The bamboo is planted in a wet spot in the backyard, with deep rich soil. However, we developed two raised areas on opposite sides of the low spot so that the roots won't drown when the yard is saturated during mid-winter.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as this is our first experiment with bamboo. Our neighbors have some yellow varieties, as well as a super-leafy variety (which almost looks like that tall strain of marijuana grown in Thailand). Anyhow, the neighbor's bamboo looks beautiful, so I'm hoping that ours will too!

We're watering the transplants into their location right now, and we'll add some leaf-mulch for cold protection. Any other tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks,

Josh

In direct sun, the leaves remain yellowish-green instead of the deep green that they turn in shade.

It may in part be due to this Texas sun though.

Good Luck

Kt

I'm in northern California, north-east of Sacramento, in the wonderful foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Fingers crossed,

Josh

Went out in the yard yesterday and noticed an inch and a half tall bamboo sprout pushing up. I moved some of my tomato cages to protect it from careless-footed deer, and I also put a small stick beside the shoot to compare growth-rate.

Quite excited. This is my first attempt at bamboo, and I wasn't sure if I'd gotten the transplant window right.

Pics as the area develops.

Josh

Here we are a little over a week later.
In the third and fourth images, you can see just how much the bamboo
has grown. We've had perfect bamboo weather. The first two pictures
are of a bamboo rhizome that started putting up shoots - I repotted it,
and I'm hoping I can keep it alive. A fun experiment, if nothing else.
Enjoy!

I planted four more sprouting lengths of rhizome.
Two of the rhizomes were three feet in length; one was about two feet long; and one
was a little under a foot. By adding these rhizomes, I'm hoping to get a headstart on
"filling out" the area over the next few years. This summer will let me know how the
plants will fare in the heat; then, the test of water-levels in the winter. I have every
confidence in the black bamboo's hardiness in my area, but I'm not sure if the roots will
drown in the location in my yard.

Josh

Well here we are again, exactly two months after transplanting,
and the bamboo have put up several more shoots. The first and tallest is
at least five feet tall, which seems to be decent growth in two months'
time. There are now *three* culms shooting from the clump pictured
above. One of the other clumps (that had a culm above soil that died)
is pushing up a shoot that I just noticed this afternoon. I'll take a few
pictures and actual measurements this weekend.
Stay tuned!

Josh

A year (and five days) later, I'm glad to see signs of the first shoot. This shoot is about 18"-22" from the main clump.

Sadly, the two Bamboo shoots - in the images I posted last year - died. The potted rhizome became too dry, I believe. I should have potted it deeper; or, I should have used deeper mulch. Live and learn. The first culm that appeared last year, which shot up nearly a month earlier (in March 08), grew very tall and then was hit by two freezes and wind, followed by sun. The culm - over five feet at the time - snapped at the three foot mark, and then slowly died down to the ground, where it became a bush. Over the whole season, I counted some 15-20 shoots, but most with a diameter less than that of a pencil. The longest of the rhizomes I planted sent up a line of seven culms.

Anyhow, here's my little area:

And here's the shoot:

This should be a fun bamboo season! The pictures are all a blurry scramble, but I've
tried to photo every culm in the "grove." Looks as though I might have a little
bit of green bamboo in there, too....something that snuck in on the roots....

These pics are a few days old. The tallest culm is close to two feet now...

Three culms visible in the last pic.
More later!

Josh

The tallest of my culms - which I measured forty-five minutes ago - is now 105 inches tall!
(That's 8 feet 9 inches, by my reckon) On Thursday, I noticed it was about 75 inches.....so, 30 inches in two days.

Needless to say, I am quite excited. There are other shoots nearly as tall, but I think that this one will be the tallest.

Pics coming soon.

Josh

The bamboo culms are darkening nicely! These are all culms that shot up this year.
First two pics are the same culm.

In other news, I found a huge rhizome breaking earth today. At first,
I thought it was ground disturbance from a passing mole...then I saw the rhizome!

Mine turns black only if in shade to part shade. Sunlight keeps the culms green or mottled.

The leaves look very healthy, mine will get brown tips sometimes.

Kt

The shade definitely makes a difference!
Once this stand of bamboo deepens, I think the interior culms will transition quickly, while the southern/western edge of the stand will stay mottled for a year or two longer.

I've been adding rock and soil to my semi-raised mounds, and I should have some updated pics of the whole zone pretty soon.

Josh