I planted my first bamboo, a 5' P. nigra, in March. The first new culm
appeared 2 weeks ago, and proceeded to stun me by growing to over 9 feet by
yesterday. Didn't expect 8 inches growth a day in this climate

Unfortunately there were high winds last night and it's snapped off the top
30 inches or so, despite it being in a fairly sheltered spot. Looking at
the broken end, it doesn't seem that surprising because it's only 1 cm thick
and no stronger than your average green shoot.

Any advice would be most welcome here...

thanks.

Not much you can do, but leave it - don't chop it right back as should
still put on leaves and help the plant increase in size next year.

I'm surprised that the wind should have been strong enough to snap it
off, as bamboo shoots have always seemed pretty resilient to me. I did
read somewhere that overfeeding bamboo can make the shoots
over-vigourous and less strong, so perhaps that might have been the
case?

Robert

----------
In article , "Smeckler"
wrote:


I planted my first bamboo, a 5' P. nigra, in March. The first new culm
appeared 2 weeks ago, and proceeded to stun me by growing to over 9 feet by
yesterday. Didn't expect 8 inches growth a day in this climate

Unfortunately there were high winds last night and it's snapped off the top
30 inches or so, despite it being in a fairly sheltered spot. Looking at
the broken end, it doesn't seem that surprising because it's only 1 cm thick
and no stronger than your average green shoot.

Any advice would be most welcome here...

thanks.

Is this the same for Black Bamboo (I am a novice so forgive me if its a
stupid question). If so what did you feed it as ours has only grown inches
in a year

Thanks

Paul
"Smeckler" wrote in message
...
I planted my first bamboo, a 5' P. nigra, in March. The first new culm
appeared 2 weeks ago, and proceeded to stun me by growing to over 9 feet
by
yesterday. Didn't expect 8 inches growth a day in this climate

Unfortunately there were high winds last night and it's snapped off the
top
30 inches or so, despite it being in a fairly sheltered spot. Looking at
the broken end, it doesn't seem that surprising because it's only 1 cm
thick
and no stronger than your average green shoot.

Any advice would be most welcome here...

thanks.

Is this the same for Black Bamboo

Phyllostachys Nigra is black bamboo.

what did you feed it as ours has only grown inches in a year

This plant can be slow to establish itself .. yours may just be taking more
time to bed itself in, especially if you planted it as a small plant. It
needs feeding and watering well, especially in the first year while it is
finding it's roots.

Best,

- h

"H" wrote in message
...
Is this the same for Black Bamboo

Phyllostachys Nigra is black bamboo.

Told you I was a novice ;-)

what did you feed it as ours has only grown inches in a year

This plant can be slow to establish itself .. yours may just be taking
more
time to bed itself in, especially if you planted it as a small plant. It
needs feeding and watering well, especially in the first year while it is
finding it's roots.

Hmm, it was 8ft when we bought it and its been in for 2 years. What do you
feed it on?

Cheers

Hmm, it was 8ft when we bought it and its been in for 2 years. What do you
feed it on?

I don't feed mine, or water it ;-)

On the other hand, I don't want it to grow very tall. It's just over 2m
tall, and that is the way I want it to stay.

I'm guessing something like miracle-grow would be a good feed for it. You
could mulch it at the base as well with manure etc.

- h

"H" wrote in message
...
Hmm, it was 8ft when we bought it and its been in for 2 years. What do
you
feed it on?

I don't feed mine, or water it ;-)

On the other hand, I don't want it to grow very tall. It's just over 2m
tall, and that is the way I want it to stay.

I'm guessing something like miracle-grow would be a good feed for it. You
could mulch it at the base as well with manure etc.

- h



I feed my Phyllostachys Nigra on miracle-grow and boy oh boy it is a miracle
how fast it does grow. Mine took a year to settle before it did anything
though.
Steve


--
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Product tests, reviews and Legal Advice.
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"Robert Davies" wrote in message
...
Not much you can do, but leave it - don't chop it right back as should
still put on leaves and help the plant increase in size next year.

