What species of Bamboo do you have?

Hi All,

Having a private conversation with someone on the Forum led me to ask the following question:

What species of Bamboo do you have?

I will start:

Borinda macleuriana
Chusquea gigantea
Fargesia nitida
F. rufa
F. scabrida
Pleioblastus pygmaea
Phyllostachus auriocaulis auriosulcata
P bambusiodes holochrysa
P nigra
P vivax auriocalus
Qionzhuea tumissidinoda
Semiarundinaria fastuosa

And my garden isn't that big.....

 

Wow that is an impressive bamboo collection.
must have about 7 different bamboo , but can`t really remember the name.
my favourite is still the buddha belly , shame need warm.

 

Dwarf fargesia rufa and Phyllostachys nigra
Just been looking to add to my collect and found these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fargesia-...arden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item4abb349c35
Any one tried growing bamboo from seed?

 

Just 3 for me:-

Phyllostachys aurea.
Pseudosasa japonica

And another I cannot remember the name.

 

Mogley , bamboo from seed are pretty easy but not a great germinate rate , 3 seeds are not enough really .
http://www.panglobalplants.com/plants-for-sale/?table=bamboo&the_page=1
I would look around and try to find a plant.

 

Yup, I agree with Sal,
From my experience, even with fresh seed, I usually get about 50% germination. Often less.

Panglobal don't do mail order, but this nursery does:
http://www.junglegiants.co.uk/acatalog/Borinda.html

 

Slow to maturity too I think?

 

The other thing that worries me about this is as follows:
This bamboo is very new to cultivation. And bearing in mind that bamboo setting seed is very cyclical - in decades.
There have been only 2 collectors who have brought this plant back from Tibet.
So where did he get the seeds from?

 

At least 3+ years, if not more until you get a decent sized plant.

 

Yup, that was my thinking too. Probably 3 years, maybe 4 or even 5, more than if you bought a decent sized plant (say a 20L pot)

 

Mmm think will give that a miss then! Have patience but not that much!

 

I think that's the main reason Bamboo plants are expensive - they need (say) 5 years to be at the jumping-off point of producing decent sized culms - so if you pay the price for a 20L+ plant then one year later-(ish!!) you start getting "adult" culms of significant size.

 

Thanks Kristen - always wondered how bamboo can be invasive and expensive

Just one for me, after 4 years of looking ! Dwarf fargesia rufa like Mowgleys. Only £5 from B n Q. I t looks really good by the pebble fountain , especially at night

 

Not all bamboo are invasive. Even the ones that spread are generally well behaved.

The thing with bamboo is that actually, all the "action" is under ground. The new culms come from the rhizomes. So if the rhizomes are doing well, you wll get decent sized culms.

 

The most aggressive bamboo I`ve got it`s fargesia rufa (i think ) they have a really thin roots system , I keep all my bamboo in sinked pot and that managed to get over the pot and start to grow all over, I actually giving plants away if anyone wants any .