Aeration Container for Bamboo

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watchnerd
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Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by watchnerd »

Has anyone used Smart Pots, or a similar aeration type container, for growing bamboo?

Links to a few:

http://www.smartpots.com/
http://shop.geoplanter.com/GeoPot-Self- ... ots_c2.htm
http://rootmaker.com/retail_products.php?Pageload=4#top

I'm thinking of putting a number of new 5 gallon bamboos in aeration containers while they size up and I decide if they're going in pots or in the ground. And in the case of a few runners, perhaps growing them in aeration containers permanently.

Anyone tried this before?
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by Michael »

I have not tried them but here is my thoughts.

My first gut reaction to this was it would not work. I do not believe that the material is strong enough to contain rhizomes from runners. Rhizomes are not roots like trees and convention vegetables have, but rather an underground vine kinda of a thing. But I was thinking about the larger runners. If the rhizomes did not “poke” through it, then they would expand until they exploded the pot just as they do with plastic pots,
After visiting the sites, I realized my fallacies. I think this kind of a pot could be ideal for smaller bamboos especially the Pleioblastus and Shibataea varieties and other bamboos with small rhizomes. I am think that they may make great barriers for the smaller bamboos. Of course they will have to be repotted ever 3-6 years depending on growth and rhizome production.
watchnerd
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by watchnerd »

I just ordered two different 15 gallon models from two different vendors. I'll let you know my findings when I get them.
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by jd. »

Michael wrote: My first gut reaction to this was it would not work. I do not believe that the material is strong enough to contain rhizomes from runners.
After investigating, some pots appear thicker than others. Although a GeoPot may be thicker than a Smart Pot in the larger sizes, I would still be surprised if any ordinary polypropylene fabric pot could survive a direct assault from a rhizome spear. For confidence, the pot would have to be a special "bamboo edition" reinforced with even thicker fabric and/or a para-aramid fiber like Kevlar. :)
watchnerd
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by watchnerd »

Well, I'll let you know soon, as I have a number of aeration containers. I'm going to experiment with both clumpers and runners in them.
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by Alan »

i bought various bamboo in smart pots last fall-of questionable variety (will have to wait for shoots). they were 10-20 gal size. the plants had obviously been in there for a long time and very rootbound but no rhizome escaped or broke through. you'd think they would get out where the bottom attaches but they just coiled around & around near the center like in a normal pot. these were not very healthy plants though, no sure why. yellow leaves & now that they are in the ground not any better. maybe there was winter damage due to being left out in the cold. i would not overwinter in these here without burying them in mulch or wodo chips.
-alan in western washington
-alan in seattle
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watchnerd
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by watchnerd »

If anyone is interested, here are my results from growing various phyllostachys species in cloth aeration containers (Smart Pots in this case) for the last 9 months:

http://www.modernistgardening.info/2012 ... amboo.html
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by marcat »

Looks like you could drop; that sucker in the ground pot and all and it would be quite happy. You mentioned trying clumpers in these pots ? Think the tropical clumpers would burst the pot do not have experience with mountains.
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by watchnerd »

marcat wrote:Looks like you could drop; that sucker in the ground pot and all and it would be quite happy. You mentioned trying clumpers in these pots ? Think the tropical clumpers would burst the pot do not have experience with mountains.
MarCat
No, the opposite: I'm only growing runners in the cloth pots.

My clumpers are mostly in the ground, with a few in permanent pot homes (F. scabrida), and others (B. papyrifera, H. hookerianus) waiting for me to make room on the shady side of the house.
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watchnerd
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by watchnerd »

jd. wrote: I would still be surprised if any ordinary polypropylene fabric pot could survive a direct assault from a rhizome spear. For confidence, the pot would have to be a special "bamboo edition" reinforced with even thicker fabric and/or a para-aramid fiber like Kevlar. :)
If you look at the pictures, there are some shots of the spots undergoing exactly that kind of strees: being pierced/poked by a spear. In the few cases where it penetrated, the rhizome tip seemed to loses its mojo when exposed to air on all sides.
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by Alan_L »

I'm still not convinced that exposure to air is what stopped the rhizomes. I have rhizomes coming out of drainage holes all the time, and they are completely exposed for at least and inch if not more -- that doesn't stop them from continuing into the ground.
watchnerd
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by watchnerd »

Alan_L wrote:I'm still not convinced that exposure to air is what stopped the rhizomes. I have rhizomes coming out of drainage holes all the time, and they are completely exposed for at least and inch if not more -- that doesn't stop them from continuing into the ground.
I'm not claiming causality for air exposure, just correlation.
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by jd. »

watchnerd wrote: If you look at the pictures, there are some shots of the spots undergoing exactly that kind of strees: being pierced/poked by a spear. In the few cases where it penetrated, the rhizome tip seemed to loses its mojo when exposed to air on all sides.
Ha! Perhaps these prurient rhizomes primarily prefer pursuing paths of penetration where they perceive proper precipitation! :D
These pots could be good for more than a season. :)

Meanwhile since I must move potted bamboo for the winter, I've found some fabric pots with reinforced handles that go all the way around:
http://www.plantitearth.com/containers/dirt-pot.aspx (This company also sells through amazon.com)
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bren
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by bren »

Hi All, longtime lurker, first time poster. I'm relatively new to bamboo here in the Sierra Foothills of California (9a) and have obtained most of my bamboo specimens by digging up rhizomes. A few of my dug up specimens are going to require transplantation soon, and I was thinking of using smart pots. I've used them before for other plants, but nothing as tenacious/vigorous as bamboo rhizomes (mostly Phyllostachys) right now. Unfortunately, David's site seems to no longer exist, and so I'm not quite sure how his experiment with smart pots turned out in the long term. Does anyone here on the forum have long term experience with their bamboos in smart pots?
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needmore
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Re: Aeration Container for Bamboo

Post by needmore »

Yes, I used several for about a year, I think in our area they can perhaps keep the roots cooler especially the tan pots. The downside I found was come removal time even though the pot could be reused the bamboo was exceedingly difficult to remove due to fine roots grabbing tightly to the full circumference of the pot. A few I painstakingly peeled off 'wrong side out', then proceeded to slice and discard after a few.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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