Bamboo fence posts: Use green or dry?

[eyalharel]

Hello!
I’d like to know what’s the average time it takes a bamboo pole stuck in the ground, to rot. Would a green bamboo be better than a dry one?
Also, pls. refer me to bamboo strength tests.
Thanks!

[eyalharel]

I know that it's not recommended to use bamboo as a fence pole. However, I would still like to do so, and would like to know if anybody knows whether a green pole would hold longer - or a dry pole, and for how long?

[CaroleMeckes]

Hello eyalharel,
A lot depends on the quality and the age of the bamboo that you are starting with.

The age of the bamboo when it was is harvested is very important, as new young poles do not last as long as a mature green culm.

One way to make your bamboo fence post last longer is to put a metal rod in the ground and attach the bamboo to the rod, so that the bamboo is not actually touching the ground.

When the bamboo pole is placed directly in the ground, the bottom of the pole tends get soft.

Carole

[Mark Meckes]

Hi eyalharel,
We use green or dried in our garden.
Properly dried and cured bamboo may last longer, but a green fence is very attractive as it dries.
If green bamboo poles of some tropical species are stuck in the ground at the right season, they will sprout leaves, and your fence will start growing!

In our case, we don't live in the tropics, but we have plenty of bamboo, and don't mind making new fences every few years. Sometimes we use our weakest, junky bamboo to make a temporary fence and garden structures.
It gives this bamboo a useful and `extended' life for a year or so before being returned to the earth as mulch.
We usually get one to three years life out of a bamboo fence post.
They may get weak at the ground level, but we find that the rest of the fence holds up the weaker parts... something about the sum of the parts has a greater value..
Using metal stakes to secure the bamboo posts really does extend the life of the fence by many years.
We use metal garden stakes or rebar, tapped into the ground .

There are two things that will happen to a bamboo pole, stuck in the ground, at ground level.
Soft rot - the bamboo becomes mushy
Dry rot - the bamboo becomes brittle

Here is thread about `Drying Bamboo' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=385) which shows that the process of drying is quite variable.
(Quote from the thread)
"Here are some things that affect the drying rate of bamboo. Depending on a combination of these factors, and how much control you have over the process, will determine the outcome of the finished product:
- Heat
- Sunlight
- Moisture
- Humidity
- Air circulation
- Soil contact
And of course, variety of bamboo, and age of the culms plays a very big part too."

Mark