Bamboo craft species for extreme cold climates

[Mark Meckes]

Bob Davidson wrote:
Is there bamboo that can grow in this climate, Iowa?
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Hello Bob,
I know it gets very cold in Iowa, but if your winter minimum temperatures don't get colder than -20 oF every year, and the planting can get at least some protection from the wind, there are a few varieties that have
craft use, that are worth the try.
During the 80's-90's I was able to grow 45 varieties of bamboo in the North-East Pennsylvania Mts., where winter lows can range from -10 oF to -20 oF.
One winter it got down to -26 oF, but another it only got down to -5 oF...Not all of these species have craft use, unless you were to also consider paper-making.
These are some of the hardiest species that I have grown:

Phyllostachys species are your best choices that may give you culms up to an inch in diameter. Of the many varieties...these are some of the hardiest: (links to pics a the gallery Bamboo Flora)

Phyllostachys aureosulcata (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=520) - Yellow Groove Bamboo

Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Alata' (All green - no yellow groove)

Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Spectabilis' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=573)

Phyllostachys bissetii (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=594)

Phyllostachys nuda (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=511)

If your location only occasionally gets to -10 oF to -15 oF, then I would recommend considerably more varieties.
Even though these varieties won't grow in size and strength that they could in slightly warmer climates, there are still many uses for the material, and you will gain special pleasure using home-grown Iowa bamboo.
Mark

[BobD]

Hi Mark,
The weather here in Iowa can vary. Generally speaking the coldest average
temperature in around a -9 degrees. But usually every winter we will have a
day or a few days of negative teens, and maybe negative 20's.
Will these varieties you mentioned:
Phyllostachys aureosulcata
Phyllostachys aureosulcata alata
Phyllostachys bissetii
Phyllostachys nuda
survive in those temperatures? If they will, how do I go about getting
seeds or plants to plant?

Bob

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Bob,
These species should survive providing that you give these varieties some winter protection from the whipping winds, especially in the first few years from planting (so that their rhizomes can get established).

Protecting the base of the plant with a thick layer of mulch (leaves, hay etc) and even bending smaller culms down to the ground and covering them too, will speed up the plants ability to establish a rhizome network.
Then even if you have an extremly cold year and your bamboo gets killed to the ground, it might send up reasonably sized new shoots in the spring.
It may take 3-5 years to get your plants to take hold, and up to 10 years to really get things going.
If they get killed back annually, the plants may stay smaller, growing maybe to 10 ft tall.
If you have some warmer winters(to -10 oF), and the culms, even if they have lost their leaves over winter, but re-leaf in the spring, your new shoots may grow to 15 - 20 feet tall.
You will find that even these immature culm diebacks of one or two years old will have uses around the garden.
They have greator strength if they are woven into one another.
The bottom 3-5 feet of the culms is the strongest part for craft purposes, because the walls are thickest near the base.
Mark

[Bowhunter]

would the Phyllostachys Heterocycla cv. Pubescens be a good plant for manhattan, Kansas shows hardiness zone of 5?

[Leptomorph]

Bowhunter, that one (aka Moso) is best in zone 8.

[paulineisaachsen]

Mark, how does your Phyllostachys angusta tolerate your cold? Though not of full length attractiveness, I would have thought it excellent for durability and sections useful in craft?
Pauline

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Bowhunter,
Even the hardiest bamboos will be top damaged way before their coldest limit.
If you have occasional winters that the temperature doesn't go much below 0 to - 10 oF / -18 to -23 oC, these hardiest Phyllostachys will rebound with vigor, and may easily reach about 12 - 20 ft / 4-7 M tall, maybe 1 1/4" /3cm diameter, or a little more.

If you annually experience temps at -20 oF / -29 oC, my guess is that they would be more shrub like, maybe up to 10' / 3M tall, depending.

Wind and windchill plays a big factor, as do frost sinks (noticed by areas on a property that are hit first and harder by spring and autumn frosts and freezes.

In addition to species selection, the time at takes for the bamboo to establish itself, has to do with the size, health and (rhizome) vigor of the starter plant(s), and their growth and development prior to their first winter on their own.

If the bamboo has enough room to grow it'll `go looking' for better conditions and sheltered pockets or micro-climate to help build up it's energy.
Providing you begin with a healthy plant, bamboo is a gourmet at finding the best growing places. If otherwise the bamboo is not doing well, then this requires thinking like a bamboo to pinpoint the problem.

-------------------

Hi Pauline,
Yes, P. aungusta is definitely worth trying out, see ...
Phyllostachys angusta, PA USA, after a harsh winter (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=428)

Unfortunately I don't know enough about it yet, to list it in the top hardiness category ...
- my original planting is history - was removed
and
- I didn't try it out in the open field with the other hardiest Phyllostachys for equal comparasion trials.
and
- we haven't heard from anyone else to verify equal hardiness.

Another way that bamboo species should be evaluated is through their rhizome vigorousness.
In my conditions, even the hardiest bamboos were killed to the ground in some winters, though their hardiness could be measured by their capacity to re-sprout vigorously.

Some not-so-cold-hardy bamboo species totally lose their OOMPAH in cold climate because their rhizomes freeze/rot.

Others species may concentrate their energies to only produce a few larger shoots and others a great numbers of smaller shoots.

Mark

[paulineisaachsen]

Very nice photos. I have been supplying angusta for Ski Slope Markers where temperatures are only down to -12C. They are the longest lasting of all our species for this purpose, far surpassing imported coated tonkin (Ps. amabilis), so it is intersting to read that they survived so low in your own garden once. I haven't tried P. meyeri yet but am told it too is very cold hardy. Did you know the term 'stone' was supposedly a mistake meant to apply to P.nuda due to its thick wall. Personally I think the term is apt for angusta. It is one of my favourites. Is anyone familiar with species in severe cold that don't 'pop'?
Pauline

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Pauline, what is your definition of extreme cold?
There is a larger selection of species worth trying for temps only down to 0 oF / -18 oC.

