Mark Meckes
1st October 2004, 10:09 AM
Yes it's too bad about bugs, the `bad' ones, that is!
Bugs can be very troublesome to artisans who grows their own craft supplies.
The grower/crafter has to deal with bugs from both ends of the stick!
(The alive part and the dried part)
Too bad about bugs...
- Bugs can make your shoots taste yucky (but mama...I'm hungry!).
- Bugs infestations can weaken your crop, reduce life expectancy, resulting in premature culm death.
- Bug infestations can increase due to favorable environmental conditions suited to the bug species.
- Bug infestations can also proliferate due to plants being stressed from weather/environmental related conditions (ie drought, pollution etc)
- Bugs can diminish the quality of harvested materials, making the wood weaker, brittle, stained and discolored.... ( okay, well, some bugs do `engrave' interesting patterns on the surface of bamboo, which can have artistic merit)
- For those who harvest bamboo from other locations, bug coated leaves are a problem, making it a danger to bring the otherwise useful branches back to the home/workshop and/or infesting your grove.
- Then there's the problem of having to wash, scrub and clean the bamboo poles, to remove the (still alive) pesky critters huddled in the branch crotches and crevices on the surface of the bamboo.
- Topping it off, we then have to deal with insects, molds and fungi etc that want to make a picnic out of our dried poles and finished products!
Bug problems vary in different places, climates, countries, regions and seasons.
In the USA, nearly all the bamboo species are exotic imports.
Fortunately, due to stringent importation requirements, (and 100 years of little interest in the species) only a handful of pesky critters have managed to find their way into our groves.
However, a century of lackluster interest has resulted in minimal support or available funding for bamboo research.
Alas, bamboo related issues were never included in educational curriculum, which is why there are so few US institutionally trained professionals of bamboo-olgy.
This is a very troubling indeed! How could the academic community discount bamboo as no more then a curious oddity, when, after all, it IS a very close relative to the most vitally important, often over-utilized and relied upon plant group of all times - the grasses. (lawns, rice, wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, sugarcane, sorghum etc and bamboo).
Bamboo has an often over-rated reputation of providing a quick-growing, high yield, multi-versatile crop, and has been increasingly getting more attention as possibly further serving the needs (and greeds) of the 21st century.
Bamboo also has the potential, of being a host to pests and problems that could potentially affect other crops. No one knows for sure. And as long as the educational/institutional big-wigs continue to ignore the importance of this plant, we won't know until or if an outbreak or problem occurs.
During the last 1/4 century, the popularity, and subsequent distribution of bamboo species has increased dramatically, in the USA, as well as in many other parts of the world.
In the USA, this was partly aided due to the formation of the American Bamboo Society, or more succinctly, by individuals who became fascinated with this plant, who rediscovered long forgotten imported bamboo collections in botanical gardens and research stations, who were given free access to propagate from and distribute plants among fellow bamboo fanciers.
This led to many fanciers establishing bamboo nursery enterprises, which led to more species becoming available to the public at large.
It was a case of being in the right place at the right time for bamboo.
The popularity and extensive distribution of bamboo has continued to grow as a result of the phenomenal growth of the horticultural industry, the increased use of perennial plants in the landscape and a hungry appetite by consumers for unique and outstanding plants.
The situation nowadays (USA) ...
A high percentage of active proponents of bamboo are actively involved primarily in the beauty, diversity and landscape applications of the plant, of which only a small percentage are practitioners in the cultivation and use the bamboo as a food or craft crop. Industrial applications are for the most part, unheard of, or remain as proposals.
Back to bug issues...
Sad to say, but pest issues have been inadequately addressed, the responsibility for addressing these issues have been bestowed upon individuals (small-time growers, homeowners, artisans...), who are not really qualified, nor have easily available information and educational resources to become knowledgeable about this subject.
Bamboo organizations have relied upon donations of bamboo plants by their members, as a fundraising source. (bamboo plants in the US have provided a very high resell value) Members are often eager to oblige, as propagating divisions of runaway plants serves as a good way to control the spread of the bamboo. However, eagerness to accept the generous donations by members, combined with lack of knowledge on pest ID, or the presumption that bamboo is pest free or bearing little economic significance has lead to a more rapid spread of some bamboo pests. The introduction and spread of the Bamboo Mite into the US served as a wake up call to bamboo orgs and commercial nurseries.
In the US individuals who exchange plants with no knowledge of the pest they might carry, pose the greatest risk to the spread of plant pests/disease.
It is fortunate that the 100's of bamboo pests known worldwide are not at the present time in this country.
