Help with Bamboo

Hi everyone….. Had this bamboo about 4 years now growing in this pot it’s lost lots of leaves and doesn’t look so happy this year.
Any advice please, should I prune it? Re-pot it hellllllppppp. I’m in the eastern part of the UK

 

I'd refresh the compost maybe switch to JI3, prune out the thinnest canes and any dead ones.
Most bamboos are not particularly happy in pots.

 

Thanks Nigel for your response. I’ve heard if they’re planted in the garden they can send out roots and shoot up all over the garden in time, is this correct do you know? Otherwise I was thinking of finding a new home in the garden border for it

 

Yes they can and I would say be careful in your choice as some are a lot worse than others. I grow Phyllostachys nigra (Black bamboo) that is fairly restrained after some 15 years it's about 1.5 m across, on one side is a grass path and shoots get mown off, on the other sides a sharp spade helps remove any shoots I don't want. I had Fargesia nitidia until it flowered and that was also well behaved.
Do you know the species/variety you have.
You can also buy bamboo root restriction membrane.

 

We have many bamboos and yes some of them can take over. 2 of them have over the years flowered and then died (we have been using the canes in the garden). Recently we have noticed more new shoots nowhere near the parent plants. We did put membranes down but they have gone underneath under paving slabs and come up in the borders. We continue to be vigilant and cut back any new growths that shouldn't be where they are!

 

Your bamboo will certainly be happier in the ground if you have space @xxxDawnxxx, or a wider pot as they need space to grow outwards rather than downwards. A few handfuls of Blood Fish and Bone will also help it as it will be producing new culms or canes at this time of year. If you know the variety, this will help with specific advice.

 

Looks like a fargesia...maybe one of the nitida types, black pearl maybe. The new growth looks ok but leaf drop could be wind burn/too wet/to dry, hard to tell when in a pot. More photos could help. In the meantime, a top dressing with chicken pellets, BFB and/or grass clippings will give it a boost

 

Unfortunately I don’t know what variety it is I just picked up from the garden centre.

 

I did try the leafsnap app on it it came up as golden bamboo but think that’s just cos half of may be looking golden cos it’s dying?!

 

If it's any comfort, mine doesn't look a lot better than that. Normally by now, new leaves and shoots are emerging, but nothing so far.

 

I'm not certain, but I think it might be a young Phyllostachys nigra @xxxDawnxxx, with its mixed yellow and dark canes. The colour changes as the canes age. Fargesias tend to hold on to collars or sheaths of leaf like material around their young canes which yours isn't doing. If you follow @NigelJ's advice, removing the thinnest and dead canes at the base, this will encourage the plant to produced new canes. It will normally do that for a six week period from late April in the UK. Repotting with some fresh compost will also give it a boost. Don't be too worried, it's not dead, it just needs a bit of TLC !

 

thank you @Plantminded ill get on it straight away try n give it a glow up I’ll do what @NigelJ suggested.
Thank you all for your advice

 

You can be quite brutal with the cane removal @xxxDawnxxx. I usually remove about two thirds of the canes on my plants to give them an airy appearance. I also remove all the leaves from the lowest third of the canes to reveal their colour.

 

oooh thank you so much for the idea I’ll definitely give that a try

 

hope the good advice here helps you too @ViewAhead