that I don't believe that areas of Vancouver I can hit 40C, I'm sure they can, it's just that the only station I've found with reliable data (so far, Vancouver) says that 33 is the record high.

I'll assume that the Southwest part of the island would be similar to SSI...

Here is an unprotected palm, T. fortunei, in Niagara Falls, Ontario. It's been in this spot 5 years. It was knocked back to the spear leaf after a tough winter:


Generally, however, in such a malicious climate, things like palms do need protection. For instance the T. fortunei described here: http://niagaratropicals.blogspot.com/

[Paul Ont]

Did some digging, and got a little carried away trying to find a hot-spot on West coast... The important stats, for plant growth, that I ignored are the daily highs and lows for the summer months... Well, that and the lows in winter, since if a plant is damaged it obviously can't grow as much!

http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... &StnId=118&

Funny- Weather.ca didn't have Vancouvers all time low as -17.8C, nor the all-time high as 33.3C..

http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... &StnId=889&

Here's another one I didn't expect, UBC with an all-time low of -18.3C. And it's surrounded by water...
http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... &StnId=903&

Here we go, Nanimo, colder in winter, but a record high of 36C!
http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... &StnId=192&

Saltspring, a shorter record, but a record low of only -11C:
http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... =&StnId=93&

And, for comparison, a colder location to make those in BC look better!
St. John's Airport:

http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... StnId=6720&

And, to make BC look even better, here is the closest station to where I garden (extremes are more on each side, which makes it that much harder to grow anything!):
http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... StnId=4300&

And, the mildest station in Ontario:
http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... StnId=4702&

Ok- I should get to making transgenic plants... My RNAi constructs await!

[CJW]

Well, I agree with with you to a point. But when the palms are over 60-80 years old or older it does say something about the cold in the area. Duration of cold is important as you point out.