Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

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Black Dog
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Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by Black Dog »

I want to repot and divide my bamboo. Is there a best time of year to do this? Any tips for a newbie on how to go about it? Anything to be careful of etc? Best type of potting soil etc?
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by dependable »

Best time to divide and re pot is probably as summer comes to end, or sometime during what passes for winter down under where you are.

You want to avoid heat and wait until need to water decreases, and also avoid division during new shoot season or before new growth is fully up and hardened off.
Black Dog
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by Black Dog »

Thanks. I would have done it at the wrong time so I’m glad I asked.
It’s early summer here and there’s lots of new shoots coming up now, so it looks like I’ll be watching and waiting for a while.
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by thebambooguy »

What would be the best time to do divisions in cold climates? I wanna make a bunch from my Phyllostachys.
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by dependable »

I usually do divisions in late summer, fall, or early spring before the soil warms up and they start shooting. I suppose you could do divisions in winter too if you are in an area that does not freeze.
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by needmore »

I always sought to make divisions in Indiana in late Feb and early March up to shooting season initiation. I would start to see shoots in late March and I liked that month before shooting. The division will have have stored up energy and make nice size shoots in those divisions.
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Black Dog
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by Black Dog »

I divided my Phyllostaccys Nigra in late Winter but it’s not doing too well. It’s Springtime here in Australia and I was hoping it would start to shoot but the leaves are very pale and one pot has completely died. I’ve been feeding it seaweed stuff but it’s not helping I fear I’ve doomed all of it to a slow death. How can I save it?
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by needmore »

Depends upon how you did the divisions relative to root to culm ratios and what it looks like now. I think your timing was fine but maybe it is starting to flower?
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by Black Dog »

Ah, I’d asked when to repot but I didn’t ask now. I wish I’d known about how to divide them. Makes sense though. I wonder if there’s a tutorial somewhere.
Thanks.
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by needmore »

If you were dividing something potted it is easy to get an out of balance ratio of culms to root mass. Pots are hard to divide the way I like, if the plant has not filled the pot then I probably would not divide it; if it has filled the pot it is tough to divide properly. I know people do it all the time but I am particular about my divisions, I really hate small sections of rhizome with few viable buds.

In theory a division needs to have some roots and a piece of rhizome that has at least 5-6 buds that have not yet fired and look healthy. So with that ratio you should probably be able to get a section of rhizome maybe 6-8 inches long, one culm and get the buds on that length. But a short rhizome section like that can not sustain a very tall existing culm so you need to top the culm to just one branch to maintain a decent ratio. A section that length with more than 1 culm might not have enough buds and you'll need to really cut it to 1 culm.

Finding the right spot in a potted bamboo plant with the above conditions is not easy since they tend to grow in a tight circle, all the rhizomes are intertwined and tough to separate w/o damage.
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by Black Dog »

Thanks for this information. It makes sense. When I unpotted it I was rather bewildered and just hacked through where my secateurs were able to cut and hoped for the best. I’ll be a bit more thoughtful next time.

I’m happy to say I had a good close look yesterday after posting here and I’ve discovered a couple of shoots on at least 3 pot plants so I’m hopeful that some will survive.
I started out with one pot which I divided into 7 with no knowledge of what I was supposed to do. If I can get a few to survive I’ll be satisfied.
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Re: Best time to repot Phyllostaccys Nigeria?

Post by Alan_L »

Don't feel too badly about not knowing how to handle a potted bamboo -- it's not always easy to figure out, even if you're an experience plant person.

A few years back I had a life-long nursery owner tell me to "score the roots and it will take off" of the potted bamboo I was buying. (Advice that doesn't make sense if you know bamboo)
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