False bamboo

Moderator: needmore

User avatar
Iowaboo
Posts: 3121
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:21 pm
Location info: 32
Location: West Iowa
Contact:

False bamboo

Post by Iowaboo »

I'm looking at adding false bamboo(polygonum, fallopia, mexican bamboo) to my collection. I was wondering if any other bambuseras grow any similiar plants that have a vigorous behavior like bamboo. I'll pay for shipping for a small piece, thanks for the help.




8)
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 3285
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 3:15 pm
Location info: 6
Location: Tampa, Florida, USA,............Florida's SunCoast <Zone 9B-10A>

Re: False bamboo

Post by Roy »

. wrote:I'm looking at adding false bamboo(polygonum, fallopia, mexican bamboo) to my collection. I was wondering if any other bambuseras grow any similiar plants that have a vigorous behavior like bamboo. I'll pay for shipping for a small piece, thanks for the help.
)
Are you sure about the Mexican bamboo. Later, if you decide you don't won't it any longer, then you might have a difficult time getting rid of it.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgar ... amboo.html
--------------------------
Roy Rogers
Southern Tampania de la Floridana Universidad (STFU)
STFU Motto: All Bamboos are not Created Equal; @ STFU, the Search Continues
**********
:wave: ROY'S BAMBOO LIST
User avatar
Iowaboo
Posts: 3121
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:21 pm
Location info: 32
Location: West Iowa
Contact:

Post by Iowaboo »

Don't worry , Roy. I have plenty of space. Restrictions, such as a yard, are nonexistant. I also have goats as backup to take out any plant. 8)





Are you sure about the Mexican bamboo. Later, if you decide you don't won't it any longer, then you might have a difficult time getting rid of it.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That's what people say when I'm growing running bamboo :!: :lol:
kstanwick
Posts: 389
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:46 am
Location info: 0
Location: Stillwater NJ z6a Sussex county. 20 minutes from the Del. Water Gap.
Contact:

knotweed

Post by kstanwick »

Lance don't bother with this plant. It is around by me in spots and you can't get rid of it. JMHO
Kurt Stanwick
Stillwater NJ z6a

Kurt's Garden
Thuja
Posts: 959
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 1:34 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Wisconsin, USA zone 4b;
1951: -37*F;
1996: -29*F;
2005: -10*F;
2006: -17*F;
2007: -17*F.

Post by Thuja »

I think Phragmites qualifies as bamboo-like. I started some from seed I found in northern Wisconsin. I read on GW that you are planning to plant some this year. Wondering what kind you'll grow. Mine may be big enough to propagate, so let me know if interested. I figure they might get 15 feet tall or so.
--Mike
Image
User avatar
Iowaboo
Posts: 3121
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:21 pm
Location info: 32
Location: West Iowa
Contact:

Post by Iowaboo »

Thanks for the generous offer, thujaMike, but I bought a phragmites plant for this spring. It had a cultivar name of Phragmites australis 'Pseudodonax'. I'm not sure if this name was a clever attempt to make me want to buy it.

A translated page has this to say about 'pseudodonax' :
Phragmites australis ssp. pseudodonax is still more starkwuechsiger and can 7 - 10 m become high. This subspecies is common in warmer areas.
I have no doubt that if it has the genetic capibility to grow that tall, it should in the locations that I can provide it. As stated, I already hit 14ft with my arundo donax. I expect it to hit 20+ft in a couple years.
8)

Kurt, would it be wise to assume that j. knotweed spreads more aggressively than phyllostachys? One advantage it has over bamboo is its flowering. I've read where it makes a good summer honey.
kstanwick
Posts: 389
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:46 am
Location info: 0
Location: Stillwater NJ z6a Sussex county. 20 minutes from the Del. Water Gap.
Contact:

honey

Post by kstanwick »

Well i guess if you want to who am i to say....not to. If its the same stuff around by me it has a purple berry of some sort...makes your hands purple....I never thought of using it for honey.....I thought you need bees for honey......maybe a lemonade of some kind....It just wouldn 't be a "choice" planting for me. but you have so much area. i guess you could plant it 10 acres away.....you would never even know it was growing....i've read bad stories about it that's all.
Kurt Stanwick
Stillwater NJ z6a

Kurt's Garden
User avatar
Iowaboo
Posts: 3121
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:21 pm
Location info: 32
Location: West Iowa
Contact:

Post by Iowaboo »

If its the same stuff around by me it has a purple berry of some sort
Kurt, sounds like you have pokeweed growing there. Birds spread it around bigtime by eating the purple fruit.
http://images.google.com/images?q=pokew ... a=N&tab=wi

Pokeweed is a native north american plant, and it has a deep taproot and spreads many seedlings in people's yards.

