New grower, new plant: basic pruning question
Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 12:32 am
Howdy, I'm new to bamboo and have two clumper starter plants. The one in question is a D. minor in a 15" pot that was grown from a node cutting. The action is in two thickish new culms it's sending up at opposite sides, one only 5" tall and the other above 2 feet. At center is the mother culm, a 2" stub of of dead wood, but radiating out from its buried node, mostly to one side, are a set of leggy branches (regrowth or original, I don't know) that reach out as much as two yards or more in length. Once it's planted, those leafy branch ends will mostly be resting on the ground or up against one thing or another unless I rig something up.
Pruning off all those branches would, among other things, make it much easier to situate the plant in its spot but I don't know if it has stored up enough energy to keep those new culms going -- or whether losing the foliage would conversely allow it to focus on culm growth instead. I'm not concerned about aesthetics at this point, just the health of the plant. I've tried perusing past threads and haven't found anything, but I'm sure someone here has some experience in this department. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge!
Pruning off all those branches would, among other things, make it much easier to situate the plant in its spot but I don't know if it has stored up enough energy to keep those new culms going -- or whether losing the foliage would conversely allow it to focus on culm growth instead. I'm not concerned about aesthetics at this point, just the health of the plant. I've tried perusing past threads and haven't found anything, but I'm sure someone here has some experience in this department. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge!