A windstorm at New Years blew down (as in horizontal with one completely
separated from its roots, and one still partially attached) a couple of
the new shoots of my Bambusa Multiplex Alphonse Karr, which are now
starting to leaf out. Each shoot is about 4 feet long above the break.
I'd love to find a way to get new plants from these (if possible) rather
than throwing them on the compost pile. Can anyone either provide
detailed instructions or point me to a website that has instructions for
how to propagate from culms? The ones I found left me with as many
questions as answers. Please post replies to the newsgroup. Thanks.

rus

I don't know how much luck you will have, but it would be worth a try.
Here is what I believe (and this is from an amature, so take it with a
grain of salt)

1) If there is any connection left to the rhyzome, you should cut a few
inches of the rhyzome and take the culm and rhyzome together into a new
pot... Then stake up the culm, being careful to not damage it further.
Put it in good sun outside, bringing it in if the weather gets too
windy or otherwise bad. Cut off the culm above the first 1 or 2
branches, as the roots will not be sufficient to support more leaves
than that.

2) If there is no connection to the rhyzome (or if you don't want to
cut the rhyzome on the mother plant yet) then just embed the culm in a
pot of good rich soil, staked up and cut off above the first branch.
Give it good sunlight outside and protect it from severe weather.

If you have enough to experiment, you could try using rooting
hormones... Go to a garden store and you should find a few $3 to $5
options. You dip the culm in the rooting hormone for just a few seconds
(read the directions... dipping longer is not better!) Then plant as in
#2 above.

I am not sure if the rooting hormone will be good or bad with bamboo...
It is fabulous with woody trees though.

It might also be that it is either impossible, or too late. So work
quickly for the best chance, but don't get your hopes up too high.

Good Luck!