Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillon'/'Castillon Inversa'

[ShmuBamboo]

I have noticed that most Phy. bambusoides types (including Castillon and Allgold) tend to have random stripes on the leaves. Good indicator for ID of that type is look at several branches of leaves. If they have random stripes, it is likely to be Castillon inversa.

[voodoolord]

Hey SHMU, I haven't noticed any variagation on my Castillons leaves but dont doubt it could happen.
voodoo

[ShmuBamboo]

My Castillon is covered with obvious striped leaves. It is in full sun, but I am moving it to zone 4 (afternoon sun) as the leaves seem to be bleaching out in full sun here. It is in a 15 gallon pot. My Allgold has some lightly striped leaves too, but fewer of them.

You are probably right about it being a vivax. Viridis grows really slow here in the PNW, but it is very impressive when you get it to full height. Especially the Robert Young variety.

[ShmuBamboo]

Hey SHMU, I haven't noticed any variagation on my Castillons leaves but dont doubt it could happen. voodoo

Here is a photo of my Castillon with typical striped leaves.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/617/thumbs/DSCN0911.JPG (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=4498&cat=617&ppuser=2448)

[voodoolord]

Here is a photo of my Castillon with typical striped leaves.

I checked mine and I do have variegated leaves I just didnt notice them because the old leaves were so burnt up. The plants I dug were not being watered anymore and were in bad shape but I have a fantastic mass of new shoots.

[ShmuBamboo]

I checked mine and I do have variegated leaves I just didnt notice them because the old leaves were so burnt up. The plants I dug were not being watered anymore and were in bad shape but I have a fantastic mass of new shoots.

Yah, the typical leaf on a Castillon is striped. The Book of Bamboo has a good description of it. Mine is also messed up, even in good soil and well watered. It has scraggly branches and burnt and bleached out leaves that seem to be as much a common aspect to Castillon as the striped leaves. One reason I think that I caught my brother in a weak moment last year when he gave it to me was after it was 'summered out' and looking like crap. Now he went and bought another one, wondering why he gave it to me... heh heh heh.

I moved mine out of full sun (5) to afternoon sun (4) hoping to throttle back on the crappy leaf look. Of course mine is on a 15 gallon pot, so I can move it around. One reason I overpot my boos and leave them in pots longer is to see where they like to live best before I pop them into the ground. Some say that Castillon loves full sun, but I think that they would really be happier in 3 or 4 sunlight than 5. I may try mine in morning sun next to see the effect on the new shoots leafing out now. We live almost at the 45th parallel here and have a rather long day in the summer months. It may also be the really hard water that I use here from the well. I also have spring water that is soft. I have not found any data on hard vs. soft water when watering bamboos. Something else for me to test in future years.

[Mark Meckes]

Reference: Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillon' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=617) photos at the gallery Bamboo Flora

I grew a patch of Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillon' in the Mts of NE Pennsylvania (Zone 5-ish) in the early 90's.
It would get zapped to ground level each winter, then grow back as a 3-6ft (1-2M) shrub.
The main problem was that it was definitely at the fringe zone of it's cold tolerance level.

I was given a new plant of this here in central Texas some years ago, and despite it growing well in spring and being in partial shade in the summer, it's leaves would become sickly looking by autumn.
After several years of this I decided to kill off this plant (gasp) by cutting off any new shoots. In a year it was history.
This is the only boo that I've got rid of. Too bad, it's a very pretty plant when it's growing well. Another reason I decided to hasten it's demise was because a dozen other bamboo species were vying to take over the space, so if I didn't do it they would put an end to it.


I recently visited the planting that it came from, and with exceptionally abundant spring and summer rains this year it is growing like crazy.
Usually by summers end it displays signs of tarnished leaves.
Will upload pics soon.

I'm still wondering if this plant has some type of viral problem?
Whatever it is, it's a finicky plant.

Aphids also like this plant, or any bambusoides, and the resulting sooty mold on the leaves.
In typically dry summers, aphids haven't been a problem here in central Texas.

