Beginners division and propogation

[RICHNEWCASTLEUK]

I am new to the world of bamboo and have found the site extremely useful, I am keen to build up a good collection of bamboos here in the UK with the aim of planting a grove, so far I have gathered the below and am looking to collect more

Phyllostachys Nigra
Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Spectablis
Atrovaginata Green Perfume
Pleioblastus viridistriatus
Fargesia murieliae; and
Pseudosasa Japonica

However to plant a substantial grove I am going to need quite a lot of plants and so as not to break the bank this is going to mean division and propogation.

In regards to division I have simply been digging up the plant or removing it from its pot (when pot has been filled) and using my spade the split the clump into 2 or 3 plants that I then plant up, it takes a while for them to start to shoot again and a number of the canes die, but the plants are really healthy a year on and filling up their pots again fast, is this the best way to divide??

I bought some bamboo seeds off the internet (moso) just to have a good and had no success, I haven't tried to take and grow any cuttings yet however this is something that I am very keen to try, I would be grateful if anyone could help me in regards to:

>The best time to take cuttings
>where should the cutting be taken from on the cane (all of my large plants are clumpers)?
>How big should the cutting be?
>do you need to use a rooting hormone?
>what soil/mix is best to grow the cutting in? etc

I would be grateful for any knowledge that you could pass onto me, in return I will keep you updated as to my attempts!!

Thanks

[CaroleMeckes]

Hello Richnewcastleuk,
Glad to have you here at bamboocraft.net.

One thing that you might consider doing if you have not already done so, is to become a member of the The Bamboo Society (EBS Great Britain) (http://www.bamboo-society.org.uk/). Very often members exchange plants and help one another and it is always great to have local bamboo people to know and visit.

From your description - it sounds like you are growing the bamboo in pots and not in the ground. The rhizomes would have much better opportunity to spread if the plants were in the ground.

re growing bamboo from seed - it will take a much longer time to get your grove established if you start from seed. Seedlings are very delicate and I would not recommend dividing seedlings until they were very well established which could take several years.

The only plant in your list that is a clumper is the Fargesia murieliae -
I personally have no experience with Fargesia, since I am located in central Texas, where it is too hot to grow Fargesia so maybe someone else here on the forum can comment on taking culm cuttings from Fargesias.

Mark would always dig root balls with lots of dirt on them and selected plants to dig that had a couple of good canes that were not too old.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/517/thumbs/PaureaHlnAuTX030218-024.JPG (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=3188)

Carole

[RICHNEWCASTLEUK]

Thanks Carole,

I will contact the The bamboo society of great britain.
Yes mainly in pots due to space and fact that I will probably be moving in a few years and as such want to take them all with me, although the pots are now getting to silly sizes that I can't even move!!

I have the Phyllostachys Nigra in the ground that has been there for 2 years and has formed a good size clump which is about 6ft tall, but is still an immature plant and the canes are still only thin.

Do you have any experience of taking cutting from the canes and growing these?

[CaroleMeckes]

Hi Rich,

Be sure that you lift and move your pots around every so often. If the pots are sitting on the ground (and not on pavers or concrete) the rhizomes will find their way out of the holes in the bottom of the pot and take root...

re taking culm cuttings from Phyllostachys nigra - forget it - it will not work.
Phyllostachys is a running bamboo.

Clumping bamboo can be propagated by culm cuttings - but not runners.

Carole

[ShmuBamboo]

Several points that I might make to add to this discussion...

One is that you have stumbled across a nice way to propagate bamboo. That being if you leave them in one place the rhizomes will snake their way out the bottom and into the ground (Oh no! Run for your lives!). This is actually EXACTLY how I have propagated/planted some of my black, temple, and Henon bamboos here. Happened by mistake at first, then I learned to position them where I wanted them in the ground and let them do all the digging, dividing, etc. for me while I watch them sipping a beer in the afternoon sunlight. Heh heh heh... this is particularly good for the Phy. nigra family, as nigras are rather hard to propagate from rhizome cuttings, and they tend to not like to be divided and transplanted. At Bamboo Garden outside Portland, OR, they have to pot up about 3 times as many black bamboos as they have a market for, as 2/3 of them tend not to make it. really... once the rhizome has grown out and started to put up a shoot, simply snip it off where it grew out of the pot. Then move the mother plant someplace else that you want another bamboo growing. Or... sneaky sneaky, place another pot next to the running rhizome with the hole at the bottom next to the pot, and into the next pot they will run! I am trying this method on a black bamboo that I have that is pumping rhizomes out of all 3 holes at the bottom. We shall see how well it works.

As for planting and dividing, I was taught by one of the owners of Blue Heron nersery in Washington State (huge bamboo garden with 200+ varieties) that you need to let bamboo grow for a while before lifting them out of the ground. Also you do not want them in the ground for too long, or they will not grow as fast. Lifting and dividing works best about every 3-5 years it seems. Every year is too soon, and you will not get the optimal growth. Left too long, and many types become all adult form and do not propagate as well as the juvenile forms. Seemingly rhizome cuttings do best in spring, and from rhizomes that are between 1 and 2 years old. That method is simply cutting 8 inch to one foot sections of rhizomes and potting them up. They will root and shoot the first year. Most major bamboo nurseries that I know of use this method for propagation. Some types of bamboo can be propagated by cutting nodes from culms and planting them up. Bam. Oldhamii can be propagated this way.

And finally, if you want to keep your bamboos in pots, as I tend to do here, give them 2x the room that you would any other type of plant. For example, I buy 1 gallon bamboos and immediately transplant them into 3 gallon pots. Within a year I replant them into 5 gallon tubs. I do the same with bamboo that I pull out of the ground and divide up. I give them LOTS of pot space, because they have a larger root mass that grows under the soil. Far more than most other types of plants, and bamboo rhizomes run underground in the fall and then the bamboo shoots in spring. If you want to fill larger spaces in your yard, you would probably be better off potting them up to 15 gallon size, rather than dividing them into same sized pots, and then planting them in the ground after a year. You will get gobs of shoots the following year that way, and they will be healthy plants to boot. In other words, one healthy 15 gallon well-rhizomed bamboo will do better than 5 weaker and smaller 2 gallon potted bamboos. Especially bamboo the size of Nigra, Moso, or Temple, etc.

Then there is feeding... feed bamboo a lot of nitrogen. If you want faster growing bamboo, feed them a lot, and often. I feed mine sheep poop from the barn here (my girlfriend raises sheep on that farm that I live on). I feed mine from spring right through fall, because they are still shooting here, even now. If they are in pots, they need a lot more food than in the ground too. And water... water if the leaves curl in, and as soon as they start to curl in. Potted bamboo is also less tolerant of cold and heat, so keep them more protected from the extremes.