Sorry, I also would like to know when removing my bamboo from the nursery pot to a larger pot, should I loosen the roots? The guy at the nursery told me I could probably cut it in 3 using a shovel and I would end up with 3 plants. Can someone tell me how to transfer from one pot to another properly?
My Sunset Glow also has some winter dieback on the leaves. Do I remove them or just let them be? There is new growth. Thanks

Sorry, I also would like to know when removing my bamboo from the nursery pot to a larger pot, should I loosen the roots? The guy at the nursery told me I could probably cut it in 3 using a shovel and I would end up with 3 plants. Can someone tell me how to transfer from one pot to another properly?
My Sunset Glow also has some winter dieback on the leaves. Do I remove them or just let them be? There is new growth. Thanks

I'd use a sawsall rather than a shovel. Be very careful though, that you go between the culms and don't damage any new ones. Water well, then take the bamboo out of the pot, do your best to determine where you could split it (in two or three or maybe even four parts), separate the plants with care, and repot.

If it's five feet tall now, it probably won't grow anymore on those culms. The new culms that come out this spring or summer will most likely reach the full height potential, but you may have to wait until next year. Bamboo grows to it's full height potential in one season, so if your stuff isn't actively growing, it most likely will not grow anymore on existing culms.

Hi Silversword, thank you for helping me with my new bamboo. Yes, I will get my husband to use his saw. Could you please tell me what a 'culm' looks like? What is a culm? Is it sort of a root? Do you mean if it's 5' tall now, it has grown its' full potential and will never get any taller? It's suppose to grow to 8' tall. Thanks again for helping me.

The culm is the "stalk"; each culm grows to its full size in 1-2 months the same year it shoots. It will never get any taller. In subsequent years, as the plant gets established, it will put up taller and taller culms until it reaches its full potential. However, it will not size up as well in a pot as it will in the ground. And I doubt it will get to 8' tall in less than a couple of years. Further, if you divide it, you will set it back in terms of its up-sizing. Finally, if you simply re-pot it, don't mess with loosening up the roots no matter how rootbound you think they look: it will not help and may hurt.

Hi Cadence,
Here's a video on division. In regards to total height, I'll use my Nigra as an example.

We bought 15 gallon specimens of Nigra in 2008. There were approx. 5 culms (stalks of bamboo) in each pot. Each culm was around 4-6' tall. We planted the bamboo. Nothing happened for a year. Then in the spring of 2009 we got a bunch of new shoots coming up next to the old culms. The new shoots grew to approx. 10-12' high and stopped. Nothing happened for another year. In 2010 we got a bunch of new culms coming up. They all died. I think it was a really cold winter that never really turned into spring that did it. We didn't have much of a spring or summer last year, it was just cold the whole time. But who knows... :) Currently we have the original culms (still 4-6' tall), the 2009 culms (still 10-12' tall) and we are getting tons of new shoots that have grown several feet in the past week. Some are nearly as tall as the second year growth and there's no sign of them stopping.

I don't know if this year's growth will reach the maximum I'm told to expect in my area (20-25'... even though max height is around 30-35') but I think they'll probably make it to around 18' this year at least.

Once the new culms come out and are fully established I can go in and cut out some of the smaller stuff.

Oh... and the original growth of 4-6' also had culms a little bigger around than a pencil. It's fully black. The second year growth still isn't entirely black (spotted green/black) and it's about as big around as a man's thumb. The growth that is coming out now is about twice as big around as the second year growth and is probably as big around as they will get.

I hope this helps explain what is expected. The cool thing about bamboo is that it doesn't keep growing once it reaches max height potential. So, unlike other plants that you have to keep trimming back (hedges,etc), once your bamboo reaches the height you want it at you can cut it to that height and it will stay like that for the rest of it's life span. All you'd need to do is cut off new culms to that height once they finish growing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo Division

kudzu9 - Thank you for explaining to me what a culm is. Now I know that bamboo's have rhizomes not roots and the stems are called 'culms'. I hope I've got that right.

silversword - I appreciate your explanation on the growth process of your own bamboo. You've really helped me to understand this so much better now. So the culms that are on there right now won't get any taller but new growth could in the next couple of years.

Many of the leaves have turned brown at the tips, but I do see plenty of green growth. Will those leaves eventually turn all brown and fall off being replaced by new ones?

I know I'm really going to enjoy my new Fargesia bamboo. Thank you for the link, it was really helpful and pretty straight forward. Thanks again.

Exactly. Like Kudzu said, your bamboo will grow for a month or two and then stop. Once it stops, that's it. It will not grow any more (up) but it will get more leaves, etc.

I cut the bottom leaves/branches off of my bamboo in several places so you can just see the culms for the first four feet, then it bushes out. The branches DO grow back, so if I want to keep it like that I will have to maintain it.

The leaves may fall off and be replaced but bamboo is evergreen, so it doesn't happen like clockwork or every year, just as the leaves die they are replaced.

You should get new growth (hopefully this year!) and it may be the entire 8'... and then all culms after that should also get to the maximum height.

Glad to be of help. This forum is a great help to me :)

Thanks again silversword, removing the lower branches to expose the culms sounds like a good idea so you can see the color of the culms. Once I get them all planted up, I can show you a pic.

I'd wait until the boo has been in the ground at least a year and the second year growth is fully in before exposing any culms though. Ours is very striking against the fence, but we're going to have to wait on this year's culms to fill in before tidying up again.

I could be wrong, but I wouldn't want to stress the plant too much in the beginning. And I'd love to see pics :)

Awesome. Thanks again silversword, you've really helped me 'big time'

I just bought a Fargesia rufa 'Sunset Glow' and have it potted on my highrise balcony (in Delaware). A few of the leaves have become yellow and shriveled in a day or two (they are away from the sun). The plant gets sun all morning then shade in the afternoon.

What would be the cause of the leave problem? It being a new plant, should it be watered once a day, a few times a week (3-4), etc?

Any other good ideas for this situation?

Thanks

silversword: do you have any photos of your bamboos with the lower branches cut off to expose the culms?

Thanks,

Sure newgen. Let's see if I can post a couple :)