Bambusa lako

[Walt]

I know this species isn't too cold hardy (I've read down to 25-27 degrees F).

What I would like to know is if this species regenerates back from the roots (in zone 9b) if in fact the culms were to get frozen back.

Second, can this species thrive on less than full sun, say half a day of full sun with broken sun the balance of the day?

Lastly, what is the approximate growth rate of this species?

The reason I ask is that I picked up a three gallon size B. lako yesterday. It consists of two culms about 8-9 feet high.

I want to plant it out this weekend. If it requires full sun, I have a location, but I prefer to plant it in less sun, in a location more visually desirable to me.

[rozpalm]

I can't answer your first question, but can confirm that at 32deg it loses a good bit of its leaves. Its a moderate grower and I would imagine that your plant planted in full sun that you would see 5-6 12'tall up to 1" diameter culms in the first year and then maybe a little more then that in the second with 2"culms up to 18' tall. My experience with planting sun loving bamboo in shade is that it will put up far less culms (in your case, mabye 2 instead of 5) but the height and diameter of the culms will still increase at about the same rate as if it were in full sun. If you want it in a particular spot, that is where I would plant it and just plan on waiting a year or two longer for it to fill in.

[Justin]

I have one that is currently not in a whole of sun, and it is doing fine. It's between a large Butia, and some of my neighbor's trees. It gets direct sunlight only in the very middle of the day. This is forcing the culms to grow quite tall, and once it gets higher than the Butia, it will be very happy.

[Walter John]

I can't vouch for the cold hardiness Walt but I can vouch for the part shade growing of this bamboo as I grew it at my old place in part shade. Grew fine.

[Walt]

Ron, Justin, and Wal: Thanks for your replies. Collectively, I got most of the information I was looking for.

For my climate (high end of 9b), I really shouldn't have gotten B. lako, but I just couldn't resist. I will plant it tomorrow and then let nature take its course.

[dogrocket]

I have three stands of b. lako. IT does fine in part day sun,a little better in full sun if given ample water.It takes a hit from the winter cold but bounces back ever year.

[Walt]

I have three stands of b. lako. IT does fine in part day sun,a little better in full sun if given ample water.It takes a hit from the winter cold but bounces back ever year.

The B. lako I bought and planted this past May is doing great. It's not in full sun but gets, IMO, adequate sun. It did put up two new culms that were far larger in diameter and twice as long as the original culms. So, I have little doubt my B. lako will do fine in terms of getting enough sunlight. The true test will be during the winter months.

[humgarden]

Came back from 20 degees, if not colder here last winter just south of Houston ( Zone 9a). Official temp in Houston was 20 or less depending on who you ask. this 5 year old clump sets in almost total shade under a live oak and giant privit, maybee gets tiny shot of sun through a 4x8 opening at noon. Now is reduced to 1/2 inch culm X 7' and a 2' sprout, from 1 inch culms the year before. Big as it ever got in that hole was 2 inch culms.

Clone X, Buddha,unfased. Oldhamii hurt only slightly. 5 inch Beechy froze to ground but came back with 2 inch culms.

Zone 9b data for Lako in South tx. : www.boonut.info. Click on 'Gallery, chose 'boonutfarm 2010' story of lako '09 recovery.

Walt, I know you're not into the big boo, but in case anyone out there is, this fellow has some of the best data on trialing the big stuff in 9b Texas. From, www.boonut.info , click on 'Bamboo' . You can see his success with Parker's Giant, Dendro Giant from Quail, Beechy, Clone X, and others. Nobody comes close to having this much data on what the big stuff does in deep south Tx.( Z9b ).

Tom, Z9a Tx.

[dalmatiansoap]

I had one from seeds last year. Lost it this summer in full sun.

[Walt]

Came back from 20 degees, if not colder here last winter just south of Houston ( Zone 9a). Official temp in Houston was 20 or less depending on who you ask. this 5 year old clump sets in almost total shade under a live oak and giant privit, maybee gets tiny shot of sun through a 4x8 opening at noon. Now is reduced to 1/2 inch culm X 7' and a 2' sprout, from 1 inch culms the year before. Big as it ever got in that hole was 2 inch culms.

Clone X, Buddha,unfased. Oldhamii hurt only slightly. 5 inch Beechy froze to ground but came back with 2 inch culms.

Zone 9b data for Lako in South tx. : www.boonut.info. Click on 'Gallery, chose 'boonutfarm 2010' story of lako '09 recovery.

Walt, I know you're not into the big boo, but in case anyone out there is, this fellow has some of the best data on trialing the big stuff in 9b Texas. From, www.boonut.info , click on 'Bamboo' . You can see his success with Parker's Giant, Dendro Giant from Quail, Beechy, Clone X, and others. Nobody comes close to having this much data on what the big stuff does in deep south Tx.( Z9b ).

Tom, Z9a Tx.

Tom: Actually, I like big, imposing bamboo. Up until this spring I only had two species: B. oldhamii and B. membranacea. This past spring I finally decided I wanted to procure more species of bamboo so I bought a very small B. lako and and even smaller Buddha's belly (B. ventricosa?). While the B. lako has grown okay, the Buddha's belly hasn't grown much at all comparatively. Perhaps it will need to sink more roots first.

In any event, this spring I plan on getting at least two more species of tropical bamboo. One species I want is B. chungi (tropical blue). I will have to decide between now and spring what other species I might want.

I really like the looks and effect of tropical bamboo as it will complement my garden in time, at least to my tastes.

