My Mom has had this growing in her yard for years. I wanted to transplant some and was looking for some information on black bamboo. All I could find was the variety that grows 30 to 40 feet. My Mom's black bamboo hardly grows to 3 feet and the bamboo gets to be about 1/4 inch at the most. Anyone have any information on this varitey? Thanks in advance.
Height influenced by cultural conditions and age of planting. Portion on the left in this view looks like the same Phylostachys nigra you have been reading about.
I'm sorry I don't understand "cultural conditions". Would you elaborate? So the this bamboo has the potential of growing 30 to 40 feet? I hope it stays miniature. LoL Thanks for your response.
What Ron means is that the size of the clumps and the thickness of the culms (i.e. the "canes") depend on the conditions in which the bamboo is grown. A bamboo is a grass. Just like the grass in your lawn, if it gets lots of sun, is fertilised optimally, receives consistent water, it will grow luxuriantly. Allowed to dry out intermittently, grown in the shade, starved of nutrients, the grass will be stunted. Bamboo is basically a grass. Therefore, it's growth and maturation depends on how it is grown. It needs: 1. Lot's of sun 2. Lot's of room to grow 3. A good fertilising program 4. Consistent watering. Basically, the bamboo will only start to throw up the larger and taller canes when there is a sufficient root and rhizome mass to support such growth. In order to achieve this, you need all 4 of the above. On the other hand, most P nigra will throw up shoots bigger than the specimen at your mom's after a few years' growth, no matter how poor the growing condition. Not all bamboos with black culms are the classic "Black Bamboo" (Phyllostachys nigra). You might consider posting more pictures, especially showing the sheaths, the shoots (if possible) and the nodes to help other people identify the variety.
Thank you very much for your reply. That helped to clarify "cultural conditions". While it is true that the bamboo growing in my Mom's yard is not really well cared for, I think you may be right about it not being the classic "Black Bamboo". It doesn't appear that I can post more pictures in a reply and that I will have to start a new thread. I have a couple of pictures that I took today that show what I think you are asking for.
There shouldn't be a problem with posting images if you use the Post Reply button. If you are using the Quick Reply area at the bottom, you need to click "Go Advanced" to get the image attachment options.
Thank you for your reply. Being a "newbie" on this site I appreciate the help. This is a very fine web sit. People are very helpful. I decided to hold off on posting the pictures until I can get better one. I plan to go to my Mom's tomorrow and take pictures of her "bamboo patch" that will hopefully show the entire environment this patch is growing in. I will also include pictures that Weekend Gardener asked me to include. Cheers!
Here are a couple of pictures of the "black bamboo" from my Mom's yard. The first one shows part of the area the bamboo patch. There is a yard stick at the left of the photo to show the size of the canes. The second picture is a close up of one clump. I forgot to put a quarter in the picture to show relative size. The third picture is one I transplanted that has a quarter in to show relative size. I hope this helps in the identification of bamboo.
For a clump of Phyllostachys nigra that size, I really expect to see a few taller culms than is shown in your picture. I notice that sheaths are still attached in the culm in the middle picture, but the cane is already almost black in colour. How old is that particular shoot? Phyllostachys nigra's culms typically take at least a full summer of sun exposure to turn that black, having started off with a green colour. By the time the cane turns black, the sheath would usually have dropped off. And yet it looks like a Phyllostachys.
I have no idea how old that particular shoot is and I would not venture a guess for fear of misleading you. I have only of late been interested in clutivating the bamboo at our house hence the interest in identifying the bamboo. Thank you for your attention to my question. Cheers.
