Yellowing leaves, tips browning, cane die- back on newish plants

13 years ago

I did some searching here, but couldn't find an answer. I've got a client with about 15 15g Alphonse Karr bamboo. Currently about half are not doing very well.

I know bamboo loose many leaves in Spring, as I've grown them before. Originally, that's what I thought it was-- and told the client so about months ago. Now, however, this looks worse, and has been continuing longer than I'm used to-- a lot of yellowing, dying at tips of leaves, and some shoots dying back as well, top to bottom. We planted them all back in Nov. They're mulched, etc. and the plants look, frankly, terrible. I can't figure out what this is a symptom of, and therefore I can't figure out how to fix the problem. Ugh.

This winter in CA there's been a lot of rain (by our standards), so we turned off the irrigation a few months back. He's been watering them by hand 2-3 times a week. He says he rests the hose on them, goes away for a few mins and then comes back and moves it again. First I thought it wasn't enough water, then I thought perhaps it's too much, or a lack of a certain nutrient. The water table _is_ high there, as there was some flooding in the back of his yard this winter which he had to pump out. When I pulled back the mulch, the soil was definitely wet.

I normally don't fertilize, but these were so expensive, I feel like I'll do what I need to do to make them successful. But perhaps it doesn't need it. Does bamboo typically respond well to fertilizer of some sort? Perhaps I should be watering it less?? I've set the drip system to start watering 2x a week, for an hour each time. As the rootballs are pretty big, I've given each one 4-5 1 gallon drip emitters. I'm anticipating summer, when things get warmer, as I've found they need irrigation to really thrive. Do you still think this is too much though?

Just looking for some much needed advice from those with more experience.

Thanks.

Featured Answer

steveberry
Original Author

13 years ago

You guys are awesome.

Ok, so, for now I've cut off all water. It's still rainy here this year, so there some natural water, and there are some other planting around them (ferns) which are getting some supplemental water, so I bet the bamboo will get a little bit from them anyways. Beyond that, though, no water at all for now. I got some general fertilizer and am going to till it in a bit, give them all a bit of a quick squirt to get the fertilzer going, and then leave it alone. Is it a good idea to clean out he sick canes? Will it help push new fresh culms out if I thin it a bit? Or should I just remove the obviously dead (grey and brittle) canes and leave the rest alone?

Also, should I expect the bamboo to defoliate and for these crappy looking burnt-edge leaves to fall? Or will they simply green up?

Thanks so far everyone. Your advice has been invaluable. :)

Comments (8)

alan_l
13 years ago
I don't grow tropicals, but my first thought is to stop watering completely and see if the plants respond in a positive way. Do the tropical clumpers curl their leaves when drought-stressed? If so, I'd wait until you saw that, and only then water.
citysides
13 years ago
I don't have any advice, but I would be interested to hear if others do. I am pretty much in the same situation...we planted a bunch of 25 foot bamboo in November and they all look awful. One in particular looks completely dead. They were expensive and I am hoping that they make it. I was told by the person who sold and planted them for us that all we needed to do was water them in and that was it. We did that, and they looked great until winter when the one started to look like it was dying off.
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kudzu9
13 years ago
citysides-
What bamboo species did you plant? In your Zone, planting in November is probably not the best situation. The bamboo are pretty dormant and do not have much energy to establish themselves in the ground. You should tell the seller what is going on, and that you will be back in touch with him about replacements if you do not have re-leafing in the next month or two.
citysides
13 years ago
No Kudzu...I don't know which species. I am normally good at finding out what kind of plants we have, but I know nothing about bamboo. I do know they were planted for privacy and can grow up to 40 feet tall. Right now they about 20-25' tall.
boomantoo
13 years ago
Sounds like to much water for the area. If the watertable is already high you wouldn't need to water as much. Bamboos don't like wet feet, with the exception of a few species that will tolerate wetter conditions. It really sounds like they are too wet. Let the soil dry out on top of the ground befroe watering each time.
jaderiverbamboo
13 years ago
Read your post. Sounds like a classic case of overwatering. I have bamboo in South Texas (zone 10). I started out overwatering as well. Bamboo does not like to be soaked. If you can, dig down a little ways and look at the node (culm lines). You can visibly see a drowning plant. All of the tissue will be mushy and brown around the node. You need to let this dry out to try to get some new growth and root, but do not leave it exposed to air after you view it. Cut back your watering drastically. If you see the leaves start to curl in, then you will know it is too dry and time to water again. As to fertilizer - ABSOLUTELY. Bamboo is a grass and so LOVES a very high nitrogen count fertilizer. You can feed it monthly (or less with a slow release fertilizer). You can buy a very inexpensive grass fertilizer like a 32-0-10 or 29-0-0 at Lowes or Home Depot. Make sure it is NOT a weed and feed variety or you can kill the plant. The Scotts sells for $35 for a 50 lb. bag or $13 for a smaller bag. For my full grown, 5-foot diameter plants, I put a full coffee cup per plant. If your Alphonse Karr plant is new and about a 5 gallon size, I would put 1/4 to 1/2 coffee cup of the fertilizer spread all around the plant, not just directly on the roots, and maybe a little more after you see it start to respond. Water a little to soak it in and then watch the leaves turn brilliant green over the next couple weeks. If you have a high alkaline soil, you can also add a few minerals like Calcium and Magnesium, or just some garden sulpher. That's why I buy the grass fertilizer with added 2% sulpher. If it looks like you are going to lose the plant, I would dig it up and let it recover in a mix of 1 part sand, 1 part peat moss and 1/4 part compost until it starts to shoot again. Remember, it likes full sun 5-6 hours a day. Good luck. Alphonse is a beautiful peach-shooting plant!
kudzu9
13 years ago
steveberry-
Less fiddling around will be better than more. Give the bamboo a rest. If you want to prune out clearly dead canes for aesthetic reasons, that's fine. Other culms may come back if they are not too far gone. Whether you prune or not right now, it will unlikely influence the bamboo to do anything different. As for compromised leaves, let them be. They are not going to green up, but if they have any photosynthetic capacity left, that may help. If they die, they will fall off and be replaced. Your bamboo knows what it needs to do. Unless you smother it with too much attention, it may just recover....