I am looking for guidance in germinating Phyllostachys nigra. Information seems to be rather limited although I could make an educated guess. I am most interested in hearing from someone who has experience in growing this from seed.
Should be similar to any grass seed and the same for any Phyllostachys....surface sow with a slight covering of soil, warm temperatures ~20ºC, and consistently moist. No stratification required. Just like grass seed, viability is highest just after harvesting & goes down with time. Old seeds may take up to 3-6 months to germinate but fresh seed may only take 1-2 weeks. Is P. nigra going to be a houseplant for you? I've had limited success with Fargesia nitida & P. bissetii. After two consecutive years of F. nitida dying back to the ground, I've wrapped it in burlap & will do that for a few years until it's solidly established...we'll see how that goes. The P. bissetii is also a dieback perennial but I started with a #1 pot. Hopefully as it gets more established, the culms will get through the winter. Simon
Thanks for the thoughts. Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of luck with grasses for some reason that I cannot fathom. I only got 7 seeds, so hopefully my luck will change with this. Your thoughts are pretty much in line with what I had thought I might do. The idea is to plant it in a very protected place outdoors, sheltered from the wind, which seems to be my biggest problem. I was interested in your comments on Fargesia as I had heard that someone near here (I believe in the County) was having very good success with it, and experimenting with other species, and is thinking about starting a small bamboo nursery. Your idea of protecting it for a year or two until well established seems to work for a lot of things so hopefully it will for the bamboo. Thanks.
Drying winds & sun, I can control with a reasonable effort. Outright cold temperatures is harder and that's where the P. nigra will have problems. I have heard rumors of the occasional clump of bamboo in Kingston but have yet to see one. The only non-groundcover, evergreen bamboos I've seen are in Niagara plus one huge clump (10' across at the base) of F. nitida at Edwards Gardens in Toronto. That one will probably be flowering very soon. Simon
I will try anything at least once. The area I intend to put the bamboo in, at least at this moment, is probably warmer than anywhere else on my property. My house is U-shaped and it will be at the bottom of the "U", so it will be protected on three sides with hopefully some heat advantage. I have fierce winds here, and they have affected things I would never have thought would have been a problem. The Fargesia at Edwards Gardens/Toronto Botanical Garden is fairly well protected. By all accounts is doing well. It is surprising at some of the things there that have flourished there for many years. Vineland Nurseries in Beamsville (Niagara area) has (or had) many species of bamboo and some absolutely massive clumps. I was last down there about 3 or 4 years ago. The bamboos had all had a tough winter, and Jim Lounsbery wasn't sure how well they had fared. He said at the time they had never suffered so much winter damage as that previous winter. I guess the bottom line in this is that microclimates can be found, and without trying things, one will never know what is possible. I would hate to tell you how many plants I have killed trying this, but I doubt that I will stop trying any time soon.
