Plant of the Week: Bamboo.
Bamboo. We see it in all the garden design magazines. Bamboo looks so elegant and graceful, how harmful can it be? Can bamboo be safely grown in home gardens? Yes and no.
Bamboo is one of the most useful plants in the world, but you need to know what kind of bamboo you are getting and you need to take care that it doesn't take over. Growing bamboo in containers is an excellent option if you can provide retaining walls. Here's a Bamboo 101, with some words of encouragement and caution.
Some of you bamboo growers may have noticed your plants flowering in recent years. This is beautiful, but it usually means the plant will begin to die off soon. That’s not a major problem for gardeners, since if you look closely around the area of the bamboo plant, you will probably find a seedling or two popping up. But it can be devastating for cultures that rely on bamboo as a crop. The American Bamboo Society has an interesting article on how Flowering Bamboo Presents an Opportunity
Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.
Comments
question..not a comment
Friend ‘down south’ gave me a bamboo seedling..about 8 ins. high….in our snow-covered north, I cannot plant it outside for months yet. I’ve just noticed that the leaves are turning yellow and I don’t want to lose the plant. Any ideas on growing the plant indoors until it can go outside. Thanks.
Bamboo tends to shed some leaves in the spring and they will turn yellow before dropping. If you’re seeing new green growth as well, then it’s just the normal change of seasons.
If it looks like the whole plant is yellowing it could be either stress, too much or too little water or it needs to be fed. Try giving it some ‘lawn’ fertilizer and make sure the soil is moist, but not wet. Then give it some time to adjust to the change in environment.
Thanks Marie….will try that
What type of soil do you need to grow bamboo inside..I just have mine in water..Also, how do you start a new plant from the bamboo that you have.Thanks
Pearl, are you talking about the tall, grass like bamboo or do you mean “Lucky Bamboo”? Lucky Bamboo is actually a Dracaena plant, not a real bamboo. You can grow it is water until the roots start to fill the container. Then it really needs some soil to grow healthy.
To root it, just cut off a section below a joint and stick it in water. It should root very easily.