bamboo not looking too good?
 

hi.
my black bamboo is in a pot container on my patio,over the winter the leaves have died and there does not look like there is any life left in it.,
could this bamboo be revived in the spring?
thanks

Are you sure that what you have is Phyllostachys nigra (proper black bamboo), or might it be Fargesia nitida (often sold by the unscrupulous/ignorant as black bamboo)? F nitida has been flowering recently, and usually dies as a consequence. Have a look to see if it has any grass-type flower/seed structures on it. How can you tell which you have: P. nigra sends up culms which are initially green but slowly turn shiny black over the course of a year or so, whereas F. nitida sends up dark grey culms which are not, or only briefly, green. P nigra has only two branches at each node on the culm(though one may have a sub-branch very close, so it can look like 3), whereas F. nitida typically has many branches at each node on the clum.

If after that you are sure that you have P. nigra, perhaps you can tell us
(1) where you live, what minimum temperatures it has experienced, what frost/rainfall has it had the past few months
(2) how big is the bamboo and how big is the pot
(3) how many years have you had the bamboo in the pot
(4) when did you last repot it or divide it (if ever)
(5) what watering/feeding have you been doing

many thanks for getting back to me, i live in the uk, east yks,been a bit cold of late.the bamboo is in a large pot,it stands around 5ft tall.it is definetely nigra. watered occasionally, any ideas.
thanks

It won't have frozen to death in E Yorkshire.

That leaves 4 possibilities:
drought
drowning
starved
alive but defoliated

Drought: Sounds odd in winter, but in a pot, if it gets frozen over an extended period, they can die of drought. But given the weather we have had this winter that sounds unlikely, even with the recent frosts - only a few days.

Drown: if the bottom of the pot is blocked (or it isn't drained) and it got full up of water for a period, it would drown.

Starved: They do need management when grown in pots, as they are hungry plants. If you bought it from a garden centre, it may need putting into a larger pot as soon as you get it, as it may be sold in too small a pot to carry on growing. In a correct sized pot, what happens is that over a few years, as few as 2 years if you feed it well, the roots fill the pot and take up all the nutrients. They then have to be either repotted into a (yet) larger pot, or else divided (typically into 2, may require saw or axe to achive) and put back into separate pots with fresh material. A good time to do this would be spring, eg April/May, not now. Autumn also possible.

Alive: It may just have decided to defoliate given the recent wind and cold. If the roots look good, just cross your fingers it will push out new leaves in the spring.

many thanks for your help,hopefully it will come back to life in the spring,