The only down side I have with bamboo is all the litter they drop. My B. membranacea has dropped its leaves twice this year already. Once right after the abnormally cold winter and then again about one month ago. It's been dry here so I try to water it occasionally but I can't do what mother nature can do.

Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

Below are four photos I took as the sun was getting low in the sky:

Above is my clump of B. oldhamii, 6-1/2 years from a two gallon size.

Above shows the culms at ground level of my B. oldhamii

Above is my clump of B. membranacea, also 6-1/2 years from a cut-off culm with roots that was given to me by the late John Bishock. The leaves are very sparse now from so much drop.

Above is the culms near ground level of my B. membranacea

[Walter John]

Great bamboo pics and report there Walt, look forward to seeing your timor black down the track.

[Walt]

Great bamboo pics and report there Walt, look forward to seeing your timor black down the track.

Wal: My B. lako is just small yet, only just planting it small this year. Further, the culms haven't turned black yet, except maybe somewhat black on one of the smallest, oldest culms. However, since planting it last May it has grown nicely (two new culms). I suspect next year it will grow more culms, maybe 3-4, and each culm will be bigger than the previous ones. I will enjoy watching it grow.

Above, an overall view of my B. lako

Above, my B. lako only consists at present time of four culms. The two small ones on the right are original when I bought the plant last May. On the far left is the first new culm since I bought it. To the right of that is the second (and noticably larger in diameter) culm since I bought it.

[humgarden]

Walt, that's some tall,stately, clumpers. Really beautiful set against those big pines. Wish I had a cammera and could show pics of mine.I'm not sure mine has ever made it to even 50', but the 'mother' clump I got my starts from was 75' , I know because I stepped off a downed culm once.I should point out that ,since the tops tend to hang over and 'weep', I can't say how tall a 75' long culm is when it's standing up. It's a B. tuldoides/ventricosa variety called 'Clone X'. It's not as open as yours - tends to grow thick together. A 'cane came through 3 years ago and knocked my biggest clump down. A big 10' diameter root ball is now upended towards the sky with a zillion roots sticking out. Another large clump almost went down. It was damaged enough so that it went to seed this year. I only saved a dozen seedlings of the hundreds that came up. Kind of a shame, because hundreds of seedlings may offer the chance to select for desirable traits such as larger size or cold hardiness.

Tom.

[cycadjungle]

HI Walt, mine didn't get burned until it got lower than 24F. If in the ground, they should come back with more culms even if it goes below 20 for a short time. They should do fine in some shade, but the culms may take a bit longer to trun from green to black.

Hea, if you want a huge amount of ventricosa for free, all you have to do is come up and dig all you want. I have probably 50 to 100 culms growing in a bad place that I will either give away or destroy when I get a chance to work on them.

If you are liking these Bambusa species, the textilis gracislis is nice. You should try the variegated Chinese types that go down to 12F and 13F. They have fancy names, but the common names are Lemon Yellow and Sunburst. I love the lemon yellow for looks. I have several of all of these. The Chungiis aren't all that cold hardy either, but if you can get a hold of a Wong Chuk that has been destributed by Kanapaha, that is a beautiful blue one that is cold hardy in Gainesville, so it should do fine for you. They get real big though.

[Walt]

HI Walt, mine didn't get burned until it got lower than 24F. If in the ground, they should come back with more culms even if it goes below 20 for a short time. They should do fine in some shade, but the culms may take a bit longer to trun from green to black.

Hea, if you want a huge amount of ventricosa for free, all you have to do is come up and dig all you want. I have probably 50 to 100 culms growing in a bad place that I will either give away or destroy when I get a chance to work on them.

If you are liking these Bambusa species, the textilis gracislis is nice. You should try the variegated Chinese types that go down to 12F and 13F. They have fancy names, but the common names are Lemon Yellow and Sunburst. I love the lemon yellow for looks. I have several of all of these. The Chungiis aren't all that cold hardy either, but if you can get a hold of a Wong Chuk that has been destributed by Kanapaha, that is a beautiful blue one that is cold hardy in Gainesville, so it should do fine for you. They get real big though.

Hi Tom, Thanks for the reply. If B. lako can take down to 24 (let's just say 25) degrees, that is great, as where I planted mine I feel it should rarely see that. In the past 12 winters I've only seen lower than 25 degrees twice: Jan. 5, 2001 when my open yard low was 22 degrees, and during the winter of 2008-2009 when my open yard low was 23 degrees. Both times were radiational events -- as is the case of 95% of freeze events here. In the past 12 winters my lowest advective cold event was 29.5 degrees.

I'm not at all familar with cold hardiness of bamboo, other than B. oldhamii and B. membranacea, since I have both and have observed them first hand over six winters now. I can only rely on what the vendors of bamboo say their stock is good for, in terms of low temperatures.

I was out to Tropical Bamboo this past spring (where I bought my B. lako) and that's where I saw B. chungii. There website says it can take down to 21 degrees. If your experience with it shows it's less cold hardy than that I would believe it, as perhaps they mean it will come back from 21 degrees. The bamboo species I'm looking for would not be hurt (defoliation, culms killed, etc.) at 21 degrees, or at least 25 degrees.

I will check on the bamboo Lemon Yellow and Sunburst and B. textilis gracislis at Tropical Bamboo's website.

Thanks for the offer to dig some ventricosa, but I'm not sure I'm physically up to that, not if it required the huge single culm root ball that John Bishock gave me (B. membranacea) six years ago. It took two men and a boy (so to speak) to lift it into the back of my pickup truck.

That being said, I really need to get up to your nursery. I will send you a PM later today to possibly make arrangements and get directions, etc. I can come up almost anytime.

Walt