Help needed: Growing bamboo in Egypt

[dr_jojo]

i have 10 acres good for planting and agriculture
but it will be planted for the first time and so i have made soil analysis and result in that my soil has great amounts of sodium and it tends to be acidic
and go to have consult in that i were told with bamboo
so i want to know about its planting
i'm from egypt
and so also want to know from where i can get the seeds

and thanks for all

[dr_jojo]

plz i want to start a bamboo planting project in egypt and want to know what's the suitable type
and the most useful one in its selling and marketing
and if there r any chance to export it with a high quality to the europian and american market
and thanks

[Mark Meckes]

Hi dr_jojo,
I have not been able to find much information about growing bamboo in Egypt.

Two factors important to growing bamboo sucessfully are:

- Minimum winter temperature.
This will help determine potential bamboo species.
For example, there are many tropical bamboo species which are adversely affected by below freezing temperatures.
Some can tolerate light freezes, others can not.
There are also temperate/cold hardy bamboo species that can tolerate much colder temperatures.

- Water availability
Some bamboo species are more drought tolerant than others, but they all require adequate rainfall or irrigation to become established.
Also it is very important that they receive enough moisture prior to, and during their shoot emergence period.

I am unsure if there are any bamboo species native or naturalized in your region.
There is often mention of bamboo used to make musical instruments in Egypt (from ancient times), but I do not know if it is really Arundo donax (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=572) which is not a bamboo but a reed-like grass.

This link mentions that the bamboo species Dendrocalamus giganteus, (a large tropical bamboo) is well known in Egypt:
http://www.metla.fi/iufro/iufro95abs/d5pap115.htm

Another place that you should check for suitable bamboo species are at botanical gardens in your region.
They might have a collection of bamboo species growing there which you could see first-hand, how well they are growing, and you might be able to acquire some propagation material.

Please let us know if you find any information on suitable species and if I find any more info I'll post it here.

With regards to marketing and selling your bamboo, this is a completely different challenge with no easy answer.

Mark

[dr_jojo]

at first i thank u
and then i want to told u that the instructions for growing bamboo are available completely in my land that's continous good irrigation and some sort of moist that it has no dryness weather
and i want to know the way that i choose the type of the most useful and good selled one of bamboo
that i can deal in the market with

[Mark Meckes]

Hi dr_jojo
I have merged your posts to this one thread.
Please, when you are replying to a thread, click on PostReply - NOT New Thread.

There are over 1000 bamboo species, and so it is very difficult to suggest which species are most suitable for you area.
For example, some species are good for structural purposes, others are good for weaving etc. etc. etc.

There may be many species that are suitable for your land or maybe only a few, I personally don't know.
I would feel very bad if I suggested a few species and they did not grow well.
The best thing is to try and find information, from botanical gardens in your area or from growers in your area on which species perform well and which species perform poorly.

If you can not find any information you will have to experiment through trial and error by growing many types, and through the process of elimination find the best species suited for your land.
Unfortunately, if nobody else is growing bamboo in your area, the only way is to try different species out yourself, and after many years you will learn which is the best species. This is how many of us have had to learn.

But now you have posted at the forums, hopefully in time someone else from your area might see this and share their experiences.

Meanwhile keep searching and let us know what you find out.

In the link I posted in my previous post, it said ...

"Bamboo was found to grow in all governorates in Egypt and to be available on a commercial Scale in 2 of them." ...

Correspondence: Nader Ibrahim, Centre for Development of Small Scale Industries and Local Technologies, Abbasiah, Abdou Basha, Cairo, Egypt

Unfortunately the information did not have a date - when posted, or a list of species except Dendrocalamus giganteus.
You may need to do some research, perhaps at a university library to see if this Centre still exists or if the library has any publications or papers on growing bamboo in Egypt.

All the best,
Mark

[dr_jojo]

i want to apologize for u for your great effort and then i want to know what's the most suitable kind
and if there are availability to bamboo to grow in salty land
and what's the suitable types for it

and thanks