Got both Atro and Bambusa Lako growing about 4 or 5 miles inland in San Diego. The atro does a little better, but both grow fine for me. I know of an atrovialacea growing less than a mile from San Diego harbor that is doing just fine. Getting them in the ground as opposed to growing in containers will make a substantial difference.

Maybe your biggest problem will be the salt air, if you have it. A number of other bamboos (albeit not black bamboo) do well close to the shore. B. Malingesis (sp?), aka seabreeze bamboo, is one that comes to mind.

P.S. I like the screen name. :)

I have a large G. a. growing in San Diego, close to the airport (am I the one near the harbor? Not sure....) but it's doing fantastic. I'd say, if you have the space, go for it. The tips DO dry out when it's hot and dry out--they are from very humid climes--but being coastal helps a lot with that.

I love it. Grows fairly fast, but really loves the water. In fact, I'm going out to cut out the smaller culms since it's crowding itself, and the G. 'Mei Nung' next to it.

Picked up this old message. I am trying to get a tropical black bamboo, probably either B. lako or G. atroviolaceae down here to La Paz, BCS, Mexico. From this post I see people have them in San Diego. If someone is driving down this way I would be happy to pay for a rooted culm to get started. I could even come up the peninsular to meet part way if necessary.

Darren