Growing bamboo in fabric pots? Lako help.

[da7id]

Ok so this is my first post & sorry it’s a long one. I’ve been lurking & learning a lot here - this forum has been invaluable. So I’m in 8b but inner city with rarely sees anything below 25. I’ve planted some marginal Bambusa this year - everything is doing great but I’ll see how they make it over the winter.

Anyway, I ended up with 2 lakos that were basically given away. They were in 20G pots, big & doing great. One sent up 3 big new shoots in the last 3 months & the other mostly just branched & leafed out but started putting a really big shoot out maybe 1.5-2 inches wide about a month ago at the same time it broke its pot. So I repotted it in a 25G fabric pot & it seemed to be doing really good. It started 2 new thick shoots. We’ve been getting tons of rain lately but I’ve been watering it anyway from my rain barrels thinking it couldn’t be over watered in the fabric bag. Then we had about 1.5 weeks in the 50s with lots of rain & no sun. Then I started noticing lots of yellow leaves and the first new shoot started going downhill - culm sheaths browning and peeling before it was 4 foot tall & it stopped growing. It’s been warm & sunny the last week but the first new shoot didn’t grow or improve. Today I got home & it was broken & fell over in the middle. Examining it, the area just above each node is very soft & cutting it up, it seems to be rotting. I’ll attach timeline pics if I can figure out how.

So anyway my questions - was it not getting enough water due to the fabric bag? Too much water? Too cool during shooting? Not enough sun during shooting?

My plans are 2 bring the 2 lakos in pots indoors assuming I can still fit them in house the few nights it drops below freezing & everything else is just going to have to make it (or not) with lots of mulch. I’ve also got both flavors or emiensis, 3 barbellatas, 2 textilis, 1 Asian lemon, 1 sunburst & 1 other Lako all in the ground. Everything has been shooting like mad except the Lako which is just leafing out but still looks healthy. The sunburst & lemon both put out new shoots during the cold rainy week & they are still growing.

Thanks for any advice or thoughts!

-David

[da7id]

Pics.

[da7id]

More pics

[da7id]

Pics

[mshaffer]

I don't know, could be too much water. This is the first year my bamboo has rotted from too much rain. Maybe I put down too much mulch and it acted like a sponge..

[Glen]

So anyway my questions - was it not getting enough water due to the fabric bag? Too much water? Too cool during shooting? Not enough sun during shooting?

I am not sure what happened to the new shoots, but it is normal for bamboos to produce more shoots than they need. The extra shoots will stop growing and die some time during their early growth period. Any kind of physiological stress can theoretically contribute to this loss of shoots.

I do not think the cloudy weather was a problem, and it is unlikely that the plant received too much water. This species is very freeze sensitive, so maybe it does not like cool weather while shooting. How cold did you get (absolute low)? Also, when watering, make sure you really soak the rootball. When bamboos get rootbound, they can use a lot of water, and the rootballs sometime desiccate. Watering with a drip system is often inadequate.

My plans are 2 bring the 2 lakos in pots indoors assuming I can still fit them in house the few nights it drops below freezing & everything else is just going to have to make it (or not) with lots of mulch. I’ve also got both flavors or emiensis, 3 barbellatas, 2 textilis, 1 Asian lemon, 1 sunburst & 1 other Lako all in the ground. Everything has been shooting like mad except the Lako which is just leafing out but still looks healthy. The sunburst & lemon both put out new shoots during the cold rainy week & they are still growing.

Thanks for any advice or thoughts!

One good strategy for protecting potted bamboos through brief cold snaps, like we get in Texas, is to tip the plants on their sides, and cover them with a light blanket (or similar) and then a tarp. The ground will provide enough heat. Of course, make sure the plants are well soaked first, and get them back in the sun as soon as the weather is warm enough.

[da7id]

Thanks! I think I will try tarping them laid over. It would def be easier then getting them inside. The coldest I read during the rain - I’ve got 3 air & 3 soil thermometers outside was 51 degrees but it was a cold rain so the soil temp dropped from 80 to 53 overnight.

