Phyllostachys nigra help

[Resien]

Hi all,
First post here, and I'd like to draw on some veteran bamboo knowledge. I decided to try out growing bamboo for the first time recently. We have lots of what I believe is Phyllostachys aurea here in Texas, so I knew I didn't want that. I stumbled across some Moso seeds, and a 3' tall Phyllostachys nigra on Ebay. The Moso seeds are doing spectacular so far...I wish I could say the same for the Black Bamboo. It came to me roots wrapped in wet newspaper and bagged in plastic. I promptly planted it in a good potting soil by Miracle Gro that has a slow release feed in it. Not knowing any better I put the pot out on my back patio and let it bathe in the sun. The leaves curled up, but I read that's normal when bamboo gets exposed to this Texas heat sometimes. Then the leaves started yellowing, drying and dropping. At the first signs of trouble I did some reading and found that nigra likes partial shade, and can bake in the sun (been a week of over 100 degree temps lately). I put it on the side of the house where it only gets about 4hrs or so of direct sun. Symptoms did not improve. I have since brought it inside the house in a well lit room. I mist the leaves each day, and the soil remains slightly damp to the touch about 1-2" down so I don't water it any more. There is one branch of leaves that remains green on one of the two main culms. Those leaves seem to be doing better and appear to have stabilized from the outdoor decline. The other major culm now appears completely dead with parts of it "greying" and drying out. There was a 6-8" long shoot that had just come up it looks before I got it that is also a gonner.

My question is what should I do to save this plant? I don't believe it a lost cause since it still clings to life in part of one of the culms. It is not sending up any new shoots. I know on a few plants, topping/coppicing them can send the roots into overdrive and result in improved growth during the next shooting phase. I'm not sure that's good idea with Bamboo from what I've been reading. Should I cut out the apparently dead culm and allow the plant to focus on the one that still has life in it? Should I just ride it out and hope for the best? Is there anything I can do to promote it shooting, or is it too late in the season? I'd put pics in but I'm at work and don't have any of it handy.

Any suggestions welcome, thank you.
Brodie

[sasa fool]

I think that your best plan is to give it morning or well filtered light, keep it watered but not wet, and hope for the best. If the plant you bought had a long enough rhizome - maybe 8-10 inches minimum for the size of your culm, it may have dormant buds that will 'wake up' and produce survival shoot (s).

Many bamboo sellers on Ebay are offering products that have the odds stacked against the plant ever being strong and viable, often by not including a long enough section of rhizome attached to the culms - very important that the bamboo has several dormant but fresh rhizome buds to produce new shoots or new rhizome branches. There are for sure some good reliable vendors but they are the exception.

I have not been there lately but one vendor was selling as Phyllostachys nigra, what is obviously Arundinaria gigantea - at least you got the correct species. If the bamboo was very inexpensive then it may be worth a try but I am very sorry to see most of the Ebay bamboo that is being sold - for example, anyone selling bare rhizome this time of year is likely selling you a dead plant, generally bare rhizomes are capable of producing shoots in late winter prior to shooting season. Once the new seasons shoots have initiated, pretty much any shoots that you'll get from bare rhizomes will be the tiniest of survival shoots.

Caveat Emptor, oh Ebay bamboo consumers....

[ShmuBamboo]

My advice: Ebayum bewarum. Half the ads I see there are for the wrong named species, if they have a clue what they are selling. Then there is the issue of divisions, rhizome cuttings (age and size), and time of year that you divide and make cuttings. It is getting late in the year for that. And diseases, and mites. Bamboo mites are becoming a larger problem of late. Personally I would never buy a bamboo plant on Ebay unless I knew the nursery or person selling it. Actually I have never bought or sold a bamboo on Ebay. I have sold a lot of orchids there though.

For rhizome divisions, I am siding more with some early British papers on bamboo that say wait until the buds swell before making rhizome cuttigns. That would be mid to late spring. I have found that fall rhizome cuttings do poorly, and earlier spring cuttings do not shoot as fast. Summer divisions wind up with too much heat and water stress (as you have seen), and winter is not the time to divide unless you live in a very warm climate.

Also with all black (Phy. nigra) types, I have seen in several large commercial bamboo burseries and found myself that it is one of the hardest to establish after dividing and black is the hardest to propogate by rhizome cuttings. I have several large Black bamboo clumps that are still mad at me for moving them out of a fenced off area in a pasture (previous owners here let the goats eat the black bamboo!). Two years later and they are finally sending up some new shoots. Basically I find that they go more or less dormant for a year, creep for another year, and then finally shoot the third year. Sleep, creep, and leap!

As for your bamboo, it should have been shaded for a few weeks after you potted it up. If it is sunny here, I shade my bamboos for a week or two after dividing. They tend not to like a lot of heat after being repotted either. The Ebay seller may or may not have ripped off the roots growing out of the rhizomes. Keep it watered, but not soaked. Bamboos are prone to root rot if they are kept too wet. Also if you keep bamboos in pots in hot places like Texas, keep them on the ground. That will keep them cooler. Raising them off the ground on plant stands and such can cook them in summer, as well as freeze them in winter.

Good luck though!

[Resien]

Ah thanks for the reply guys. I guess I'll just continue to nurse it along until all life disappears from it and hope for the best.

On the upside, I repotted my Moso seedlings last night one dropped (disappeared) it's only leaf but the other put on a good 1/2" in height and a new leaf is emerging already. Still waiting for 2 others to emerge in that planting. For any that are interested, I used Burpee's seed pellets to plant the seeds in. They used to be made of peat, but now they are using a coconut husk blend of some sort. So far I've had a 50% germination rate on the Ebay seeds. Go Go lil Moso.