In article , bouzouki
wrote:

Al wrote:
I live in Southern California. My neighbor has had a "forest" of giant,
clumping bamboo growing in his yard for about 30 years. He is now
re-landscaping his yard and getting rid of the beautiful bamboo. I've
already got some of his "clumps" in my yard that I hope will grow strong.



In any case, I now have a large number of cut bamboo poles from 1.5" to
more
than 5" across and 40'+ long.



I have a number of future uses for these but I need to find the best way to
dry.

I also am no expert, as has been pointed out to me on other occasions,
but I will still chip in my two cents worth. As Mike said, good air
circulation is a must. If possible I always try to place fresh cut
bamboo in the direct sunlight for several weeks. I also find that it
seems to dry more quickly and evenly placed vertically. However never
let the ends touch dirt.

Number two... When I lived in Japan, I noticed that they often treat
fresh bamboo with fire to bring out the resins and and harden it. If
you run a torch over the stalk the resin will come to the surface and
you can rub it back in. The heat pushes out moisture and the resin
hardens the surface.

EMS