I was thinking about having my own colony of bees someday and have my own honey supply. I love honey. I also have some bee bee tree(evodia danielli) seed that I'm going to start growing this year. Obviously, it attracts bees by its common namesake.

Here is quote about japanese knotweed
Japanese knotweed flowers are valued by some beekeepers as an important source of nectar for honeybees, at a time of year when little else is flowering. Japanese knotweed yields a nice monofloral honey, usually called "bamboo" honey by northeastern U.S. beekeepers, that is like a mild-flavored version of buckwheat honey (a related plant also in the Polygonaceae).




8)
User avatar
needmore
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:14 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Kea'au, HI

Post by needmore »

Lancet, I'm pretty sure he is not talking about poke as the polycusp has the purple berries as well. If you really don't care to ever keep it in bounds then I say go for it. But....I've been watching a farmer try to eradicate it for 3 years now. He has tilled it, disc'ed it, and sprayed it many times but it keeps on coming back. It can spread from rhizomes, seeds, or plant pieces. The white flowers turn into purple fruits with seeds. I think I recall reading a website where it was stating that the pieces can float down a stream and become established down current that way.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
User avatar
Iowaboo
Posts: 3121
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:21 pm
Location info: 32
Location: West Iowa
Contact:

Post by Iowaboo »

If you really don't care to ever keep it in bounds then I say go for it.
Only problem is I haven't found it available anywhere.

Regarding pokeweed vs. j knotweed. I have been in contact with pokeweed berries and they are a real dye mess. But what kind of seed does Japanese knotweed have?
Since j knotweed tends to be either in male or female clone stands it is stated to not seed much. But in searching info about it I linked to wildman steve brill's site.
Japanese Knotweed Seeds
The tiny seeds are hidden inside husks embedded in papery sheaths.
via wildmanstevebrill.com
Image
This url shows the grain that comes out of the husk.
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/ipc/weedin ... idatum.jpg
I did get a plant last fall that I first thought it could be j knotweed, but the different fruit of pokeweed actually sets it apart.
kstanwick
Posts: 389
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:46 am
Location info: 0
Location: Stillwater NJ z6a Sussex county. 20 minutes from the Del. Water Gap.
Contact:

pokeweed

Post by kstanwick »

You know i will have to check the spot by my buddies business. I think you might be right about the pokeweed. needless to say, it is a weed and if you don't have it. I wouldn't import it into my property. i would rather have bamboo......or some other type of ornamental. but then again, i only have so much property....so i have to pick and choose.....if you are a honey lover, there has to be a better choice of plant for honey bees. i know little about that whole thing. It might be a good topic in the off topic area though. i don't know too many people who have bees but the apple orchards around my area they certainly do. Lots of home made honey at the state fair by me in the summer.
Kurt Stanwick
Stillwater NJ z6a

Kurt's Garden
BooKing
Posts: 1105
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 2:26 am
Location info: 0

Post by BooKing »

Bears love honey too. :lol:
User avatar
Iowaboo
Posts: 3121
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:21 pm
Location info: 32
Location: West Iowa
Contact:

Post by Iowaboo »

No bears where I live. The closest group of bears I know of, is in chicago.



8)
User avatar
needmore
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:14 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Kea'au, HI

Post by needmore »

Lancet, a couple of catalogues I receive often have the 'non-invasive' variegated polycusp. One of them is in N Carolina....what is their name...hmm can't think of it, they always have nice obscure cover art - anyone help me out here? I'll look for an old copy around here.

If nothing else, later I can see if the 'grove' next to the RR tracks nearby is diggable and if so I'll try to get you some rhizomes. I know of some in a nearby town where I can get permission to dig it I suspect, let me know how badly you covet this.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
User avatar
Iowaboo
Posts: 3121
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:21 pm
Location info: 32
Location: West Iowa
Contact:

Post by Iowaboo »

Oh yes, plant delights has some interesting catalog covers. But they do have quite high prices. I haven't grown any ornamental clumping forms of polygonum, yet. But I did order these for this spring
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Cu ... 00904.html

http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Cu ... 04156.html
from different nurseries.
If I like the crimson beauty clumper, I probably will buy a variegated one in the near future.

I'll let know in the future if I still covet this "weed". In the summer my mind wonders less and I keep busy. But the winter I might have too much time to think about all the crazy vigorous plants in the world.

8) The more vigor, the better 8) where weak plants die in my hands.
Post Reply