Late season shooting of newly planted bamboo?

[Snowbird]

I have noticed that many of my newly planted bamboo have continued to shoot into the hot part of my summer in salt lake city, ut (zone 6b-7). I have to wonder if this is normal or if the drastic change in climates may have brought this on. The bamboo was purchased online from bamboo gardens in Portland, OR (zone 8), which happens to be more humid and cooler in the summer than mine. The plants all appear healthy but i wonder if by their shooting now are they loosing energy that should be put into root growth for next season? The boo's that only shot up one culm had larger and taller growth. The others that had a few new shoots had shorter and smaller diameters than the largest growth on the plant. So, what determines if a new planting shoots in the late season or stores its energy for future growth?

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Seth,
Firstly, I'm assuming we're discussing your temperate running bamboos, AKA, Phyllostachys and Semiarundinaria species?
This is a good sign, that your plants have lots of spunk! ;)
They are thrilled to be released from the confines of their pot and given a new home in solid earth, and this can cause some of the dormant buds on the rhizomes to awaken out of season and produce new shoots.
Sometimes these shoots are not culm shoots but are disorientated rhizomes that haven't quite figured out their directional bearings.
Ones that grow out at an angle are actually tillering rhizomes.
If one can catch them early when they are just beginning to surface it's possible to lay a rock on them and redirect them back into the ground.
Essentially what you want most is to get a good root/rhizome system developed this year, which will help ensure the possibility of getting larger shoots next year.
However if you planting came well endowed with a robust rootball, there should hopefully be other underground activity going on which you're not seeing, so providing that these tillering rhizomes have time to leaf out, they will in turn be nourishing the plant with extra energy for next year.
Essentially, apart from redirecting some surfacing rhizomes back underground, any above ground leafy growth the first year will help to increase the vigor of the planting.
As the season progress and there becomes less of a chance that a shoot will mature enough before frost comes, they could be snipped to direct any energy to the rest of the plant.
In the following year(s) one can be much more discriminating.
A healthy and robust juvenile bamboo will soon be able to produce far more rhizomes and shoots than it needs to sustain itself and you will be able to begin the selective thinning process to suit the desired effect that you'd like with the bamboo.

See also some of this thread about: Phyllostachys shoots growing at an angle? (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1471)

Mark

[Snowbird]

thanks mark,

i am speaking mostly of my running bamboo but i am seeing 5 or so shoots coming up on my fargesia rufa and i noticed some good size buds on my robusta as i planted them. so i guess my next questions are could i have awakened these dormant buds by fertilizing or applying compost? how often, what ratio and when do you choose to fertilize your newly planted/transplanted outdoor bamboo?

[Mark Meckes]

Overall I would say that signs of growth in whatever manner is good, indicating a healthy robust plant.
The thing is that a new/juvenile planting of bamboo is out of sync to the seasonal cycles compared to a plant that has become established, so this kind of behavior can be expected.
I will let other comments on fertilizing because my methods have been pretty basic, ie I would fertilize in the same dosages as any other plant in the garden, in the spring before new shoots arrive, in the summer when and if needed or I have some available.
I've often relied on composted material or "horse stable mulch" whenever and regardless of the season, when I can get some, and let my bamboo find whatever else it needs on it's own.
Bamboo is a very efficient plant for seeking out nutrients.
Often when planting a new tree it's recommended not to fertilize the first year but I question how this applies to bamboo.
A tree retains it's branch structure for many years are affected by growing too fast too soon, but a bamboo recycles it's culms.
However, one doesn't want to overly encourage a flush of tender growth without giving it enough time before winter frost arrives.

My experience of growing bamboo up north where the first frost sometimes arrived in September was that regardless, even with mature plantings, the bamboo would continue to grow new leaves right up to the frost period and then any tender tips would just just dessicate and the remaining hardened portions would stay evergreen, at least till winter got really brutal.

Here in Austin, during dry summers, leaf growth slows right down if our grove is not watered. Then when autumn cooling and rain arrives, a whole new flush of leaf growth and sometimes tillering rhizomes commences right up to our usual December first frost.
Then leaf growth slows down, resuming again in March, depending on the severity of the winter.
I usually cut off late sprouts, though down here they can usually survive the 20'sF freezes. They will freeze right back in your area.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts and opinions and I know others opinions and fertilizer schedules will vary.

Mark

[Snowbird]

good thoughts. i've always heard to not fertilize bamboo during the first season but the logic was mostly to prevent root burn. i found myself unable to withhold food from the new plantings and opted for a slow release balanced fertilizer with mulch. my best new growth came from the two p. glauca that i planted in a horse manure/sawdust compost prepared bed.


here's a shot of new growth from the 2 gal f. rufa i planted 4 weeks ago. it has had some fertilizer and ample water from the soaker hose:
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/707/medium/bamboo_7-31-07_003.jpg

[ShmuBamboo]

I see shoots here on a lot of my boos all through the summer and even into fall. I have Golden shooting again, and my Arrows are shooting like mad now. Shiroshima is also shooting, as is some of my Black. At my brother's, his yard is going mad with Phyllostachys, Pseudosasas and Fargesias shooting.

I would take it as a good sign for your boos. Sometimes they can overshoot, and if so they will tend to die back a bit. If they are fed and watered, they should be OK. I have been to Bamboo Garden (was there a few weeks ago actually) and they are a top outfit for growing bamboos. Depending on the size you got, the smaller ones there tend to be in greenhouses until they are in 2 gallon pots. Otherwise they are outside. It has been a warm to hot summer this year here. Not so humid there in North Plains, which is well west of Portland away from the river basins. Certainly not as dry as Salt Lake though. ;)