War on Bamboo

[waterman1971]

I have been taken over by bamboo. I have attempted to wage war on this stuff without success. My last assault on this enemy was in the form of a dousing of muriatic acid. Do yall think this will prove effective. Any thoughts of ideas will be greatly appreciated.

[CaroleMeckes]

Hello Waterman1971

A few questions for you:
Is this bamboo that you inherited?
or did you plant it?
or did it come to you from your neighbors yard?

Have you tried cutting it down and keeping it cut down?
Carole

[waterman1971]

1) inherited
2) cut down once
3) acid treatment

[waterman1971]

i may try liquid ammonium sulfate, huge amounts of fertilizer may do the trick

[ghmerrill]

Waterman,

Getting rid of bamboo is not difficult at all.... here are a couple of time proven methods to kill it off for sure

1) pay a large sum of money for it.... bamboo law states that the survival rate of a bamboo plant is in an inverse proportion to the amount spent on said plant.


2) Defect over to the dark side... learn to love bamboo.... then decide that the bamboo you want to now get rid of is the most beautiful grove in the world, is just right for your property, etc, and begin to care for it lovingly... within a short period of time, it will begin to die, because bamboo law also states that the bamboo you enjoy most is the most likely to die off without apparent reason.

OK, since you probably are not a bamboo fan, following your already tried method, just keep knocking over any shoots, or mowing any shoots before they branch and leaf. once ever couple of weeks should do just fine. it does not take long for the stored energy in the roots do give out, and then the plant dies. if you see any growth, just knock it down before it leafs and you are golden. it may take you a full cycle to get rid of it completely, so next spring you may have a stray shoot or two to kill off, but it is not impossible to do.

[ShmuBamboo]

I wish I had your problem. Of course, I would encourage the boos to grow, as I do in my yard here. I know of ways to erradicate them, but being a true bamboophile, I do not feel like sharing that information here. I get way too many Why on earth are your growing that "stuff" questions from bamboo haters around here as it is.

My revenge...

[waterman1971]

Thanks for the replys. gh your remarks were great lol. As for the comments made by shmu, i doubt you have a remedy for the bamboo problem i am experiencing. Perhaps I am not worthy of the knowledge possessed by one so great as yourself. FWIW i poured several gallons of muriatic on the stuff and i believe victory is now mine.

[stevelau1911]

I agree because I just got a moso, and an invasive plant planted a few weeks ago. I also love bamboo and hope it fills up my backyard with huge culms. How fast will a bamboo about 1/4 inch thick by 2.5 feet tall grow in the next year?

[CaroleMeckes]

Hello Waterman1971
I notice you live in Port Arthur, Texas -
A Lotus and Bamboo Festival is happening in Port Arthur, Texas this weekend June 7-8 , 2008 at the Buu Mon Buddhist Temple.

They have a beautiful collection of bamboo and there will be some bamboo enthusiasts there - come by if you can.

Here are some details of the event. (http://www.bamboocentral.net/upcominevents/lotusbamboofestival.html)
Carole

[ShmuBamboo]

Thanks for the replys. gh your remarks were great lol. As for the comments made by shmu, i doubt you have a remedy for the bamboo problem i am experiencing. Perhaps I am not worthy of the knowledge possessed by one so great as yourself. FWIW i poured several gallons of muriatic on the stuff and i believe victory is now mine.

Oh, I do know how to kill bamboo. I have many years of experience in landscape gardening and the nursery business, and even in exterminating large established groves of bamboos.

But you are not worthy. No one that would intentionally kill bamboo is in my view. May your bamboo grow back in spite of your efforts!!!!

[waterman1971]

I am obviously in the presence of greatness(shmu--). Thank you for gracing my thread with yet another gem of wisdom. May i apologize for asking for advice in what i thought was a public forum. Perhaps my assumption that most people tend to be a bit more tolerant was incorrect. Or could it be that the forum is yours alone? It was not my intention to ridicule this plant, but merely a plea for help to eliminate a potential problem on my property. Perhaps i should do some thread whoring of my own? Good luck to you my bamboo growing friend, perhaps will shall meet again.

[ghmerrill]

One thing that you may try, if you see regrowth this summer, is put an ad here, some of the other boo forums, and cragslist, offering it free for the digging. you may not loose all of it that way, but it amazes me how many people are getting "in" to bamboo... looks like is the new "in" landscape plant. even if what you have is super common like golden bamboo, Im sure someone could use a fence planting, or along a road.

[CaroleMeckes]

The most natural way to get rid of "running bamboo" - is to cut it down.
Do not let any new growth appear (keep cutting or mowing the new shoots).
If the bamboo is coming from a neighbors yard or other source - sever the rhizomes to cut off food for the bamboo in your yard. This is not easy to do - as there are many rhizomes - so if one could dig a down with a long spade - or even with just a spade fork - if the spade fork does not go down - it probably has hit a rhizome and loppers can then be used to sever the rhizome.

It is not necessary to dig up all the roots (rhizomes) as they will die out -IF there is no green life above the ground to feed them.

If you want to hasten the whole project - then yes do dig up the rhizomes.

I do not recommend using chemicals - as they pollute the environment.

This is a public forum - and all posts are subject to moderation if they are inappropriate in nature.
Carole

[stevelau1911]

I just put in my moso seedling like a month ago, and it looks exactly the same. I wish I had that problem because I wouldn't mind my yard being a bamboo forest

[ghmerrill]

Steve, I know how you feel! I started in the bamboo hobby about 15 years ago, but was renting at that time, and could not allow things to go wild there... any spreading I dug up and potted. when we bought our home and moved, I was able to take all my plants with me, but that has only been 5 years ago... the first year, I transplanted all the plants to here, not too many in the collection at that time. 3 years ago I added a few more, and then this last fall and this spring, have really been trying to increase the collection. I love the photos of peoples yards looking like a tropical paradise! I have a couple feral groves around here..., one is a Henon grove that is as mature as I think it will get- no care, no water in summer, but it is puting up 3" shoots, absolutely stunning to me! I have a LONG way to go before I am there, but I figure I can get as many plants in the ground as possible in the next year or so, and in 10 years I will have my place the way I want it.

[stevelau1911]

My bamboos are finally starting to show some growth. I noticed some 2 rhizomes coming out of my 1 gallon moso plant under the mulch, and 4 shoots of varying sizes from 1 inch to 13 inches. The only drawback is that they are skinny shoots.

My P vivax seedling is finally putting up 1 shoot that I noticed about 2 days ago which is about 2 inches by almost 1/2 inch in thickness which I hope gets higher than 6ft. Theres also now growth on the original plant which is like 1 cm thick.

Once I buy my camera, I will start sharing my results on this forum.