I think it is a variety of F. nitida after all... I spoke to an expert
today about it and he said that in fact some F. nitida can get quite
dark. Also, they are known to be flowering around the world now.

As far as seed, it will probably be August or September. Bamboos have
relatively low germanation rates, so it is important to let them get as
fertile as possible. The best way to do this is to wait until you can
shake them off the culms... Put a tarp below the plant in august or so
to catch the seeds. It may be late September or even a little later
before they shake easily off the culm. But if you wait, you will have
better luck when it comes time to plant them.

Once gathered, they should be kept dry and just above freezing until
ready to plant. If you have a really nice greenhouse (i.e. on the level
of a pro), you can plant them pretty early... January even. But if not,
you might have to wait until April or even May of the following year.
They are going to need warmth (which a seedling mat can help with if
you want to invest in one) and sunlight.

I have never grown F. nitida, but with other bamboos, I have had the
best success by following these steps:

1. Soak the seeds for 24 hours in warm water... About 32 degrees C.
(Put a large jar of water on a weak coffee warmer and check the temp...
For me it held it just right.)

2. Plant in peat pellets in a seedling tray with a clear dome lid.
Again, it will cost about 15-20 pounds for a seedling warming mat, but
this will really help. (and can be used again and again, or given to a
gardening friend when done)

FYI, I have tried germinating in sand, seedling mix soil, peat pellets,
and rock wool. Nothing came close to the peat pellets for success rate
both during germination and at transplant time.

3. Once they get a couple of good leaves, transplant to 1 liter or so
plastic containers. The ones I left in the pellets (or soil or rock
wool, etc,) really grew slowly right from the first few weeks. But
those that I transplanted early really took off.

Or, you can always sell your seeds on eBay. They go for quite a price
due to being very rare.

Cheers!


Mr Whippy wrote:
HumanJHawkins Wrote:

Hmmm... F. nitida doesn't get black like that. But Ph. nigra doesn't
either. It is clearly a bamboo that I have no experience with. There
are some tropical bamboos that get black. Perhaps it is one of them.

Do you have cold winters? If so, how does it handle them?

Winter temps here in the UK may go as low as -10 celcius but rarely and
only for short spells. The temp in Jan is probably between - 3 and +4
deg C most of the time.

Because I assumed it was P. Nigra when I bought it I did a litle
reading up and it said - does best in full sun, so I planted it in one
of the sunniest parts of my garden. In the middle of summer it will
probably get 9 hours of direct sun per day.

It seems from what I have read that the nitidia normally prefers some
shade and I found this page - http://tinyurl.com/n4atx
that shows the nitida flower (very similar to mine, maybe more open but
very similar colouring) It also says "When grown where the sun can reach
the culms, they turn an attractive purplish color."

Some of the photos on that site show dark coloured culms - especially
the photos of the new seedlings.

Maybe that is it then ....... ? What do you think ?

Another question - It has just started to show it's flowers in the last
2 weeks, there are obviously more still to emerge, but roughly how long
will it be before I can start to consider collecting some seeds ? Weeks
? Months ?

Do you have any idea of the chances of survival of the parent (assuming
it is F. nitidia that is ?)

I appreciate the help & advice - I'm building my bamboo brain !
If you want some seeds leave me your address and I'll mail them to
you.

Cheers - Dave.
- loose the bamboo.


--
Mr Whippy