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Old 24-10-2008, 11:06 PM
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Default advice on these bamboo Moso, Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, etc.

Hi. I recently bought and have begun to germinate various bamboo seeds. They a
Bambusa textilis - Weavers bamboo
Himalayacalamus falconeri
Dendrocalamus membranaceus
Bambusa lako - Timor black bamboo
Dendrocalamus strictus
Phyllostachys pubescens - Moso

The Moso was the first I planted and they have since germinated and I have three new seedlings. I am finding it very hard to find info on growing these bamboo in this part of the world. I am in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. I have just planted the other seeds so we will see how we get on. I am looking for advice from anyone who has grown these bamboo in the British Isles? Any help would be appreciated.
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Old 27-10-2008, 11:41 AM
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Hi. I recently bought and have begun to germinate various bamboo seeds. They a
Bambusa textilis - Weavers bamboo
Himalayacalamus falconeri
Dendrocalamus membranaceus
Bambusa lako - Timor black bamboo
Dendrocalamus strictus
Phyllostachys pubescens - Moso

The Moso was the first I planted and they have since germinated and I have three new seedlings. I am finding it very hard to find info on growing these bamboo in this part of the world. I am in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. I have just planted the other seeds so we will see how we get on. I am looking for advice from anyone who has grown these bamboo in the British Isles? Any help would be appreciated.
Moso will probably survive where you are, but won't do very well. It needs a hot and humid summer to do well. People don't bother with it in Britain because it is disappointing, even in the most favourable locations. No one respectable sells it for this reason.

My impression is that B textilis doesn't even survive in Britain. No one reputable sells it. ABS ( http://www.americanbamboo.org/Specie...blesIndex.html ) quotes a minimum temp of -8, so maybe it will survive but not do very well. Or else maybe it needs a hot summer and dry winter to survive low temperatures. (Eg, Date palms survive can survive quite harsh frosts in Tunisia, but not Britain.)

ABS quotes a minimum temp for H falconeri as -9C, but people in Britain generally think it is hardy only to about -4C or -5C, again because it would like a warmer summer and longer growing season than we can give it. It is not noted as doing very well outside favourable micro-climates in coastal Cornwall and Devon, and one or two other places. But check what Pan-Global Plants have to say when their website comes back up. Might be ok for you, but I suspect you are on the margin and it could depend on your precise location.

I think the other ones are about as suitable for Galway as mangoes and pineapples.
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Old 31-10-2008, 06:08 PM
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Moso will probably survive where you are, but won't do very well. It needs a hot and humid summer to do well. People don't bother with it in Britain because it is disappointing, even in the most favourable locations. No one respectable sells it for this reason.

My impression is that B textilis doesn't even survive in Britain. No one reputable sells it. ABS ( http://www.americanbamboo.org/Specie...blesIndex.html ) quotes a minimum temp of -8, so maybe it will survive but not do very well. Or else maybe it needs a hot summer and dry winter to survive low temperatures. (Eg, Date palms survive can survive quite harsh frosts in Tunisia, but not Britain.)

ABS quotes a minimum temp for H falconeri as -9C, but people in Britain generally think it is hardy only to about -4C or -5C, again because it would like a warmer summer and longer growing season than we can give it. It is not noted as doing very well outside favourable micro-climates in coastal Cornwall and Devon, and one or two other places. But check what Pan-Global Plants have to say when their website comes back up. Might be ok for you, but I suspect you are on the margin and it could depend on your precise location.

I think the other ones are about as suitable for Galway as mangoes and pineapples.
i personally think you're being a little pesemistic
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Old 03-11-2008, 12:02 PM
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i personally think you're being a little pesemistic
OK, perhaps I should have said avocados and persimmons rather than mangoes and pineapples.

Of those 6 species, I think that the only one that bamboo connoisseurs in the British Isles grow is H falconeri. It does well in suitable spots by the coast in the far SW, and struggles most other places.

Do you have any different evidence?
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Old 07-11-2008, 11:37 AM
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i personally think you're being a little pesemistic
Thanks for the advice. Seems I will not get to far with most of the bamboos I have. But I will plant them outside in the spring and see how they are getting on anyway. You never know what might work until you try. In the mean time I will look elsewhere for some bamboo plants to use outside that will be more suitable for the climate I am in. Thanks.


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Old 17-03-2011, 08:02 PM
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Thanks for the advice. Seems I will not get to far with most of the bamboos I have. But I will plant them outside in the spring and see how they are getting on anyway. You never know what might work until you try. In the mean time I will look elsewhere for some bamboo plants to use outside that will be more suitable for the climate I am in. Thanks.
Hi, just an update on what worked. It's two and a half years later and the Moso is the only successful plant I managed to grow from the seeds. The falconari did not germinate, along with all the others except the Bambusa textilis and the Moso. The bambusa died in the first winter, but the Moso is doing pretty well. I have two different seedlings and one is about twice as vigorous as the other. They are two years old now and I plan to plant them in the ground this summer. They have been in pots up till now. I am really looking forward to seeing how they do as the bigger of the two is already looking impressive. The severe winter we just had was not a problem for them. They still have their leaves, although they are looking a bit tired. I have a sheltered sunny sight for them so fingers crossed.
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Old 18-03-2011, 11:13 AM
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Hi, just an update on what worked. It's two and a half years later and the Moso is the only successful plant I managed to grow from the seeds. The falconari did not germinate, along with all the others except the Bambusa textilis and the Moso. The bambusa died in the first winter, but the Moso is doing pretty well.
Good of you to report this. Shame the falconeri did not germinate, to be honest it was the only other one worth trying. Be interested to hear if you are getting fat culms on your moso as it matures in a few years time.

The last couple of winters have been an interesting test of what is really suitable for growing in our islands! Even our supposedly super-mild SW has discovered that they can have ice and snow like the rest of us. Many of us have lost a lot of marginal plants, and been surprised at the resilience of others. Even some common garden plants like Cordylines have suffered widespread decimation, though many will come back from the roots. Most of my bamboos are super-hardy, the only one that isn't is Thamnocalamus crassinodus, and that is looking rather tatty after the winter. A few of last year's culms have been lost or shortened, but I'm pretty sure most of it is alive, though it will be a while yet before it refoliates and regains its elegant appearance.
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Old 30-03-2011, 05:29 PM
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Originally Posted by ninak View Post
Thanks for the advice. Seems I will not get to far with most of the bamboos I have. But I will plant them outside in the spring and see how they are getting on anyway. You never know what might work until you try. In the mean time I will look elsewhere for some bamboo plants to use outside that will be more suitable for the climate I am in. Thanks.
See...this should be the right attitude. If you never tried it in the first place, you never would have known that it could survive in your place. I think that if we always give up without even trying what works, we'll never know. So now you may have known that what you did is the right decision too.
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