You're in trouble now! Next you'll want to add even more bamboo to your yard, and then who knows where that will lead?

This is my first year growing bamboo, and it seems that every time I turn around there are new shoots jumping up out of the soil! Almost all of my transplanted culms have sent up shoots, and I've even gotten a few shoots from the rhizome plantings.

Josh

beware yardman, kudzu9 knows of what he speaks. so many times I have found myself crawling around counting new shoots only to do it again the next day. I'm up to 12 varieties It started so innocently with a single rizome from a p. aurea golden HELP! somebody stop me.

It is amazing how fast they grow. Every year my black bamboo goes crazy. My neighbors must see me out there everyday looking at them and think I am nuts. Now my Mexican Weeping is going crazy.

This must be the year of the bamboo, as the same thing is happening in my garden. This has been the best year with new shoots in a ten-year-old grove. It moved into power-grow mode almost overnight!

Wow, we've had some very wet tropical weather the last 2 weeks and since the first shoot broke through the soil, the highest ones are now about 15-20 feet high. How tall are these suckers gonna get. They are not even leafing out yet. Is this going to turn out to be "The Little Shop of Horros" (I hope so).

My bananas and cold hardy palms are taking off as well. Even my unprotected Med Fan Palm was cut to the ground in early May, and errupted 2 weeks ago and is now almost 20" tall.

How cool!

Wow, both new plantings are still heading upward. Even with this cool week (70's) they have gained another 3-4 feet and are now over 20 feet high.

They are not yet leafing out, so I may get another few feet out of them.

This is one of the most fun plants to grow!

I've had four new shoots in the past two weeks. The main shoot, four foot tall at this point, is branching (or leafing?), with three smaller shoots a few inches further along the rhizome. Should turn into a nice bushy stand! I can't wait to one day have 20+ foot culms!

hey there anyone, I would be interest in obtaining some of your yellow or Nuda bamboo. please email me I have some "black" indoors in a pot . But my yellow that I got last year looks dead....

please help!

Wahoo!!! I'm having the same wonderful issues as the rest of you:

Compulsive counting
Neck strain (from looking up)
Over-exuberant chortling to anyone who will listen
S-eating grin

My Nigra is to the top of my neighbor's highest window (their lot is above us, and it's a two story house!!!!!!) This time next year we won't even be able to see them. Our goal of backyard privacy is finally at fruition.

Every day it's "honey look! and there! and there! and did you see! yes, that one!!! I saw it too!!"

Well, IÂm still crawling on the ground, searching, and waiting, here in Colorado. No shoots yet. Of course we did just get another 5 inches of heavy wet snow this morning (May 12), so I guess my bamboo knows what itÂs doing, holding off.

IÂm expecting to see SOMETHING within the next week or two, so my neighbors can expect to see me crawling around the back yard from now till the end of the month.

By the way, my Decora weathered the winter beautifully covered with plastic and bent over near the ground. Only the leaves which were actually touching the plastic (and as a result wet all winter) have any damage. IÂm anxious to see if all the photosynthesis itÂs been up to over the last 3 months will result in some taller culms. All my other bamboos are completely dead above the snow line as usual.

Bruce

Color me jealous (I guess that would be green). 3 varieties planted last year. So far, some leaves but no shoots. I'm so ready for the show to begin. Till then, I will enjoy vicariously through you lucky folks.

Mchaggis, this is my second year growth. Last year I didn't get much of anything. You'll get your turn soon!!!

From what I hear it's
1st year = sleep
2nd year = creep
3rd year = leap!

Silversword, I'm sure you're right. I'm feeling a bit more patient this year than last, since I've been able to watch so much leaf growth. The stuff that came up last November but stayed bare is really having an impact now, which is great. That's on 3 clumps of bambusa dolichomerithalla "silverstripe" which was planted last May. I put in 3 3-gallon pots, each with about 3 small culms. We got over 30 bigger shoots between them last year! If that is "sleep", then holy moly.

