Back in 2008 I paid a visit to Chuck Theroux in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.  He runs Bountiful Earth and has the largest collection of bamboo in the upper half of the state.  The trip was two fold; to help him dig some bamboo for his retail operation and to attain more bamboo for my personal collection!

The bamboo I selected on this particular trip was Dendrocalamus validus, a newer introduction to the United States via Thailand.  What made me want this bamboo was seeing Chuck's Dendrocalamus validus that he had growing in his backyard, as the culms were nearly 5 inches in diameter and the height nearly surpassing the old oaks that were growing on the property!  Along with that, it had displayed a beautiful shade of orange that created a striking contrast on the green culms.  You can see from the picture on the right just how lovely this bamboo is and the size.  Those are three gallon pots next to the bamboo, so you get the idea truly how large this tropical clumping bamboo really is.  So it's easy to see how I fell in love with this bamboo. (more...)

Recently I was contacted by a reader who wanted some specifics on how to divide his bamboo.  These are tropical clumpers and after watching my videos on Propagating Tropical Clumping Bamboo he still had some questions.  He sent me pictures of the bamboo in question, of which I modified and sent back, showing precisely where I would cut if it were my bamboo.  I'm sharing these pictures today in hopes that it helps someone else who might have similar questions.  Click the picture to view each image so you read my notes.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to post a comment.  Of course comments are moderated, but I do review them frequently and approve ones that are of real value to this site.

One of the many great uses of bamboo is to use it as a screen in your landscape, adding both beauty and privacy.  A well constructed bamboo screen can either partially or completely block out what you are trying not to see...or perhaps trying to hide!  I say hide because whereas most people are searching for an effective means to not see their neighbors, perhaps you are trying to block the view of your yard from the public.  In either case your choice of bamboo is critical based on what you are trying to achieve.

My first choice for establishing a bamboo screen would be to plant a clumping variety of bamboo.  Being that I live in Florida, my personal recommended bamboos are Bambusa textilis mutabilis, Bambusa textilis gracilis or Bambusa oldhaami.  These three were chosen because of their very erect growth habit, small branching and cold hardiness.  Mutabilis and gracilis will produce a tighter, more dense natural screen whereas oldhaami will produce a more open screen.  Being that they are clumpers also means they need no containment, which makes initial labor much less intensive.

If you are in a colder climate, then there are two options for your bamboo screen.  You could plant a clumper such as one in the Fargesia family, or your could take the risk and plant any of the running species of bamboo.  However, should you plant a running bamboo make sure you use proper containment so that your bamboo fills in and creates the screen and does not become invasive.  I'll be adding more on bamboo containment in a future article.

After a few short years your bamboo should fill in nicely, creating an urban sanctuary that provides both beauty and privacy.

We had a rather wicked but well needed storm blow into Jacksonville today.  The kids yelled from the upstairs that the bamboo was bent over and touching the pool enclosure, so I went up to investigate.  Sure enough it was, and I whipped out the camera to take some snapshots of the wind's effect on the clumping bamboo plants.  Someone recently asked over on on the Florida Bamboo Forum if bamboo would help to reduce the effects of hurricane force winds, and based on these pics I'd have to say probably not, that is unless the house was surrounded by a few acres of bamboo forest!

Anyways, the clumping bamboo to the right is Bambusa textilis mutabilis, the one in the middle is Bambusa dissemulator, and the bamboo on the right is Bambusa ventricosa Kimmei.  The first picture shows the bamboo with the wind at a lull, and the second pic shows the bamboo bent over the gale force winds.  Sorry about the glare in the second bamboo picture, forgot to cover the flash!

Well over the years my site has been linked from various others in regards to my simple bamboo seed germination directions or to bamboo in general.  If you are wondering, the link to the directions is here:

Growing Bamboo From Seed

Anways, looking through my webstats this morning I noted yet another new website to add to the list. This time it is a Croation website, at least that's what the Google Toolbar states, and the entire thread is about growing bamboo.  It's good to see that my directions are still helping people learn how to grow bamboo from seed, and not just in the United States but worldwide!

World Plants Forum Bamboo Thread

However, of all the sites to link to mine, none have been as prominent as the one that linked to my father's website in an article regarding cherries, Mother Earth News!  It would be awesome if they ever did a bamboo article and mentioned my website too!

Typically this is a rather easy process for running type bamboos. One simply digs up a section of rhizomes then plants it in a new spot. When the buds break dormancy, they shoot and begin growing, and in several years time will fill in the area with new bamboo

But what about propagating clumping bamboo from rhizomes? Typically to propagate a tropical clumping bamboo as division is taken from the parent plant then replanted elsewhere where new bamboo is wanted. Sometimes the culms of that division die, and new growth emerges from the stored energy within the rhizomes. Nothing wrong with that, as the end result was still produced.

However, an interesting thing happened last year while digging divisions on the bamboo in my yard. I tossed aside a thick chunk of rhizome, thinking it trash. A few weeks later while inspecting my bamboo for new shoots, I noticed that chuck of rhizome with a small, pencil sized shoot growing from it. Pulling it from the leaf clutter, to my surprise I noted another bud developing on the rhizome as well. This rhizome also had developed a few root hairs, so I immediately planted it in some potting soil. The shoots developed into two, three foot culms. Last month I potted this new bamboo into a larger pot, and was further amazed by the amount of new root growth that had developed. I'm really anxious to see how big this years shoots will be!

