Hi folks, I'm wondering if the bamboo plant I purchased is indeed black bamboo. I bought one that was propagated via cuttings (I think that's what you call it). I have a short piece of the culm and on the side sprouted two leaf branches. I think the method used was to cut the bamboo and plug it in the ground until it rooted. The problem is, the parent plant doesn't look black at all..it's tan and dried up with two thin branches with leaves sticking up from beside it. How can I tell if it really is a black bamboo? Thanks!
You have to be very patient! Phyllostachys nigra takes 2 to 3 years to become black .There is a good article here. See.... http://www.shweeashbamboo.com/Phyllostachys nigra.htm P.S. Welcome to these forums punkytin.
Thanks Luddite! I just planted it in the ground today..can't wait to see how beautiful it becomes! :)
I'll disagree slightly with that, as I have a juvenile division that went black over the winter. Some of these culms are barely 1/8" though, so even only being a few months old, it may have something to do with the overall size... Or I may just have yet another mutant in my collection. They seem to find me. ;-) Also, there are several species of 'black bamboo,' so unless you know which you have, you may be in for quite a surprise! You may have a runner with 1" culms, or a clumper with nearly 4" culms.