Unfortunately the (confirmed) most hardiest and largest Phyllostachys species in extreme cold are of `average quality' and resistance to splitting.
Phyllostachys aureosulcata
Phyllostachys aureosulcata alata
Phyllostachys bissetii
Phyllostachys nuda

Battered culms, bent by heavy snow and ice can develop tiny fractures and fissures that may not be noticed till drying.
Still, there are many ways to utilize the harvest and make the most of it. There is great satisfaction in growing and using your own bamboo.

Perhaps with some species or parts of bamboo, if it wants to split - let it split - use the splits. It can be made into virtue.

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I never grew P. meyeri in Pennsylvania but I saw a 10 year old plot in Boston MA that was pretty scrubby looking, and not much more then 12 ft/ 3-4M tall.
The scrawny canes looked tough and useful though somewhat wimpy.

It appeared similar to P. aurea in hardiness, another species I didn't grow in northeast PA. I saw how it grew in warmer parts of the State and I knew it wouldn't flourish at my place.

One problem I had was lack of expansive space.
Basically I planted out quite a number of different bamboo species and then said to them - Whoever grows the best gets this space.

Mark

[paulineisaachsen]

Antarctic conditions. So I guess your -27C. I seem to be seeing a lot mentioned of a few only.
Pauline

[Bowhunter]

thank Mark

[Mark Meckes]

It's difficult to determine the cold hardiness of a bamboo by a single temperature reference alone.
Here's some other things to consider ...
- growing conditions, location/micro climate, sun/shade, daylight hours,
- age of new culm and hardening of growth prior to cold weather.
- weather quality prior to onset of winter (affects leaf/branch development and food supply for the following year.
- numbers of extreme cold periods during winter season.
- duration and day/night temperature of each extreme cold period.
- extreme temperature drops (warm to frigid)
- amount of wind - wind chill factor
- snow cover

It's also difficult to gauge the craft value of bamboo growing in extreme cold conditions, knowing that any bamboo species will be of higher quality if grown in locations where temperatures don't drop below 0 F / -18 C.

It has more to do with the satisfaction of having grown your own bamboo, of it surviving to live on for another year, and of finding a suitable use for the harvest.
For example, Phyllostachys dulcis is not on this list, as it is top killed at around 0 F / -18 C . I grew it in much colder conditions, and I have a fond attachment to some pens I made from the (barely) year old culms.

http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/data/3052/thumbs/1Mvc-180f.jpg Bamboo Sweet Shoot Quill Pen - Phyllostachys dulcis (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=662)
The darkened patches on the above pen was brought on by the freezing weather.

Mark

[paulineisaachsen]

Thanks Mark
It is interesting that the early or late (for the clumpers) shoot period of species can sometimes be an indicator of their tolerance to low temperatures.
I am in Z10 so it gets a bit tricky growing the right 'antarctic hardy' poles. just because it is hardy as a plant does that make it superior as a dry stem? Do the species with greater concentration of power fibres work better or those with fewest? In this climate the greater the parenchymal bundles the larger the diameter can be used before they need denoding, drilling or the presplit cut but obviously low temperatures would have different results. How does P. nidularia perform?
Pauline

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Pauline,
I haven't seen a direct correlation between cold hardiness and (outdoor) durability of harvested materials, except that cold-hardier species are able to grow and produce larger culms in colder regions.

Some things that appears to improve the materials resiliency ...
- The density of fibers / starch content
- The culm wall surface texture. Some species have a naturally glossy moisture repellant surface while others have a rougher surface which appear to absorb moisture more readily.
- Exposure of culms to direct sunlight. Culms growing at the periphery of a grove, or a more open grove seem stronger.

Of course, durability has a lot to do with the harvest cycle, how the bamboo is dried, any other added treatments to make it more durable, and the intended use.

Regarding Phyllostachys nidularia ...
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/602/thumbs/PnidulariaD4BGA050216-701.jpg See P. nidularia ( http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=602) at gallery Bamboo Flora ...
This plant has incredible vigor, but alas, my planting, in Pennsylvania, in temperatures well below 0 F / - 18 C only produced pencil thick culms.

~ Mark

[paulineisaachsen]

Hi Mark

Thank you for your comments. I have seen durability also exhibited in bamboo that has grown in silica rich volcanic ash and pumice soils and dense walled narrow diameter species whether culled from the outside or not does not make any difference. With regards to cold tolerant bamboo reaching larger diameters, which species would these be? At what minimum temperature does air pressure differences cause the culm walls to split open large culms?
I have decided to trial P. amabilis, P. angusta, P. henonis, S. hindsii, P. bissetti in the Antarctic conditions. Wish I had P. nuda. I kind of have an idea of which would last longest going on the large air cavity theory. I could be wrong.

cheers
Pauline

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Pauline,
Another species that shows potential for reasonable cold hardiness is Phyllostachys praecox (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=653) - photos at Gallery Bamboo Flora.

It seems the amount of rainfall or available water affects height or elongation of internodes, and I'm wondering if this affects size of air cavities in the culms' fiber make up.

Based on basic principles of annealing or heat tempering steel, I will suggest that solar exposure to the culms may be a mild form of tempering and strengthening or stiffening a bamboo culm.
Culms harvested from the deep interior of a grove certainly have greater flexibility.

~ Mark
Wondering if there would be a visible difference in hardness or stiffness of a culm if the bottom portion of a culm was exposed to doses infra red light, a heat gun, or hand polishing and burnishing during the culms growing stages ... ?