New Bamboo

I have just bought four bamboo plants (Phyllostachys aureosulcata f. aureocaulis) to act as a screen on my balcony. They are about 1.5 to 2 metres tall however I would like them to be bushier. Is there anything I can do to encourage this? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

welcome clarinya, give it time.make sure to water them daily FANCY :eek:

 

Hello and welcome, Clarinya, and to you too, Fancy! I bought a Bamboo last month and it is already bushing out ... with plenty of water as Fancy says!

 

I have a black bamboo only small at the moment and have read it does well in pots, that would be an answer for me as i have been trying to think where to plant it in the garden.

Stingo

 

Welcome to GC matey. :D Bamboos like it moist but reasonably well drained or the new shoots rot prior to surfacing. You can tell if they are too wet if the husk around the new shoots has a nasty shower curtain mildew look about it! They like to be well fed and growing in a good peat/loam/compost/grit mix. I cut any spindly shoots out to encourage thicker canes which will provide sturdier screening. Just give it time it doesn't take long if they are growing well. I grow bamboo in pots but they need to be big or they will explode after too long as the root system will not want to be contained forever without thinnning.

These are recent bamboo threads.

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001819;p=1#000000

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002028#000001

I grow clematis in adjacent pots which use the bamboo as a support and it works really well to brighten up the green screen.







Any other questions just shout, cause I loves me bamboos.

BM

 

Good idea with the Clematis, BM, and I love that purple! The pink ones are unusual, I don't know them.

 

It is Princess Diana again.

 

I have also recently bought bamboo but a different one to you. I bought if from a specialist nursery and they told me to feed it with a lawn feed (not weed n feed) once a month in the growing season and to put it in a pot at least 18 " square.