New nigra hootss drooping

[BlackThumbNJ]

My new nigra shoots are are taller than existing, about 10' but in the last few days of warm weather the new shoots have started to droop severly so that the tip is no longer the highest part of the culm.

This plant is outside in an insulated container, about 90 gallon, about double the size of what it was in last summer.

It had a rough winter, killed the leaves on many exisitng culm and they have not come back yet.

It has only about 2 hours of direct sunlight each day.

Is there any way to tell what the problem is? Lack of sunlight, the fact that it's potted, root bound, too much water(it's been raining like crazy here), fertilizer(too much, too little?) etc.

Anyone had experience with this?

What to do now?

[Alan_L]

I had the same problem with my nigra, and tied them up with some poles. I'm hoping they'll stay more upright after they harden.

We had a lot of rain while it was shooting too, so maybe that's the main factor?

[Steve in France]

A lot of nigra clones are very floppy , some to the point where people just get to the point of digging them out.
Best advise would be to find a none floppy clone if possible. Some of the members must have better clones.Nigra Hale is not so floppy but it's just so very slow to grow.
Sorry
Best Wishes
Steve

[needmore]

Also may well be a combination of too wet and too weak to sustain those new culms as it sounds like the previous growth was top killed so basically you have bare rhizome culms up. Those can be very floppy and weak, too wet makes it worse.

[stevelau1911]

My P nigra put out 6 shoots, and the biggest ones are around 1/3 inch in diameter, but they are stretching all the way up to around 6ft, and I think it is because the plant stayed in the greenhouse all winter, and suffered no leaf burn so it keeps producing energy even throughout the shooting season. The new shoots are also not floppy at all as long as they don't have leaves to weight them down yet.

I think the top kill has basically limited the energy that you new shoots have to work with, and once the culms run out of starch, the don't have anything left to work off of until they leaf out, and start producing their own energy. This happens very frequently with my rhizome divisions, especially when the rhizome section generates a bigger shoot than the rhizome can support, so I'll either dwarf or top the shoot to save that division. If you have an established plant, it those shoots should be able to recover. Also 2 hours of direct sunlight is pretty limited especially for a phyllostachys which appreciates as much sun as possible.

[bamboothew]

I have 2 clones of nigra. One of them came from ebay bought rhizome cuttings and the other from a local mixed grove that I originally thought might be mixed henon/nigra but now I believe it is mixed bambusoides/nigra due to the appearance of the new shoots. Anyway, the nigra from the mixed grove is very floppy. Originally I thought this was because the nigra was shaded by the much larger green boo, but all the new shoots from the divisions I took have been VERY floppy both in sun and in shade, to the point that most of them have tips actually touching the ground. Interestingly, though, this floppy clone of nigra is already finely spotted with black at sheath fall, so perhaps it will turn black quicker? Not sure.

Has anyone else heard of a clone that is already spotted at sheath fall? I can't seem to find it referenced anywhere.

The other clone that I received as rhizome cuttings has very erect new culms this year, and even the original tiny shoots from the rhizome cuttings were fairly erect. The culms of this clone are a beautiful shiny green with a fine white powder. I think this will be the superior clone whether or not it turns black as fast as the other.

[BlackThumbNJ]

Thanks for the replies.

To me it remains a mystery.

I have a 10 gallon Hale which was in a windowless garage for 3 months this winter, had 10' shoots which were not floppy, even though it got just as much rain as Mr. Floppy Culms.

So, I'm thinking cold damage, but, floppy culms in SC?

If not, I'm thinking, not enough light, but it didn't matter to Mathew's plants.

The cultivar? Mr. Floppy Culms previous years culms are all straight., though now, sadly, leafless.

Interesting that Mathew sees a difference in different clones. Is it commonly understood that nigra come from many different sports or all nigra has an "ancestor" from the same original plant?