I want to grow some "Canebrake" (Arundinaria gigantea)

[IMPERIALSANDS]

Hello all,

I just purchased a piece of property in the Pecos area of Texas. It's mostly desert shrubbery out there and I want to plant some {Arundinaria gigantea} (Canebrake) bamboo in large clumps to spruce up the landscape. Doe's anyone know what the best way to is to cultivate this species in large numbers from scratch? I'd like to plant enough bamboo to end up with about 3 acres of foilage a few years from now.

Should I find some seed and grow it in a an onsite greenhouse on site until I can transplant, or can I plant some cuttings and hope it spreads. Water is an issue out there, but water will be delivered via a large rain fed via sprinkler system. If you have a recommended site to get the plants please let me know.
Thanks a lot.

Keith
support@ftxc.com

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Keith,
I'm not sure what the limits to dryness that arundinaria gigantea can take, and here's a USDA Arundinaria gigantea distribution map (http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/plant_profile.cgi?symbol=argi) that shows it is native to Texas.
This Arundinaria gigantea subspecies tecta distribution map of Oklahoma (http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/shrub/argit8.htm), shows this species has preference to specific areas, probably near swales and waterways, not because it has to be in constantly moist conditions, but rather that it has some moisture available during the dryest of times.

With ideal conditions A. gigantea and sub species tecta are fast growers, so the best way would be to plant it where you can give it the initial care it needs, and in three years you could be propagating divisions off of these.
The best way to start is to find some growing where you can take some plant divisions, and plant them anytime(fall through spring in the south) so they have a head start for next years shooting season.
Ensuring that they do get adequate moisture especially during the shooting and leaf emergence stage, is most crucial, which happens to be when the summer heat begins to sizzle!

Available from various nurseries, but it is not as widely available.

regards,
Mark

[dreamhaunter25]

I have some growing wild behind my house here in Tennessee. There are three seperate groves running along the bank of a creek.

[Mark Meckes]

Wow! Few of us who grow bamboo in the US experience seeing native bamboo growing in a natural setting, because most of what is being planted around are introduced species.
I had planted some Arundinaria gigantea in the mountains of NE Pennsylvania in the late 80's...
If we had good snow cover, they would bend right over and survive the winter, green but tattered. Anything that stuck above the snow line was frazzled by cold or devoured by deer.
It made neew shoots in June, after most of my other bamboos had completed their shooting.
(have some pics - will need to scan and upload)

Have you seen this bamboo flowering, found, tried growing the seed, or noticed new seedlings growing amongst the canebrake?

Mark