Container for bamboo....

[jimpeterson]

Good morning, All.....I just joined this morning, and have a question....
I own a 150 year old house 150 miles below the border in Sinaloa, Mexico.
I am building a new bathroom, and want to install a 4 foot diameter planter with bamboo. The ceiling/roof will have a 5 to 6 foot opening for the bamboo to grow through.
If the cement planter is set level with the floor, what do I do about the drain for water? Should I set the planter on top of the floor? How deep should it be?
What kind of fast-growing bamboo should I plant?
I have lots of questions, and not many answers. Any help or guidance will be appreciated,
jim Peterson
Bacubirito, Mexico

[Mike McGrath]

Jim - sounds like you have a great opportunity to grow some bamboo "indoors". I think you have a lot of choices but you need to add some additional info as to what you are looking for with respect to size, culms, leaves, etc.

First, I would presume you are looking for a clumping rather than a running bamboo. Secondly, since you talk about the bamboo growing through the opening, I presume this is a tropical location and you want the bamboo to be tall enough to grow through the roof. In that case, you should be thinking about the color and size of the culms you want. If it were me, I would be thinking of trying Bambusa lako with black culms, but it may get too tall for a planter and black culms may not be your choice. Here's a picture from John Nelson's site:
http://www.bambootexas.com/php2/viewtopic.php?t=19 Another might be Bambusa chungii: http://www.bambootexas.com/php2/viewtopic.php?t=7 I may be attracted to these because I can almost grow them here. As I said, you have a lot of other choices.

Fortunately, many of the clumping bamboo can tolerate some water. I would seal the bottom of the planter and put in a vertical PVC pipe before filling it, first with gravel and then a light soil-less planting mixture. You could then periodically use a tube type pump to remove any excess water through the PVC pipe. If you have an air conditioner, it might be useful to use the condensate from that if your water is hard to avoid building up salts.

Every 5 years or so you are probably going to have to remove the bamboo and divide it to keep it the right size in the planter. As long as you keep a fairly large mass of rhizomes it should recover reasonably quickly even if you cut the culms down to remove it. Of course, this is a chance to get more plants and perhaps to change plants periodically if that is your choice.

Any way good luck. Mike near Brenham

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Jim,
Bamboo, even clumpers, can have a wide sprawling top growth, also as juvenile plants. They may need staking and removal of lower branches.
A 4-5 ft opening isn't very big for a tall bamboo!, though if the shoots were trained through the opening, then they could arch outwards.
Growing in a bottomless container can produce greater growth over the years, but removing or repotting a rootbound bamboo after years in a concrete containment can be a very very tough job.
If the container is above ground it is easier to break apart one side of the the container.
One method to keeping a contained bamboo healthy shape is to poke several holes in the soil with an iron bar and add fertilizer/compost or dig out `plugs' of old soil/rhizomes and replace with fresh soil amendments.

If the bamboo does go into decline or die back, you could also grow vines and bromeliads etc up and on the bamboo poles for a couple of years until the rhizomes begin to decompose, then dig out the old rhizomes.

Just some thoughts, and in your case the size of container and your choice of bamboo species, along with giving the bamboo it's soil/moisture and fertilizer needs and keeping up with care and maintenance will determine the bamboos suitability and fate.

Mark

[jimpeterson]

I thank you guys for your help, and am open to any suggestions concerning the planter or type bamboo I should use.
One thing I need to correct, is my town is 550 miles below the border; not 150 miles. The weather is tropical all year 'round, and never freezes.
jim