It took some time to get the drip system right but it’s really just a backup. All the plants get at least 1 gallon bucket of water twice a day on the root ball - the potted lakos get 2 twice a day - it worked when it was 100 out but maybe too much when it’s in the 80s. Still, in the fabric bag I can’t imagine I could have overwatered it. We’re back in the 80s this week but the low on Friday looks to hit 50 without rain though. I may wrap the pot in Christmas lights to keep the root ball warm.

I’ve had a few other shoots abort (sunburst, barbelatta, emiensis) but they were only a few inches tall at the time and only when there were several successful shoots going at the same time - never the first shoot. Thing is the second shoot is coming up & looks just as big- I’m just trying to figure out a way not to lose it too. The third shoot is just poking up - I figured it may abort.

My rain barrels are used ibc totes - they were food grade & I washed them out with hot water first. I just hope they aren’t contaminated with oil or something. Anyway, I’m gonna flush them out again, flush all the bamboos & use city water for a while in case that’s the issue. Here’s some pics of the new shoots - some leaves are still yellowing but the others are glossy & look good.

Anyway - they are both going in the ground next spring.

Thanks, David

[Glen]

It is possible that the plant just did not have enough resources to mature that shoot. Make sure you keep the fertility high for these plants.

I think the possibility that your barrels have contaminated the water is extremely unlikely. If you do rinse them out again, use a little soap.

If you have enough rainwater, I would recommend that you continue to use it. While Bambusa sp. are some of the more resistant bamboos, many bamboo species suffer from the additives in municipal water supplies (chlorine, fluoride, etc.).

I guess you already know this, but B. lako can not take much cold without severe damage. Just be prepared, and do not plant them in a place where topkill is unacceptable.

[needmore]

Your plants looks pretty healthy to me, our nights have been into the upper 40's a couple times, always in the 50's and none of my Bambusa shoots show any stress from that. I think Glen is right with just normal shoot abortion probably due to lack of resources.

[da7id]

I can deal with some plants being top killed - none of them are strictly necessary for privacy. I've got some rube goldberg ideas for the lako currently in the ground - i'll see how they work this winter. If everything works out I'll try to same on all three lakos in the ground next year. I figure the textilis, chungii, emeiensis & hopefully the eutuldoides viridivittata should be fine without much help. I don't care too much about the sunburst - it's a mess.

I'll dump, power wash the totes & should be able to fill them again tonight if the forecast is right.

[da7id]

I cut back on fertilizer going into winter - I'll hit it with some this afternoon - maybe that's the issue - tons of water would have diluted whatever fertilizer it had (mostly composted manure) right?

[needmore]

I don't care too much about the sunburst - it's a mess.

What is messy about it?

[da7id]

Mine has extreme lower branching - just a ridiculous amount. It sent up 2 new 15' shoots this fall then started branching out from the bottom first. The bottom branches are more than 6 feet long at this point - about 2 foot off the ground - some angled up as usual, some angled down - it looks more like a bush than a bamboo.

I can trim them off when it gets more full but I think it's going to require a lot more manicuring than the others that are more well behaved.

[needmore]

Mine requires pruning as well or snapping off the lower branches when they are still soft.

[Glen]

I cut back on fertilizer going into winter - I'll hit it with some this afternoon - maybe that's the issue - tons of water would have diluted whatever fertilizer it had (mostly composted manure) right?

Yes, the rain this fall has made effective fertilization almost impossible around here. I think I have had over 24 inches since the beginning of September.

With some plants, like citrus, it is definitely a bad idea to fertilize after the end of July. They need to be as dormant as possible going into any freeze events.

With Bambusa, I have not seen any evidence that this same rule applies. While I do not give the subtropicals heavy fertilization late in the year, I think plants that show visible nutrient deficiencies heading into winter have decreased cold hardiness.