So there is yet another method by which bamboo can be propagated. I'm pretty certain the species is Bambusa Mutabilis, but it could also very well be Bambusa Dissemulator. Only time will tell which bamboo it it. I've included two pics and short video documenting my find.

Well I've finally gotten around to uploading the second video in my series "Propagating Tropical Clumping Bamboo". In this video, I cover how to divide Bambusa Mutabilis via division, which will allow you to plant more bamboo within your yard, share some with friends or in my case list them for sale. This video on propagating bamboo is a bit longer than the first, but you'll find it very informative, especially since not all tropical bamboos are alike. As allows, if you have any questions about propagating bamboo or questions on anything else please feel free to post a reply.

Many of my website visitors find their way here searching for information on how to progagate bamboo via division.  Well being that Spring is here and I have to actually divide some of my tropical clumping bamboos, I've decided to create a short video tutorial on how to do so.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Well winter has spring upon Florida rather quickly this year, bringing freezing temperatures that many of my palms trees cannot handle. Fortunately most of these are in pots, so the easiest fix to prevent them from freezing is bring them into to garage. This not only protects them from the frost but protects them from damaging winds as well, since the radiant heat from the house as well as the lighting in the garage will keep them happy.

Now I'm sure many of you however have planted a palm tree or two that are not as cold hardy, and therefore do not have the luxury of just bringing them in to protect them from freezing. If you are one of these people, here is what I suggest. First, you will need some way to provide heat to your protect your palm. Many people will first string a few strands of Christmas lights both around the trunk of the palm and over or through the fronds. Some even place a floodlight or two and angle them up towards the fronds. After placing your lights the next step would be to drape the palm with some sheets or a light blanket, carefully tying them down or if they are long enough weighting them down with a few rocks or bricks. Using these tips should help keep the ambient air around your palm above freezing, and thus prevent it from both frost damage and freezing.

A word of caution, whatever you do, do not use plastic sheeting on your palm, as this can actually trap moisture underneath which may freeze. Some people also use frost cloth, and it should be applied in the same fashion as stated above. However, in my opinion the added expense is not necessary.

If you are trying to protect a palm from a hard freeze, ultimately what you are then trying to is protect the trunk and heart of the palm, which rests at the top of the trunk where the fronds emerge. On top of the above recommendations, I would also wrap the entire trunk with a heavy blanket. Other suggestions are to surround the trunk with a cardboard box, then filling it with mulch all the way to the top, ensuring that you cover the heart area with a thick layer as well.

By no means will this necessarily ensure the survival of your palm from freezing temps, especially if you have a palm that is rated for Zone 10 planted in Zone 7, but it will certainly be better than leaving it unprotected. The final suggestion to protect your palm tree from freezing would be to only plant palms that can take sub freezing weather, such as a Butia, Phoenix, Washington or some other cold hardy palm tree.

Growing bamboo from seed can be quite rewarding, if you are lucky enough to actually get some fresh bamboo seed.  I say that because bamboo very rarely flowers, and when it does it may do so for several years sporadically until it does a gregarious flowering, after which the primary plant is said to die.  I have witnessed only a handful of bamboo plants producing seed, and even more so only limited germination rate from that seed.  My friend Rich currently has some Bambusa tuldoides in flower, from which he has gotten a few dozen new bamboo seedlings from a few hundred seeds.  A few years ago there was a stand of unknown Multiplex bamboo in St Augustine that was flowering and had tons of bamboo seedlings growing around it as well as tons of seed.  I managed to germinate some of the seed, as well as dig a few seedlings.  However, only a few have survived, of which one of them is now growing in a one gallon pot in my backyard.  In 2008 I tried to do some branch node cuttings from a Dendrocalumus minor amoenus that resulted in the cuttings setting seed rather than rooting.  Unfortunately none of the seed turned out to be viable.

Anyways, the problem with growing bamboo from seed is that it is sporadic.  Bamboo seed is said to lose it's viability quickly unless properly stored or planted immediately.  Another reason is growing environment.  Bamboo seed seems to like a damp growing medium and a little bit of warmth.  This is probably one of the reasons that the mystery Multiplex variety has so many babies growing around it as the mother plant was in a drainage ditch, so it stayed somewhat damp.  The third problem with growing bamboo from seed is loss of seedlings from transplant shock.  My brother and I germinated thousands of Moso seeds that we were fortunate enough to get access to.  As the seeds germinated they were transplanted before the primary root go too long into water bottles.  However, much to my dismay it didn't take long for these bamboo seedlings to become root bound in such a small container, and we lost a majority of these before we even realized what was happening.  Chock this up to inexperience.

So with that being said, if you are fortunate enough to have some bamboo seed you should germinate it as soon as you possibly can.  Germination rates will vary, and I have some detailed seed germination tips that you might find useful here Bamboo Seed Germination.  I actually use these directions for many of the various seeds I need to germinate, and it works.  If you have a large amount of bamboo seeds you can always try a few different methods to see if you get better results.  The only change to these directions would maybe to use the Jiffy pellets and plant one or two seeds in each pellet, as this will help avoid the transplant shock that I experienced in the past.