propagating bamboo

Jan / meadowyck said in http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1204031/ Post #8730365
>> I would like to try and propagate some bamboo.

My suggestion is "dig up a clump, the bigger the better"!

Young shoots (first year) might do better.
Do it in spring before the shoots shoot up.
Trim off many leaves and shorten any culms or it might dry out too fast.
You don't have to plant it very deep.
They like mulch.
It will take 3-5 years to get very big.

Here's a good sketch: http://www.bamboo.org/images/DividingBamboo.GIF

and a FAQ on transplanting: http://www.bamboo.org/FAQ.html#HowDoITransplantBamboo

American Bamboo Society: http://www.americanbamboo.org/About.html


That's the fastest and much the easiest way. Everything other than "root division" or "clump of rhizomes division" is harder and slower, all the way up to tissue culture in a sterile laboratory!

1.
Here is the most info I found online: around 16 pages! but they describe many methods.
http://www.inbar.int/publication/txt/tr05/a5-2.htm
• Clump division - offsets, rhizom, < - - This sounds good to me!
• Whole culm cutting,
• Layering,
• Culm-segment cutting,
• Branch cutting and
• Macroproliferation.

That came from the "Information & learning" tab on this Home page:
http://www.inbar.int/

They also said:
Q: Are there proven propagation techniques for bamboo?
A: A good overview of various propagation methods, i.e., offset, rhizome, culm and branch cutting, layering, and macroproliferation methods is provided in the INBAR publication: A Manual for Vegetative Propagation of Bamboos, 1995, by Ratan Lal Banik. The publication can be ordered from INBAR. INBAR affiliates can download the publication free of charge.


2.
There is a "Grass and Bamboo" forum, but you would have to hunt for a long time to find organized general propagation advice there.
Or you could post specific questions there.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/gab/all/

3.
There is a "rooting bamboo" thread in this DG forum:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/23409/
Here is what I thought was the best advice from that thread, with links, all from hcmcdole:

hcmcdole said:

A small division with some roots is very effective. If you get a division with a big emerging culm, the culm will usually blacken and die but new shoots will eventually emerge. DO keep it contained if it is running bamboo.

I would do division on a clumping bamboo as well since the success is probably close to 100%.

http://www.ehow.com/how_172782_propagate-bamboo.html

Here are some vegetative methods. Sounds like the success falls off quite a bit (50% in one of the links or less).

http://www.gator-ventures.com/bamboo/bamboo-propagation/root...

http://www.gator-ventures.com/bamboo/bamboo-propagation/bamb...

http://tilz.tearfund.org/Publications/Footsteps 21-30/Footst...


Corey


This message was edited Aug 1, 2011 8:14 PM

Wow, Corey! You are a wealth of information. Good job!

>> You are a wealth of information.

Thank you, but more like a "sink" of information. I can FIND it, but how much sticks to my brain?
With the bamnboo, I was hoping more people would chime in to confirm or deny some of the stuff in some of those links. Some of them sounding comemrcia or high volume or 'for the very experienced farmer'.

That book on propagation that you gifted to me is a REAL wealth of information.

And (off topic), those Lobelia that you sent me have finally come into their own. A few have formed clusters up to 2 inches accross in beautiful blues!

Corey