View Single Post
  #4   Report Post  
Old 31-08-2010, 12:01 AM posted to rec.gardens.bamboo
RiverMan RiverMan is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Aug 2010
Posts: 8
Default Hello fellow bamboo lovers! I have a question about my bamboo patch

On Aug 30, 3:27*pm, beecrofter wrote:
On Aug 30, 4:22*pm, beecrofter wrote:



Bamboo puts up many more shoots than it can bring to full size with
the available food and energy and it aborts the excess.
Seeing the aborted shoots alarms many new bamboo growers but step back
and I bet you have had just as many shoots make it to full height ,you
just never paid this close of attention before.
This late in the season I don't think I would fertillize but anywhere
you can add organic material- leaves -gass clippings- wood chips-crop
wastes-etc
*would add strength; also a light dressing of wood ashes will provide
nutrients. Avoid adding nitrogen at his time as it will affect winter
hardyness.
A source of nitrogen such as a good dressing of manure come late
winter through spring will strengthen your grove as well.
There should be no reason why you can't take a good tenth of what is
standing every year if the soil is good.


Tom


If there are reserves of nutrients in the soil I don't see any reason
why you could not remove 10% of the poles annually


I see that you are in Alabama, my grove is in Connecticut , *you may
be able to fertillize with a source of nitrogen far later in the year
than I can here.


Thanks so much for the tips. I had never thought before about boring
insects or fungus. I always thought bamboo was almost unstoppable. It
has spread from an area of about 20' by 40' to well over 75' by 120'
since I was a child in the early 1970's. Of course it was also very
dense back then. So dense in fact that you could hardly walk through
it. Now it's wide open. We are in the process of cleaning out all the
dead and fallen poles now too.

I may invest in some lawn fertilizer and give it a light sprinkle this
week. We get a lot of rain here (around 60" a year) so it should
dilute quickly.

Thanks again for your tips. I'll try to find some composted cow dung
and we have plenty of wood ash from roasting the bamboo poles for
didge making.

-=] RiverMan [=-