Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Ask questions about growing bamboo

Moderator: needmore

Post Reply
mountainbamboonut
Posts: 268
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:53 am
Location info: 0
Location: Sandpoint ID zone 6a 2,200ft elevation

Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by mountainbamboonut »

Our new homestead has a few acres with poor soil conditions where I'd like to establish some of my runners (mainly YG, bissetti, purple bamboo, vivax, and megurochiku) but know it will be a challenge. The ground in this particular area is mostly lava cap with areas of 6-12'' soil. All around it is fertile soil with huge conifers and a bright green understory. Plenty of surface water. But this particular area is more like the surface of the moon but with a shallow layer of topsoil with some seasonal grasses. So as a challenge I want to get some bamboos in here.

There are a few lone cedars growing in this pocket (well maybe like 3-4 on the whole 1-2AC back there) so I have some hope that it can sustain some forms of life. Other than being solid rock instead of soil, It has full sun and unlimited water, and zone 7 conditions that my runners seem to love. I have thought about bringing in a ton of top soil or jackhammering out areas and seeing if my plantings can establish there. Can my phillo bamboos adapt to the depth (or lackethereof) of that shallow a soil bed and anchor themselves over time? Or is there a particular variety of runner more suited for this crappy environment?

In the attached picture I went to put one vivax in the ground here and I hit solid lava rock at about 6''. I ended up just mounding soil as best I could. This vivax back here was my first one in and is my space monkey. I am going to pile up endless amounts of straw, chicken manure and soil over time on the plantings to try and build up some soil and see what happens. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks as always for the awesome input from the experts here.

I am excited for the experiment and am encouraged always by pictures of runners destroying concrete slabs and subfloors. It gives me hope for my surface of the moon plantings. Cheers.
Attachments
unnamed.jpg
User avatar
needmore
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:14 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Kea'au, HI

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by needmore »

Grow in mounds or raised beds, that is my plan for running forms regardless of soil conditions, it will make it easier to care for them.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
mountainbamboonut
Posts: 268
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:53 am
Location info: 0
Location: Sandpoint ID zone 6a 2,200ft elevation

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by mountainbamboonut »

Thanks Brad, do you think I could just stage a bunch of large mounds of soil and then put the boos in? I had considered something like that but then thought I'd have trouble watering them since it would be crowned.
User avatar
needmore
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:14 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Kea'au, HI

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by needmore »

My raised beds in Indiana I built by setting the rootball on top of the ground, dumping bags of soil on it until I felt it was sufficiently covered, adding mulch on top to hold the soil and patted it down well. Then, I kept adding soil over time and one day stacked some stones around it. My largest bamboo there was Atrovaginata and it was in one of these beds on top of cement, not even native soil under it.

This time I think I'll build a tall ring of mulch drop the bamboo in and overfill with soil.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
mountainbamboonut
Posts: 268
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:53 am
Location info: 0
Location: Sandpoint ID zone 6a 2,200ft elevation

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by mountainbamboonut »

Very cool! Great advice. I will do just that and see how it works out. I have about 90 pots I need to get into the ground there. Thanks so much for the idea, I think it's perfect. Cheers.
User avatar
Glen
Posts: 314
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:28 am
Location info: 0
Location: Southeast Texas, Zone 9a

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by Glen »

I am not familiar with your area (or gardening on lava rock), so I am not certain that my comments will be helpful, but here are a few thoughts:

Much of central Texas is underlain by limestone, making it difficult to dig a hole, and preventing many plants from growing well. However, this limestone is often fractured, and plants whose roots can find those fractures are able to access deeper supplies of water and often perform surprisingly well.

In this same area, it is common to see healthy naturalized stands of Phyllostachys aurea. Other bamboos that I recommend as being particularly drought tolerant in Texas are Phyllostachys glauca and Phyllostachys mannii 'Decora'.

Make certain that the plantings do not experience drought stress during their early years, and I think you can be successful with many Phyllostachys bamboos. The ones I named above have proven to be among the most tolerant of the very extreme heat and drought in Texas. Also consider Semiarundinaria fastuosa. In Texas, it is about as drought tolerant as any Phyllostachys.
dependable
Posts: 1323
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:28 am
Location info: 0
Location: Island off Cape Cod Massacusetts
Contact:

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by dependable »

Some of the forest loam around here is pretty bad. I make mounds, or berms out of soil/compost mix, and dig a hole in the center of them. I plant the bamboo divisions at the original soil level, leaving a low spot on center of mound. This aids in watering. If planting in continuous berm, dig a V in the center of berm, and plant divisions every 5-10 feet. Lay a soaker hose in the V after planting, keeps water right where it needs to be to help plant spread along length of berm.
Cooper12
Posts: 411
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:38 am
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Emmett Idaho

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by Cooper12 »

What part of amador and what elevation. I have lots of slate in my dirt so far so good heavy mulch mounds it finds a way. Just keep it mulched. What area of amador?
Jason Floyd
Hangtown Farms

Emmett Idaho
Zone 7A
Potato country
User avatar
bambooweb
Site Admin
Posts: 1583
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Location info: 1
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Zone 5 in WA State
Contact:

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by bambooweb »

I am growing on top of basalt in Zone 5.
The soil depth ranges from none to 4 ft. mostly clay
For my bamboo plantings I put sand and compost and any other soil I can find on the clay while lightly mixing it in with a broad fork.
I then plant into these mounds.
For serious areas that need drainage and to put in irrigation pipe a 90 lb jackhammer gets the job done.

Bill
mountainbamboonut
Posts: 268
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:53 am
Location info: 0
Location: Sandpoint ID zone 6a 2,200ft elevation

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by mountainbamboonut »

Great feedback thank you. Gave me some additional ideas.

For one run, which is approx. 250 linear ft., I've been moving rocks (thankfully I have a tractor now) and I'm stacking them a few feet high and about 5ft. wide and making large planter which I've been filling with top soil etc. Next week I'm getting about 50 yards of compost that I'll continue along filling the planter with.

It is going to be a total cluster with my spacing at only 2 ft. or so and sections of many different varieties (i.e.. I have 4 megurochikus then 7 bisettis, then decorated etc etc etc. all in a line--I kept them grouped by species as best as possible even though they share the same planter and there will be a lot of confusion.) I've grown enough bamboo to know this arrangement won't last forever. But I want a large wall along this side of my property and this will do it. Then I plant to take divisions from this rock planter and spread them about into their own mounds in various places around my designated bamboo grove areas. We will see what happens, this will be interesting. And it will surely be hard at some point to take divisions because spreading bamboo will make it hard to know which variety I am propagating out of my planter. But hey, life's an experiment.
Attachments
bamboo pioneer.jpg
dependable
Posts: 1323
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:28 am
Location info: 0
Location: Island off Cape Cod Massacusetts
Contact:

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by dependable »

Looks good. You will learn to gt good at shoot ID to identify plants for later divisions. In my experience and location, any mixed plantings that include bissetti end up mostly bissetti, may not be the same for you as it is probably colder and darker here.
mountainbamboonut
Posts: 268
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:53 am
Location info: 0
Location: Sandpoint ID zone 6a 2,200ft elevation

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by mountainbamboonut »

Thanks! I am terrible at ID'ing bamboos from shoots though, maybe there is hope for me with the help of this forum ha.
Cooper12
Posts: 411
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:38 am
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Emmett Idaho

Re: Has anyone grown bamboo on lava cap?

Post by Cooper12 »

I really miss my tractor. you will be happy to have it
Jason Floyd
Hangtown Farms

Emmett Idaho
Zone 7A
Potato country
Post Reply