Here's a worst case scenerio of how it can look (pics from Georgia):
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/617/thumbs/PbCastG5BGA050216-845.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=1746) http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/617/thumbs/PbCast1-5SGA050218-128.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=2276)

But it rebounds with such cheer and beautiful looking shoots in the spring, that if i had the space I would try growing this hard to please boo once more.

Mark

[ShmuBamboo]

*sniff*

Sad tales of the bamboo path of life.

Well, only half my Castillon is crappy looking. The new shoots and leaves look OK. They seem to get a forking fortune for them at the nurseries around here. Rather than dig them up and kill them, I would dig them up and sell them on Ebay! An amazing super rare and exotic bamboo! Of course I have the room to grow it and gobs of other boos here. For better or worser... I am hoping for better looking effect out of my Allgold though.

Hey, this is interesting... reading my Hardy Bamboos book about "Castillonis," he says that his well established specimen always looks somewhat pale, and he attributes it to probably having less than adequate fertilizer and growing conditions. Seemingly he has the same problem with Castillon as the rest of us do, and does not realize that this growing habit is typical and not due to specific conditions in his garden. Sort of like Black bamboos having burned leaf tips (seems endemic to the species).

As for virus, that may be... I am not knowledgable about boo virus. Orchids, there are many that I have tested for. Cymbidium mosaic virus causes streaking and a dash-dot effect in the leaves. The ancient Japanese cultivated it into their cymbidium orchids there, on purpose. Now that is the scurge of the industry. Once infected, there is no getting rid of a virus in a plant. Many plant viruses cause streaking and variegation in leaves and stems and flowers.

[ShmuBamboo]

Question: Does Castillon inversa have the same typical crappy leaves as Castillon? Anybody out there grow it? It seems to be cheaper by far in price as compared to regular unleaded Castillon.

[voodoolord]

Question: Does Castillon inversa have the same typical crappy leaves as Castillon? Anybody out there grow it? It seems to be cheaper by far in price as compared to regular unleaded Castillon.

The inversa is the one that I have, I looked again and what I thought were variagated leaves from a distance were just the leaf tessellation. My Inversa does not have striped leaves. The leaves from the older culms do look like crap but that might be from their last location. SHMU are you interested in any trading? a few friends and I are trying to start a co-op and trade bamboos here in southern oregon. Let me know if your interested. shoot me an email.
Isaac

[Mark Meckes]

Yep, I suppose I should've potted up this boo until I found a better place to plant it, especially after seeing how beautiful it's parent growth was this spring.

Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillon' at Kinder Chambers - Buckholts, central Texas, June, 2007
Newly leafed culms after an unusually abundant spring rainfall.
Originally collected from Savannah Georgia and planted in 1995.

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/617/thumbs/PbCastChBTX070619-9357.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=4505&cat=617&ppuser=29) http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/617/thumbs/PbCastChBTX070619-9358.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=4504&cat=617&ppuser=29)

According to the 2007 ABS source list ...
... A new clone with less leaf variegation, sometimes called 'McClure's Castillon' has been introduced.

[wannabRN]

I have both of these, I planted them in ground both as one gallon plants on Sept 2005.
Last year the Inversa got dug up by armadillos and I thought it will not survive, but the Castillon was doing very good.
I had pictures of them both when they were young. I will try to find those pics and post them tomorrow. I will also take some pics of both plants and post them here. The Castillon is doing wonderful this year, and I just noticed today it has some 1/2" roots that growing out of it's barrier :) The Inversa should be called a YELLOW GROOVE bamboo :) It really has a bright yellow groove all the way along the internode! The Castillon has about 20 new shoots this year and about half inch in diameter, and the Inversa only has about 6 culms, also about half inch thick...
The first pic is Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillon'
1232

and 2nd is Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillon Inversa'
1234

and 3rd is the dolphin shoots of the P. b. 'Castillon'.
1233

The pics were taken today

Rog