Still no new shoots so far this year. The other 2 clumps are yin-yang (emeiensis viridiflavus) and "wamin" dwarf buddha belly. Those were both planted last November, so I'm hoping the roots had a chance to build up some steam. The yin-yang had 3 new shoot tips poking from the pot last year. Two of those survived a brutal winter and have sprung up quickly in the last month--but they are small "2009-size". I may spend a few more weeks in forced patience, but when the shoots finally come up, I hope to be flabbergasted! The wamin was a 7-gallon and I'm crossing fingers that it will horrify me with giant lumpy spikes. :)

How often do you water? My DH is convinced he has to water every day...

It looks like this post is a support group.
I go out an count too. I get home late from work, its dark. I go out with a flashlight.
My B vulgaris has a huge 3-4 inch shoot coming up. Im so excite. Ill post some photos. Its up to over a foot.

2 weeks later, still no new shoots. The silverstripe didn't start shooting until around the 3rd week of June last year, so it's not necessarily late just yet. Still, I had kinda hoped that maybe the yin-yang or dwarf buddha belly are earlier shooters. The jury's still out on that one.

Silversword, to give a late answer to your watering question: We have an irrigation system that hits the back yard twice per week around midnight. I'm trying this year to obey the local restrictions for water conservation, so that's the legal limit. I do occasionally soak just the boo with a hose, and any time my son gets sick of the kiddy pool I empty a few buckets around the clumps. We have also been getting rain almost daily for the last week or two. I may not be spraying them as obsessively as last year (and last year saw a huge rainy spell), but they aren't getting dried out by any means. They are full and green...just no shoots yet.

I know the yin-yang is a fairly new and uncommon variety. Anyone else have wamin (dwarf buddha belly) in zone 9? When does it typically shoot?

My B. vulgaris 'wamin' usually shoots in July. The tropical
clumpers are different from the 'runners'. Your B. emeiensis
will also probably shoot again later this summer, it sounds
like yours put out some 'survival shoots' due to the cold
winter we had.

Finally some action! One shoot on the silverstripe. Hard to say how big it is, since the point is still making its way out, but it's a step up from last year for sure. Let the games begin! :)

stonecrabber, thanks for the input. That gives me some reference for the new additions, which are still shootless. Those first 2 emeiensis shoots were actually visible when I planted last November...like 3 pencil points. One never grew, those other 2 seem to have topped out much shorter than the one culm that was present. It's been interesting to watch how differently they come up from the doli silverstripe--the doli grows to full height, then slowly starts branching and leafing from the top down. The "yin-yang" shoots were leafing as they grew and had small branches by the time they reached full height. Is this because they were waiting all winter? We shall see when the next ones come up I guess!

So excited to see how fat the wamin will shoot. Pics I've seen from other folks look freakishly thick. Can't wait! :D

I have a nice clump of Wamin in zone 9b (Vero Beach, FL) but no shoots yet this year. Guessing it will start pretty soon. Maybe two more weeks? We'll see. Had such a cold winter.

plumeria-
How long has it been in the ground?

Mine is going crazy also, 2nd year in the ground. It was bought at the flea market so I've no clue what it is. If I post a photo can you tell what kind it is?

hankua-
Quite a few bamboo look alike, and quite a few have unique characteristics. Post some pictures (shoots, culms, leaves, and overall appearance) and we'll see...

Just an update: 2 weeks after the first shoot appeared, it is almost chest height and a good inch thick at the base (at least twice what that clump produced last year). Between the 3 clumps, there are now 18 large shoots and counting. This is a MUCH more explosive start to the season than last year--which started slowly 2 months after planting and continued to accelerate through autumn. I'm wondering if the fast start will taper off by comparison to last year? If it accelerates from this, then this is gonna get pretty crazy! ;)

Meanwhile, "yin-yang" and wamin are gently leafing and biding their time...

Hi every one; have you find out if the bamboo grow all over the yard, how to you stop it? thank you!