Hello,

Last year I was given 6 bamboo plants (don`t ask me what variety as i haven't a clue). They range was about 3 metres high with yellow canes to ones that are about a metre high with large bush leaves.

This year I have re-potted them into 28inch Diameter Oak Barrels and i must say they look very impressive.

4 of them I have re-potted in a multi purpose compost and they are shooting well this week alone I have 7 new shoots appear on one of the plants.

Yesterday I have re-potted the final one but I used a peat free compost which i`ve never used before - seems very fine. my question is will the bamboo be ok plant in peat free compost?

Also over the past month on some of the bamboo the leaves are starting to go brown, I have read this is a natural thing where by the leaves die off ready for new leaf growth?

Since the re-potting I am feeding with a high Nitrogen feed to support leave and root growth in the spring months.

Any advice would be great.
Thank you

Coops

Bamboo will not be happy for a long time in pure compost. It needs some minerals which are found in sand and most kinds of soil. So you should mix some sand or garden soil with the compost. You can also buy special bamboo food with the necessary minerals if you want to grow in a sterile medium, but some sand or soil is much cheaper.

Yes, bamboo does shed its leaves in the spring prior to replacing the leaves, if the leaves survived the winter. But be careful, browning could also be waterlogging or drought.

Bamboo needs a lot of water so you will have to water regularly growing in containers. Not all kinds are happy for long in containers unless they are huge. The less happy kinds you may have to split the plant from time to time when repotting it once it fills the container, a job which can require machine tools.