Tropical Bamboo

thank you all , lots of nice suggestion.
Yes Melinda this is the picture , I `m trying to recreate something similar , as I`ve got a small garden and that will give a sence of hidden space .
already have a sasa palmata (very slow growing) , golden bamboo and t-rex ......I`m not going for black bamboo for the simple reason that i start to be a really common bamboo, wilkinson , b&q and homebase are selling the nigra bamboo , so if I`ll have to wait 5 years before seeing something impressing i would love to be something new and rare , plus all my bamboo will stay in large bucket undersoil ...

 

I am watching this Bamboo thread with interest , picking up a few good tips on available types Just one huge question - if Bamboo is so prolific , why is it so damned expensive

 

I've got a couple of seed grown bamboos, pubecens I think they are.
Bamboo is not a plant that has really captured my intrest,I think if we could grow the really big stuff I'd get interested but I've not seen any that I would call impressive.

Another point that comes to mind is, if it needs to be controlled rootwise, is it actually worth growing?
Not many plants reach impressive proportions when pot bound and starved.

My pubecens has done nothing in about 10yrs,only 4 ft high, I think its just too dry for it here in summer.

It appears to be either too rampant, (a bit like Japanese knotweed and needs containing), or just a leafy bush.

I'd just get some Arundo donax.:D

 

Harrys.... bamboo it`s so expensive because it takes up to 5/6 years to mature and be able to produce full size cane .
Pete that`s incredible ......actually pubescens it`s one of the fastes growing in the world , 1mt in 24 hrs and 78 feet in 40/50 days .(some where in the tropic)......
One of the reason why I grow bamboo in large cointainer is also for water controll they need lots of water and what I do is fill up the bottom with small stones and drill drainage hole in the side and not in the bottom, so that will work as water storage and not as water lodge....and then dag them in the soil ..work really well , plus the bamboo can be chance position at any time and can be planted even in dry soil .
I`m not really looking for a giant but for something new and unusual and yes arundo is a nice alternative but I`m looking for all year round privacy in my garden as well....
ps last year tryed to grow sugar cane for privacy ....got only 2 feet for all season .

 

I am fascinated but this and must research it ...

Arundo donax grows wild everywhere here and is monstrous but certainly does not grow at that speed.

A member from another forum sent me some Black Bamboo roots a couple of months ago and within a week of planting I had a shoot, now 20cms tall.

I keep all of mine in pots ...

 

Hi Victoria.
I`m Italian and back in south Italy arundo donax is treated like an infestive plant (up to 5/6 mt near rivers) , the point is that in Portugal you will have the heat but not the moisture , Bamboo need water and shadow (in many cases). Try that little treak I`ve posted plus a side pipe that will reach the bottom of the pot ....will keep the bamboo moisted from underneath .

Still ...please any good suggestion other the .

Aureosulcata spectabilis
Semiarundinaria Fastuosa
Phyllostachys Bambusoides 'Castillon'.

 

Hi there Sal

Now some of your postings make sense .. I repeat SOME ...

I will respond to your PM shortly.

Tchau