puiu wrote:
Hi,
I have a large quantity of fresh MOSO seeds , and I want to trade some
of them with other cold resistant phyllostachys or other bamboo
species,
Please mail me!
Regards , P.G

puiu,

You don't say where you are located so it makes it difficult for anyone
to know if they will be able to trade plants for your seeds. If you are
not in the USA, then no-one in the USA will be able to (easily) trade
with you as bamboo and bamboo seeds must be brought in to this country
through a quarantine greenhouse and spend a year in the greenhouse with
inspections by our federal Ag department to make sure it does not bring
any diseases with it into this country. Being a grass, it might harbor
a disease that could spread to other grasses like corn, wheat, oats,
etc. and ruin a multi-billion dollar crop. Thus the import
restrictions. There are only about 5 or 6 quarantine greenhouses in the
USA that can legally import bamboo seed and plants, because they have
applied for and been granted a permit from the USDA. If one bamboo in a
quarantine greenhouse is found to be diseased, then the entire contents
of the greenhouse are destroyed!

This is in distinct contrast to Europe where there are no restrictions
on bamboo imports, and no serious consequences coming from many years of
imports from all over the world.

As for the seeding behavior of Moso (Phyllostachys heterocycla pubescens
- aka P. edulis), seed is generally available from somewhere in the
world on a regular basis. It is one of the few (or maybe only) bamboo
where this is the case. Apparently there are a lot of clones and one
clone or another is likely to be setting seed every year.

Growing bamboo from seeds is fun if you can get seeds. And the
possibility of a new cultivar is always intriguing, although the chances
of finding one worth having are very small. Most bamboo seed do have
a short shelf life, in the range of a few months to perhaps a year. I
think Moso seed viability is probably in this range.

Regards,

Bob Johannessen