"Fred" wrote in message ...
Hi

I've read 2 things :
_ flowering allways weakens bamboo, sometimes enough to make it die (even
the roots !), sometimes not.
_ by cutting the flowers you can sometimes avoid its death, because the
extra energy spent to make flowers and seeds is what makes bamboo die.

I recommend you cut all the flowers and keep some seeds for security; if
your bamboo dies, it's a cheap way to get new ones.

DO NOT CUT OFF THE FLOWERS!!! If you do that the seeds will have no
chance of being viable. It is my understanding that the act of
flowering is what sucks all the energy out of the plant causing it to
die, cutting the flowers off will do nothing to diminish this.

Get some old nylons and wrap the flowers in them loosly so when the
seeds are released they are caught.

Notify Betty Shor of the flowering, she tracks these things for the
American Bamboo Society. Betty's email is

Chris