Thus is the reason for creating this specialized forum
-To discuss related issues, ask questions, and by collectively putting our heads together, learn as we grow with bamboo!
regards,
Mark Meckes
Bugs can be very troublesome to artisans who grows their own craft supplies.
The grower/crafter has to deal with bugs from both ends of the stick!
(The alive part and the dried part)
Too bad about bugs...
- Bugs can make your shoots taste yucky (but mama...I'm hungry!).
- Bugs infestations can weaken your crop, reduce life expectancy, resulting in premature culm death.
- Bug infestations can increase due to favorable environmental conditions suited to the bug species.
- Bug infestations can also proliferate due to plants being stressed from weather/environmental related conditions (ie drought, pollution etc)
- Bugs can diminish the quality of harvested materials, making the wood weaker, brittle, stained and discolored.... ( okay, well, some bugs do `engrave' interesting patterns on the surface of bamboo, which can have artistic merit)
- For those who harvest bamboo from other locations, bug coated leaves are a problem, making it a danger to bring the otherwise useful branches back to the home/workshop and/or infesting your grove.
- Then there's the problem of having to wash, scrub and clean the bamboo poles, to remove the (still alive) pesky critters huddled in the branch crotches and crevices on the surface of the bamboo.
- Topping it off, we then have to deal with insects, molds and fungi etc that want to make a picnic out of our dried poles and finished products!
Bug problems vary in different places, climates, countries, regions and seasons.
In the USA, nearly all the bamboo species are exotic imports.
Fortunately, due to stringent importation requirements, (and 100 years of little interest in the species) only a handful of pesky critters have managed to find their way into our groves.
However, a century of lackluster interest has resulted in minimal support or available funding for bamboo research.
Alas, bamboo related issues were never included in educational curriculum, which is why there are so few US institutionally trained professionals of bamboo-olgy.
This is a very troubling indeed! How could the academic community discount bamboo as no more then a curious oddity, when, after all, it IS a very close relative to the most vitally important, often over-utilized and relied upon plant group of all times - the grasses. (lawns, rice, wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, sugarcane, sorghum etc and bamboo).
Bamboo has an often over-rated reputation of providing a quick-growing, high yield, multi-versatile crop, and has been increasingly getting more attention as possibly further serving the needs (and greeds) of the 21st century.
Bamboo also has the potential, of being a host to pests and problems that could potentially affect other crops. No one knows for sure. And as long as the educational/institutional big-wigs continue to ignore the importance of this plant, we won't know until or if an outbreak or problem occurs.
During the last 1/4 century, the popularity, and subsequent distribution of bamboo species has increased dramatically, in the USA, as well as in many other parts of the world.
In the USA, this was partly aided due to the formation of the American Bamboo Society, or more succinctly, by individuals who became fascinated with this plant, who rediscovered long forgotten imported bamboo collections in botanical gardens and research stations, who were given free access to propagate from and distribute plants among fellow bamboo fanciers.
This led to many fanciers establishing bamboo nursery enterprises, which led to more species becoming available to the public at large.
It was a case of being in the right place at the right time for bamboo.
The popularity and extensive distribution of bamboo has continued to grow as a result of the phenomenal growth of the horticultural industry, the increased use of perennial plants in the landscape and a hungry appetite by consumers for unique and outstanding plants.
The situation nowadays (USA) ...
A high percentage of active proponents of bamboo are actively involved primarily in the beauty, diversity and landscape applications of the plant, of which only a small percentage are practitioners in the cultivation and use the bamboo as a food or craft crop. Industrial applications are for the most part, unheard of, or remain as proposals.
Back to bug issues...
Sad to say, but pest issues have been inadequately addressed, the responsibility for addressing these issues have been bestowed upon individuals (small-time growers, homeowners, artisans...), who are not really qualified, nor have easily available information and educational resources to become knowledgeable about this subject.
Bamboo organizations have relied upon donations of bamboo plants by their members, as a fundraising source. (bamboo plants in the US have provided a very high resell value) Members are often eager to oblige, as propagating divisions of runaway plants serves as a good way to control the spread of the bamboo. However, eagerness to accept the generous donations by members, combined with lack of knowledge on pest ID, or the presumption that bamboo is pest free or bearing little economic significance has lead to a more rapid spread of some bamboo pests. The introduction and spread of the Bamboo Mite into the US served as a wake up call to bamboo orgs and commercial nurseries.
In the US individuals who exchange plants with no knowledge of the pest they might carry, pose the greatest risk to the spread of plant pests/disease.
It is fortunate that the 100's of bamboo pests known worldwide are not at the present time in this country.
Thus is the reason for creating this specialized forum
-To discuss related issues, ask questions, and by collectively putting our heads together, learn as we grow with bamboo!
regards,
Mark Meckes