Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?

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Saklo
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Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?

Post by Saklo »

Greetings! Yesterday evening (a Friday) I was driving down a residential street in my S. Florida town and came across a landscape crew hauling a load of standard B. chungii culms over a backyard fence, and stopped to get the story. Seems this healthy, 15-year-old clump will be removed in its entirety due to a utilities conflict. The crew had started late and they were leaving the site with half the culms standing and the other half cut down to about 8'. They return Monday to resume removal, roots and all.

I saw the possibility of collecting a few propagules of underground material and got the OK from the foreman and property owner to be on hand Monday and collect what I can of it. Then I came home and started researching, as I'm an absolute beginner at this. Besides delving into the archives of this forum, I've been reading through the 1995 INBAR propagation manual and Kenneth Brennecke's 1980 papers on division for the ABS, among other things. But on the chance that this post is published and read within the next 48 hours or so, perhaps some forum members can offer some experience-based advice on collecting viable propagules from this particular variety. I have that much time to come up with a plan and get prepared. I understand that it's a bit past the optimum season to try this, but hey, it's free chungii, so why not give it a shot?

My manpower is limited to myself and I don't have any sophisticated equipment (e.g. power saws), though I think I can get some help from the landscapers in cutting. I'd like to collect man-portable chunks of material that can be carried away in 5-gallon buckets (transport is a standard sedan). I want to stay out of the way of the crew as much as possible. So far I have a notion that I might start digging on the side of the clump where the culms have been cut down, while the crew is busy cutting the other side (the clump has a footprint c. 12' wide). I figure that once they start their own brute-force excavation work, the material will suffer too much damage.

Any advice on what to look for, what to expect, what else to read, what to bring etc. would be greatly appreciated!
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needmore
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Re: Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?

Post by needmore »

Greetings, I have lots of experience with running bamboo division and nearly none with any of the clumping forms but I've done a tiny bit. If possible use a sawz all/reciprocating saw if not, lace 'em up and get prepared. I used a folding pruning saw and sawed straight down around the division I wanted. Think about the fact that one culm is coming from the base of another one so you want to select the division that you want and then try to guess which culm it is coming from and start sawing down at the base of the 'mother' culm to try and sever the rhizome where it originates there. It is brutal to do this with the folding saw and a battery/electric reciprocating saw is really needed.

If the 8' tall stumps they left are still there and if any of those still have branches I'd mentally pick a manageable size hunk of those and try to get your saw/shovel to cut a 'C 'of them out in one clump. But with just a shovel you will have great trouble chopping down into the clump and you'll probably break the shovel, mine is solid steel with a sharpened edge and it will do this, a wooden handle shovel will probably not. In fact, I would suggest that a saw is essential. My chungii all are quite prolific and produce lots of culms so if you only get a small division you'll have a nice clump in a couple years.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
Saklo
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Re: Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?

Post by Saklo »

Thank you Brad -- I can certainly get my head around the "C section" concept as you explained it. And with a few more hours' reflection I've realized the most effective (and cheapest) tool I can bring might be a round of coffee and donuts for the well equipped removal crew at start time. While currying their favor I'll note that if I can get them to perform a few swipes to loosen what I want to lift out, I'll be out of their hair hours earlier.

I am curious to know how deep the chungii rooting system goes, so far as I need to retain it, and the size a reliable rhizome might be at minimum. Thanks again!
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needmore
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Re: Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?

Post by needmore »

If you are going to ask them to use their saw you could bring them a new blade to replace theirs as the dirt will not be good for it. I can't really say how deep it will be, perhaps a shovel depth or more? I would encourage you to get rhizome with culms attached, ideally cut the culms just above the first branches and leave those branched attached, I think success will be better than just rhizome.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
Saklo
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Re: Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?

Post by Saklo »

Blades? Roger that -- I was doing some lookup this morning, and I gather that nail/wood is best if they don't want to trash their own, but 6" or 9"? I aim to keep the culms attached, but I was wondering about the general size of rhizomes so I can avoid delays in prepping the right containers after pulling them.
Mahalo! -- Mark
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needmore
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Re: Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?

Post by needmore »

I think that the size of the rhizomes - length at least, is the distance between a culm in the division and the one it grew out of the base of.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
Saklo
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Re: Advice on dividing this B. chungii, please?

Post by Saklo »

Well, that deal went south like a frat boy on spring break ... The homeowner, a nervous grandmother, assumed I would be going in with the removal crew and didn't want me traipsing back and forth through her side yard. The crew, meanwhile, is getting over the back fence via bucket crane, and I have no ticket to ride due to the usual liability issues.

If the plant were a Quail nana, I'd have lobbied or bribed for whatever scraps I could get, but not for chungii, which is plentiful in Florida these days. Still, thanks again Brad for your input -- I've learned a lot and will know what to do if easy pickings do come my way another day.
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