hi all, i have a larger bamboo, about nine feet, but i received it in a ten gallon pot, which is quite deep, two feet. it's receiving sun, part sun and shade throughout the day, southwest, not too hot in the day yet. i'm wondering why i'm not seeing any new growth. should i get it into the ground in a nice wide bed asap, notwithstanding it will get less sun in that location? however in that location it will receive a couple of hours of intense afternoon sun, starting in july. i haven't fed it anything, got it in april, just a shot of miracle grow. soil is most but not wet. watered around the edge of the plant maybe three times since april. it's a tall plant but the canes are mostly small and mottled vs. black. any ideas? just wondering if i'm choosing the wrong location for a bed, west. maybe i should put it in a shadier area and just let it dry out, plant it in the fall... every leaf edge has burn on it... thanks for any insight. colette
It's been a cool spring, and my bamboos haven't started growing either. Give it a couple of weeks of warm weather... Since bamboos are grasses, they do well with lawn fertilizer. They also like full sun.
Lots of fertilizer and watering for good growth of bamboos, unless the soil is already fertile and the summer climate wet.
Probably going to shoot soon; all mine were behind this season, but the earlier ones have been shooting for a couple of weeks now, amongst these the black varieties (nigra and nigra punctuata) If it was a fairly recent division, might not shoot at all this year. Main things to watch for are signs of drought stress and mites: drought is evident when the leaves curl in from the margins (dry soil of course the first sign)...mulch the pot with wood chips to help with this. As long as it's looking healthy, it'll shoot when it's ready. Above all, don't overwater. Don't sweat the burnt edges: prior to the emergence of new leaves (should be evident at the branch ends now), bamboo looks pretty thrashed from winter damage to the leaves. It'll freshen up. Regarding shade vs. Sun: black bamboo typically likes full sun around here, but tolerates some shade...My N. Punctuata grove is located in a shady spot with @ 3hrs of sun/day (as an experiment in shade tolerance), and it's thriving. Full shade is better suited to most of the clumping varieties, and some Sasas.
"trashed" is just the word i had in mind. i feel a lot better now. think i'll drop it into a larger pot so it can spread out a little and leave it where it is, give it some lawn fertilizer. i'll move it into the shade once it's established in the 15 gallon pot. plan to slice the pot open and use it as a barrier once i move it to its final location. thanks again!
hi treenut, just a note to tell you i did plant the bamboo in a full sun location and it immediately started to to send shoots, five in fact, and i'm getting leaves on all the culms. just wondering, i've read winter will top kill the plant so one has to cut back the culms in the spring, which only blacken in the third year. i'm on gabriola island and i get some wet windy weather in my yard. how would you suggest i protect it in the winter? i planted it in a large deep hole so it can run and spread out from underneath it. btw, when i took it out of the pot i could almost hear it breathe a sigh of relief. thanks :)
