Trimming bottom growth.

Post Reply
User avatar
karl66
Posts: 2646
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:39 pm
Location: halesowen. west midlands

Trimming bottom growth.

Post by karl66 »

Some of my large bamboos are now in excess of 25ft & with all the rain they are really bushy!! i only want the thick canes on show on the big ones, about 4ft up, when is the ideal time to slice off the lower side growth?. karl.
jacko

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by jacko »

anytime karl,i usually do mine in march.
grub

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by grub »

I rub mine out before they leaf, no scars :wink:
User avatar
karl66
Posts: 2646
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:39 pm
Location: halesowen. west midlands

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by karl66 »

many thanks. Jacko is there an particular tool you use to get a closer neater finish on the canes or is it cut as close as possible with pruners?. karl.
grub

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by grub »

First time I cleaned mine up Karl I used cable croppers and cut in tight, the finish you get by taking them off as they start to drop away from the cane though is a thousand times better so that's how I've done it since that first long pruning session.
Mr List

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by Mr List »

i copied grub and i say he is right icon_thumleft
jacko

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by jacko »

grub is right,i've done this a bit this year and the branches do come off cleanly.but otherwise any other time of year use sharp pruners and make as clean a cut as possible nearest to the culm.
User avatar
karl66
Posts: 2646
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:39 pm
Location: halesowen. west midlands

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by karl66 »

Grub, is there any chance of a pic of your cable croppers? it would take me an eternity to get a dead smooth finish on all the canes, so i want to do a fairly quick method. thanks karl.
Tom2006
Posts: 8094
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:23 am
Location: East Yorkshire UK

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by Tom2006 »

I was really concerned about opening this thread, but took the plunge anyway! :lol:

A good reminder for me though as I need to trim the bottom growth on my Nigra. icon_thumleft
Most wanted list - Any Young Trachycarpus and/or fern.
User avatar
Yorkshire Kris
Posts: 10163
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:59 am
Location: Rural South Wakefield, Yorkshire Lat 53.64 Long-1.54

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

I'm refraining from doing any bottom trimming as I want the bamboos to bulk up. Removing leaves must reduce the energy transfered to the developing culms.
jacko

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by jacko »

thats why i do mine in feb or march when they are dormant,at least that way the branches i cut off will have been photosynthesizing during the previous autumn and winter.
User avatar
simon
Posts: 2418
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 6:02 pm
Location: Slough, Berkshire

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by simon »

Again, this is another eason why rubbing them off when soft is the best option. If you don't allow them to develope and leaf up then the plant will be saving the energy that would have gone into thier production. The same goes for removing thin spindly culms. The earlier you remove them the more energy the plant will save.
grub

Re: Trimming bottom growth.

Post by grub »

karl66 wrote:Grub, is there any chance of a pic of your cable croppers? it would take me an eternity to get a dead smooth finish on all the canes, so i want to do a fairly quick method. thanks karl.
Similar to these Karl http://www.screwfix.com/p/cable-cutters-254mm/47997 , they're dead sharp when new and cut right to the end of the blades. icon_thumright
Post Reply