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Half of moso culms dead

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2019 2:13 am
by mshaffer
I just had to cut down like 10 3" diameter moso culms. It's like the whole grove is dying. I don't get it. I have another grove a few hundred feet away that is doing just fine. They were both planted at the same time, same exact species. The only difference is I mulched this one a lot and never mulched the other one. We had a very wet spring and I noticed the rhizomes turned black and died. Do you think that's the cause? I've stopped mulching it, but it seems like the culms are still dying.

Re: Half of moso culms dead

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2019 7:52 am
by Tarzanus
It seems to me that growing location is somewhat elevated and drains excessive water well. That should be perfect for the bamboo, what about the other spot that grows better?
Any other micro-location details, like sun/shade, wind exposure, soil structure,...?

Mulching (especially excessive) can attract rodents. They can do considerable damage to rhizomes and roots and they do like Moso. They rarely touch my Phy. aureosulcata 'Spectabilis' or HB tranquillans 'Shiroshima' for example, but they were able to devastate my young Moso. However, roots wouldn't become black, vermin would just eat all the fresh buds, roots and chew on rhizome ends. If completely disconnected from the main plant, it could rot though..

Merry Christmas!

Re: Half of moso culms dead

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 6:42 pm
by dependable
Rhizomes turning black and dying is often a sign of over water or "wet feet".

Is it possible there could be a impermeable soil layer below the grove that is not letting it drain?

If there are clay lenses or any subsoil features that could cause perched water table, that might cause roots to rot if unusually wet season. While mulch is almost always good, in this case maybe it contributed to soil below grove not being able to dry out.

Re: Half of moso culms dead

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 7:36 pm
by mshaffer
The soil between this grove and the one that is intact should be the same. They're not far apart.

I guess it could be rodents. I don't remember seeing any new rhizomes last fall. Maybe something is eating everything below the surface. There have always been a lot of moles here. But, they haven't touched the other Moso grove. Perhaps the mulch made the roots easier to access.

Re: Half of moso culms dead

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:32 pm
by mshaffer
I just looked along the fence line and only found one new rhizome, and the tip fell out of it when I moved it.

I wonder if there could be herbicide in the mulch I got from the county mulch dispenser. Hmm