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jojotater

Which bamboo

jojotater
12 years ago

I need advice. I want to plant a small grove of bamboo, about 50 X 50 feet. I have narrowed it down to vivax or madake. I live in central eastern Arkansas, zone 7. I've read vivax matures a lot faster. How long does it take madake to mature? How long for vivax?

I'm no spring chicken and I would like to see the bamboo get big.

Comments (5)

  • stevelau1911
    12 years ago

    I think vivax is supposed to upsize faster, but bambusoides has much stronger and thicker culms, but they are supposed to be about the same size. Moso might work as well if you need size, but you can also get a few different species.

    I posted a thread which shows year to year growth which can give you an idea of how long it takes them to mature.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo year to year growth

  • kudzu9
    12 years ago

    I'd like to reinforce wat the previous poster said. Vivax does get good size relatively fast, but it has thin, weak walls. I'm one Zone warmer than you, but we occasionally get snow. I have seen 30'-40' Vivax culms that are 4" in diameter break in half under snow loading. It was a sad sight.

    In your Zone, Ph. edulis (Moso) or Ph. nigra 'Henon' would grow well, get large, and be quite able to stand snow loading with little or no breakage. Whatever you choose, any bamboo will take a number of years to mature. I started Moso from seed about 7-8 years ago and it is about 20' high now. If I had started with larger plants -- like 6'-8' tall -- I might have had the same height in 4-5 years. The bigger plant you start with the sooner you will get big results. Any culm that a bamboo plant puts up comes out of the ground at its full diameter and reaches its full height in a couple of months. That culm will never get any taller or wider, but each succeeding year the plant will put up larger culms until it reaches its maximum height. For Moso, the maximum is 75', and for Henon it's about 65'; however, that's under ideal conditions. Realistically, if you can achieve about 1/2 that height or a little more, you are doing a good job.

  • jojotater
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Is Moso more cold hardy than madake? I think I will pass on vivax. We occasionally get snow and ice.

  • kudzu9
    12 years ago

    They're both hardy to about 5F. You may get leaf damage at temperatures somewhat above that. If you want to compare bamboo properties (height, hardiness, etc.), the site bambooweb.info has photos and specs for all the species in cultivation in the U.S. Go to the link below, go to the alphabetical listing at the bottom of the page, find the bamboo you are interested in, click on the name, then click on any thumbnail photo for that species, and the data will be shown at the bottom of the page.

    Here is a link that might be useful: BambooWeb Photos

  • steve_nj
    12 years ago

    The 'Anderson' clone of moso is hardier than regular moso and does well here.