Bamboo longevity
Re: Bamboo longevity
heres a pic of my vivax as you can see there are similarities with yours,the white rings around the nodes medium large leaves that drape similar to your first close up pic.the canes on mine are nearly 2 inches thick but its an older plant than yours i think.
Re: Bamboo longevity
I'll get a photo of the leaf in the morning.
Ive been looking up phyllostachys vivax and wow that one gets so tall,it certainly looks close to mine but the size it its to makes me think hmmm,is it though?,so does a longer growing season make a bamboo grow taller
Ive been looking up phyllostachys vivax and wow that one gets so tall,it certainly looks close to mine but the size it its to makes me think hmmm,is it though?,so does a longer growing season make a bamboo grow taller
Re: Bamboo longevity
Yes its so much identical isn't it,so how old is that patch Jacko and how tall.jacko wrote:heres a pic of my vivax as you can see there are similarities with yours,the white rings around the nodes medium large leaves that drape similar to your first close up pic.the canes on mine are nearly 2 inches thick but its an older plant than yours i think.
Re: Bamboo longevity
mine has been planted in that spot since march 2009 and was 7ft or 2metres.now as of today it is 25ft its fast.
Re: Bamboo longevity
not sure about your climate there but it looks like you get lots of wind and this can dwarf the height of your bamboo if its in an exposed position.how old is your patch and do you feed it at all?
Re: Bamboo longevity
5 or 6 years makes me think its not a vivax now.unless its in dry windy conditions.give it plenty of water lots of organic mulches of aged horse manure,grass clippings old compost etc. to a depth of around 6 inches.more during winter.this will help with retaining moisture and fertilization.if you can imagine your bamboo growing out of an old compost heap then this is an ideal environment for it to flourish.dont remove the leaves that fall to the ground as this provides a natural mulch of leaf litter for the bamboo.hope this helps.
Re: Bamboo longevity
The patch gets lots of water from overhead sprinklers during our dry season in summer.jacko wrote:5 or 6 years makes me think its not a vivax now.unless its in dry windy conditions.give it plenty of water lots of organic mulches of aged horse manure,grass clippings old compost etc. to a depth of around 6 inches.more during winter.this will help with retaining moisture and fertilization.if you can imagine your bamboo growing out of an old compost heap then this is an ideal environment for it to flourish.dont remove the leaves that fall to the ground as this provides a natural mulch of leaf litter for the bamboo.hope this helps.
As for wind, the patch has been in a area thats had lots of wind in the past but trees that ive planted over the last 10 years are really starting to make a difference of late and will continual to improve in sheltering it.
No i haven't fertilized it up till this point and i will from now on , it does tend to have a more yellow look to it compared to what ive seen in some of the photo you guys have posted.
I planted it for the sole purpose of using it as stakes in the garden,so i do cut a fair amount out during the growing season but i do leave all the leafs as a mulch though.
What i will do now is fertilize one half and see what difference it makes
Re: Bamboo longevity
Hello again,last time we were chating about my bamboo patch it was recommended that i give the patch a good fertilizing,so i gave it a 12-6-6 fertilizer which was about this time last year at the start of spring,boy it went crazy after that,it grew 2x as much new stems and for much longer through the growing season.
Another thing that amazes me about bamboo is how well it can handle snow,the first photo was taken back in June when we had a 30cm deep fall,at the time the photo was taken it was -14deg C,second photo showing the bamboo this morning.
Another thing that amazes me about bamboo is how well it can handle snow,the first photo was taken back in June when we had a 30cm deep fall,at the time the photo was taken it was -14deg C,second photo showing the bamboo this morning.
Re: Bamboo longevity
-14 in new zealand!!
I thought you got mild winters! Surely all the cordys would be cut down at that and it is even approaching Trachycarpus killing tremperatures.
I thought you got mild winters! Surely all the cordys would be cut down at that and it is even approaching Trachycarpus killing tremperatures.
- The Codfather
- Posts: 6436
- Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:02 pm
- Location: Darlington, C.O. Durham
Re: Bamboo longevity
Nice and warm for you Mark
AKA - Martin
Wish list - Big Palms or Dicksonia antarctica's but open to anything really.....Cash Waiting !
Wish list - Big Palms or Dicksonia antarctica's but open to anything really.....Cash Waiting !
Re: Bamboo longevity
That is what is worrying me! (although we were more thinking of the North island!)
Re: Bamboo longevity
bounced back really well from winter.when the bamboo is laid flat from snow and is covered by it,it actually protects it.
Re: Bamboo longevity
My valley been inland by 70kms and having three low maintain ranges between us and the Pacific means we get extremes in temps in both winter and summer and so frosts that cold seem to happen here about once every 10 years,yes my Cordyline australis took a real hiding but all of them will be ok and are now starting to grow new shoots,Darlo Mark wrote:-14 in new zealand!!
I thought you got mild winters! Surely all the cordys would be cut down at that and it is even approaching Trachycarpus killing tremperatures.
But some trees like the Sidney Blue gums dont look good,this 100+ year old one may not come away again.
Re: Bamboo longevity
Yes it did protect it,only had two or three snap offjacko wrote:bounced back really well from winter.when the bamboo is laid flat from snow and is covered by it,it actually protects it.