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phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:57 am
by jacko
just a heads up to all you who have black bamboo.after 8 to 10 years if you've looked after it with plenty of water,mulches and fertilizer etc. it will suddenly change into a large bamboo.this is whats happened to me anyway.my specimen has quite happily stuck around the 14ft mark for several years with culms no thicker than around a half inch.this year all of a sudden its changed to 1.25 inch culms that are hitting the 22ft mark. it looks a completely different plant fom a floppy shuttlecock shape 14ft high by 14ft wide at the canopy to bolt upright culms 22ft high.this must be what happens when it comes out of its juvenile stage.so if youve allocated an area for a black bamboo to occupy remember that it will eventually get very big and tall.heres some pics from my bedroom window.the second photo shows my vivax on the right at 25ft and the nigra on the left catching it up. :shock:third photo taken where the car is in the first pic.

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:27 pm
by greendragon
Spectablis looks much bigger than its sold as also. This is like the disinfo nurseries give about the eucalyptus niphophila to avoid scaring people off

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:45 am
by jacko
exactly greendragon. icon_salut

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:13 am
by GaryW
Mine is doing the same this year but on a smaller scale, it's been a spindly 7 or 8 feet for about 5 years, now it's producing much thicker culms that are 12 feet high and still growing !

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:15 am
by Trudytropics
Yep mine are reaching for the stars, the new culms are ridiculous :lol: Bought another for a big pot earlier in the year and this has produced 5 new culms which are flipping huge :shock: , thinking i'm gonna need a bigger pot.

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:59 pm
by jacko
13.5 inches between nodes :shock: no wonder its caught up with the vivax.

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:43 pm
by jungle jas
Dont you think is significant that its happening to you all this year in particular! icon_scratch Could it be the rain emulating its natural growing conditions? :roll: :lol: icon_thumright

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:54 pm
by Tom2006
Mine has pushed a few culms up to first floor bedroom window height!!! It has always previously been about 5-6' shorter than this. Could this be due to the rain or could it be a mass flowering event that I have heard of but never witnessed?

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:32 pm
by jungle jas
Tom2006 wrote:Mine has pushed a few culms up to first floor bedroom window height!!! It has always previously been about 5-6' shorter than this. Could this be due to the rain or could it be a mass flowering event that I have heard of but never witnessed?
I doubt its mass flowering as that happens all over the world, so I suspect we would of heard about it. icon_thumright I once went to a garden centre and bought a very nice bamboo which was far to cheep. Only to find it flowered and died the following year. They obviously knew something I didn't! :ahhh!: :lol: icon_thumright

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 8:39 am
by Tom2006
jungle jas wrote:
Tom2006 wrote:Mine has pushed a few culms up to first floor bedroom window height!!! It has always previously been about 5-6' shorter than this. Could this be due to the rain or could it be a mass flowering event that I have heard of but never witnessed?
I doubt its mass flowering as that happens all over the world, so I suspect we would of heard about it. icon_thumright I once went to a garden centre and bought a very nice bamboo which was far to cheep. Only to find it flowered and died the following year. They obviously knew something I didn't! :ahhh!: :lol: icon_thumright
Fingers crossed it isn't. Must be the rain then icon_thumleft

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 2:58 pm
by jacko
in my case its a bamboo that has moved out of its juvenile stage into maturity plus the weather.nigra seems to have done well this year all over.mine is presently 24ft.

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:01 pm
by jungle jas
One of mine has tripled in size this year albeit from a small base line, but I'm still putting it down to day after day after day of rain! It will be interesting to see what happens next year if we have a normal :? summer. Will they continue with the extended growth or revert back to a more modest size? Whats your guess. icon_thumright

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:34 am
by jacko
the point is that p.nigra has a juvenile stage that can last 8 to ten years and then if conditions are favourable it will move into its mature stage which is a much bigger plant.my nigra is ten years old and this year it looks like a totally different plant to what was before.all the rain has done has saved me a job of watering them.

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 9:11 am
by jungle jas
I hear what you are saying but it seems to much of a coincidence that it has happened to all the people who have posted on here all at the same time! I have my doubts but I hope you are right. icon_thumright Time will tell. icon_scratch

Re: phyllostachys nigra size.

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 6:25 am
by jacko
yeah it is an interesting coincidence icon_scratch food for thought.where about in wales are you from jas?just curious are you far from me?