I'm surprised that the wind should have been strong enough to snap it
off, as bamboo shoots have always seemed pretty resilient to me. I did
read somewhere that overfeeding bamboo can make the shoots
over-vigourous and less strong, so perhaps that might have been the
case?

I planted my first bamboo, a 5' P. nigra, in March. The first new culm
appeared 2 weeks ago, and proceeded to stun me by growing to over 9 feet
by
yesterday. Didn't expect 8 inches growth a day in this climate

Unfortunately there were high winds last night and it's snapped off the
top
30 inches or so, despite it being in a fairly sheltered spot. Looking
at
the broken end, it doesn't seem that surprising because it's only 1 cm
thick
and no stronger than your average green shoot.

Thanks Robert,

Possibly it is a bit overfed like you say. I dug a huge hole for it when I
put it in and filled it with decent compost and a little sand. I've also
been using a soluble fertiliser when I water it. It's diluted to about a
quarter strength, but on the other hand I have been watering it a lot!

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:150305


"Steve Warren @ The UK Speedtrap Guide" wrote
in message ...
"H" wrote in message
...
Hmm, it was 8ft when we bought it and its been in for 2 years. What do
you
feed it on?

I don't feed mine, or water it ;-)

On the other hand, I don't want it to grow very tall. It's just over 2m
tall, and that is the way I want it to stay.

I'm guessing something like miracle-grow would be a good feed for it.
You
could mulch it at the base as well with manure etc.

- h



I feed my Phyllostachys Nigra on miracle-grow and boy oh boy it is a
miracle
how fast it does grow. Mine took a year to settle before it did anything
though.
Steve


--
For the most up to date information on police SpeedTrap equipment in the
UK.
Product tests, reviews and Legal Advice.
"The UK SpeedTrap Guide"
http://www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk
"Weather Page"
http://www.btinternet.com/~swarren/



Same here ... I feed my philly nigra miracle grow along with the rest of the
garden during growing season about once every 2-4 weeks (remembering when to
feed is a prob!) and water when it's dry.
I've got quite a few new shoots about 2m tall this year (last year they
(I've 2 climps) only put out 1 or 2 weedy looking shoots).
Mind you the thing I did differently this year was that I 'lifted' the
foliage for about a foot at the base of each clump late March-early April so
as to show off the black canes better. Any small black canes under a foot I
cut down to the base!
L

On Thu, 19 Jun 2003 09:08:28 +0100, "Smeckler"
wrote:

Unfortunately there were high winds last night and it's snapped off the top
30 inches or so, despite it being in a fairly sheltered spot. Looking at
the broken end, it doesn't seem that surprising because it's only 1 cm thick
and no stronger than your average green shoot.

My bamboo is 9 - 10 ft high and has been waving about like mad in
recent winds. No signs of it snapping. Bad luck. It won't look so
good for a while but will recover once established.

Pam in Bristol

On Thu, 19 Jun 2003 16:45:11 +0100, Smeckler wrote:

...I dug a huge hole for it when I
put it in and filled it with decent compost and a little sand. I've also
been using a soluble fertiliser when I water it. It's diluted to about a
quarter strength, but on the other hand I have been watering it a lot!

If I were in your shoes, next spring I'd dig the thing up, take
away all that compost and sand, and replant it in unamended soil.
You can distributed the compost-and-sand over the surface of your
beds, if you want, or use it to topdress your lawn.

When you plant something in a "pocket" of special soil, you run
the risk that the plant will be unable to get its roots out of
the good stuff and into the crap surrounding it.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

In article ,
(Avis Merrihead) wrote:

Hmm, it was 8ft when we bought it and its been in for 2 years.

Your existing culms will not grow much if at all. What SHOULD happen
around now is new culms will come out of the ground at high speed and
will probably dwarf the existing ones within a month. Then they stop.

If that doesn't happen, it could be that some growing condition is
wrong.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com