Page 1 of 2

Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 5:00 pm
by Lindsaybrew
Does anyone have a mature moso rhizome or juvenile Moso (1-3 feet)? I am planting 1000 seeds this season and am hoping to find a grown moso that I can plant for inspiration. I will be more than happy to pay shipping and for the plant to through paypal. Thank you!

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 1:45 am
by stevelau1911
I used to have lots of moso seedlings which have gone all throughout the US in the last few years, but all I have now is an Anderson moso as well as the moso bicolor that I've been posting pictures of in the shoots threads. I do have a couple of divisions on bicolor, but they are already reserved as it's very difficult to even get a division off this species.

If you came on a couple of months ago, you would have been able to get moso from probably half a dozen people as it's a fairly commonly grown bamboo however we are in shooting season which is the worst time to grab a division since the rhizomes will have sent all their energy into the new shoots.


If you're not that picky on bamboo, you might be able to hook up with Steve in France who's also in MD, and dig some of his shanghai III or parvifolia once the culms get hardened off. Both those species get to a respectable size. You are only about 20 miles away too.

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?n

Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 6:14 am
by Lindsaybrew
Steve,
Good to meet you & Thank you for passing on the good info! I Will definatly try to get touch with Steve from France and Maryland sometime in the future. I've been checking out everybodies set-ups throughout the day, what fun!
-Lindsay

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 2:24 pm
by pokenei
Hi Steve, the moso you sent me last year - is it Anderson Clone or regular clone? I decided to plant it in-ground this year (in a shaded area) because I find it difficult to keep bamboos healthy inside a pot. Any chance it'll make a 2-incher in the next few years...

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 1:26 am
by stevelau1911
pokenei wrote:Hi Steve, the moso you sent me last year - is it Anderson Clone or regular clone? I decided to plant it in-ground this year (in a shaded area) because I find it difficult to keep bamboos healthy inside a pot. Any chance it'll make a 2-incher in the next few years...
It should just be a regular moso, but each moso seedling will behave a bit differently. I really doubt that what you have can put out a 2 incher in a couple of years, but it is possible to get bamboos to focus more on size as opposed to numbers. All it takes is to mix in organic materials into the soil down to about a foot deep or more, and then keeping that soil aerated so when a nice fat rhizome crosses that area, it can root out very nicely which can really swell up the size of the buds.

Applying heat through grass clippings, plastic mulch, or a black 55 gallon drum filled with water in the late summer/fall can also encourage the maturation of shoot buds so that they become nice and big once they emerge. That happens to be part of the moso grove I had before I replaced it with moso bicolor, and it got up to making 3/4 inchers rising up to 8ft after 3 seasons.

This moso does seem to produce more numbers and a lot more rhizomes as opposed to size. My bicolor produces nearly 1 inch diameter rhizomes which makes it very prone to making huge upsizes.

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 6:33 pm
by pokenei
That's not very encouraging... I want Moso to put out few big ones instead of quantity which I have no room for.
I guess I'll have to try the bi-color... and prominens or S3 if those prove to be superior to dulcis.

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 3:06 am
by stevelau1911
pokenei wrote:That's not very encouraging... I want Moso to put out few big ones instead of quantity which I have no room for.
I guess I'll have to try the bi-color... and prominens or S3 if those prove to be superior to dulcis.
I really doubt that shanghai III is superior to dulcis in any way. The only big difference between the 2 is that shanghai III doesn't seem to grow towards the light. I think they are about the same in hardiness or upsize.

Prominens appears to grow just like bambusoides as they are pretty close in appearance with strong culms, and good upsize. The difference I see is that prominens is likely much hardier, but a bit less as far as size potential.

The moso bi-color seems to be the best as far as upsize potential as pictures generally show that it gets just as big as regular green moso in a good environment however the bi-color may have the upper hand in getting up in size vs # of shoots. If you need huge shoots in a small area, then bicolor may be the way to go, but if you are in zone 5, then you might have to dwarf the culms every year, apply christmas lights to it, and use a heavy tarp for 1/2 the year.

Moso can avoid complete top kill in my climate, but for most winters, it's foliage is prone to getting completely fried unless I provide some form of protection. How much is Bamboo Botanicals in British Columbia asking for bi-color? Based on their pictures, they have a pretty decent sized grove of it.

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:56 pm
by sfrangu
Hi, I'm new to growing bamboo and to this board too.
I am trying to find Ph. Edulis seeds or live plants and it is so hard to find. Anyone has Moso bamboo in Southern California?

Thank you.

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:25 am
by jd.
sfrangu wrote: I am trying to find Ph. Edulis seeds or live plants and it is so hard to find. Anyone has Moso bamboo in Southern California?
I recall reading that Ph. edulis prefers summers with more humidity.

I gather that much of southern California has summers that are hot and dry, but if you're in a location with some humidity I'm sure you can find someone here who will have an extra plant available for a shipment. :)

Is there any particular quality of the edulis that you desire the most?

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:02 am
by sfrangu
I'd like bicolor but the regular one would be fine too. It would be potted so I'd water it regularly.

Thanks jd.

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 12:34 am
by jd.
sfrangu wrote:I'd like bicolor but the regular one would be fine too. It would be potted so I'd water it regularly.
If your bamboo will be limited by a pot, you may consider choosing a Phyllostachys with better drought and flood tolerance than the moso.

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 3:35 am
by sfrangu
I am still researching of course, but I want a Moso anyway. Especially because in time we'll transplant it into planters.

What did you mean with flood tolerance? Why should it have both drought and flood tolerance? I'm still learning, so asking lots of questions. :)

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 5:40 am
by jd.
In hot dry weather, a bamboo in a container is more likely to exhaust its available moisture than a bamboo in the ground.

I recall a grower with moso in containers reporting that it was more sensitive to over-watering compared to other Phyllostachys bamboos.

In some conditions, a moso will not appear as attractive or grow as large as a better adapted Phyllostachys.
Of course, this won't stop a serious collector from trying. :)

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 5:23 am
by sfrangu
What other Phyllostachys are you talking about? I've found that Ph. Nigra Henon is quite resistant to drought. Still looking...

Re: Anyone juvenile moso plant or Moso mature rhizome?

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 7:40 am
by stevelau1911
It is true that moso or moso bicolor seems to hate growing in pots, but given a very good draining soil mix that can be made as simple as using a mix of leaf mold+ builder's sand, you can still create an environment that they can thrive in. The only drawback with growing them in containers is that you have to keep dividing them relatively frequently as the rhizomes will belt around the pot causing soil to dry out very quickly which moso doesn't like. Moso really can't seem to take too much moisture or too little moisture, but after handling it for a couple years, it's not that hard to figure out its requirements.

I have found that the nigra cultivators do seem to do exceptionally well in pots.