If they survive, they may not put up new growth for a year or two. If the leaves drop and the culms turn tan, the root mass may be dead. Instead of topping, you should leave the culms intact and stake the bamboo. I typically drive three stakes into the ground in a circle around the base of the clump and a couple of feet away, and then tie the culms to them with twine.

Hey Seagal,
You and I live in the same state and zone. Sounds like you're doing fine (i'm no expert). When you dig the hole for the bamboo to be transplanted to, are you digging it bigger and filling it with good soil (manure etc.)? Are you keeping it watered? Make sure you don't leave any air gaps between the roots and the new soil (bamboo roots hate air pockets in my opinion). Cutting the top will definitely help I think. I do know an expert in bamboo who does not cut the top off, but I find that the shorter I cut the bamboo, the faster new shoots will appear, and the cane seems to lose health when left full length (only in my experience). But if you can remove the cane with root and immediately replant, then chances are definitely better of survival, but I wouldn't leave it full length unless I could keep it in the shade for a month. Are you digging up the rhizomes with a shovel? I use just a sawzall with a 12 inch pruning blade. No shovel. Sorry if that goes against the norm, but I have removed good sized clumps of bamboo in a short afternoon, with just a sawzall, cutting deep in to the ground all away around the bamboo root. If you could water the bamboo you're digging prior to removal, that would be a good thing in my non-expert opinion. When you divide bamboo from a pot, you're able to leave attached all the fine roots attached to the rhizome, so leaving the entire cane (culm) in tact is very safe, but when removing from the ground, you won't be able to get all of those roots attached to the rhizome, so the leaves usually suffer. Here's the bad news. I have removed bamboo that had Brazilian Pepper trees growing inside the clump. However, that particular species of bamboo was fernleaf, so being a small bamboo might not have been strong enough to keep the trees away. Maybe a bigger species will do it. Here is a picture of some wamin that I cut out of the ground. I was able to get that wamin along with the rest of the clump out of the ground (12 big culms) in one hour. And i'm not as young as I used to be.

Thanks for the info. Im amazed and delighted The new shoots on the rhizomes I cut last week are allready starting to grow. Everything I read said they would probably abort. I cut them out with a japenese pull saw because there was no electricity to use my sawzall. I cut big root balls about 75-100 lbs each they were in wet sandy soil so I was able to get alot of intact roots. I prepared 4' diameter circles of soil with lots of horse manure and compost to transplant them to. They were out of the ground no more than 45 minutes and kept moist the whole time. That warmin looks awsome. I have just recently become fascenated with bamboo. I am getting some Oldhamii today to add to my bamboo wall. Do you have any Ideas about some good companion ground covers to help keep the ants away from the bamboo? I saw a suggestion of callisa repens on another thread but dont know how to get that in florida.

I also am in Florida, 9b, Im on the west coast.
I do all my transplants in the fall, it gives it some time to root. I have never cut down or back the transplants either. One year after my last transplant, I have new shoots coming up. They are smaller but its new growth.
I think that if you keep the plants well watered during the dry season, you will have no problems. I have had a few that completely died back to the ground (single shoot transplants). I left them in the ground and 1/2 of those sent up new shoots. The particular one Im speaking of is chungii. So even if they look completely dead, give them a chance (a year+), lots of stuff going on underground.

In my experience, ants do not harm bamboo. They are usually only present if there are a lot of aphids and the ants are collecting the sugary aphid secretions. You can easily control the aphids with a jet of water, or by spraying them with soapy water. What's your particular concern about ants?

I am also on the west coast. My concern about ants is I have seen black sooty mold on some of the larger stands of bamboo in my area so I figured there are aphids. Even if it doesnt harm the bamboo it just looks bad. Spraying them with soapy water will be no problem while the bamboo is small but not when it is 40 feet tall. Thanks botanical Bill Im glad you told me to give them time. I will give them the year and look forward to new shoots in the spring.

seagal-
If you are worried about black sooty mold, your concern is the aphids, not the ants. The ants will actually remove at least some of the source of the mold. A plain old jet of water from a hose will knock off many of the aphids, even if they are 40 feet up. You can also get a spray bottle attachment for the end of the hose that you can put soap in.

Hey Seagal,
Here is a picture of bambusa multiplex fernleaf growing with callissia repens as a companion plant. Multiplex fernleaf, in my experience, always gets sooty mold. This fernleaf has none and not one ant in sight. I agree with kudzu that you can mechanically remove the problem. I just like to grow callisia repens with it because it's beautiful, it works as a living mulch and it has kept away ants. I'm the one who posted about callisia repens. You can find it at lowes or home depot. It's called turtle vine, hawaiian inch vine or bolivian Jew. It's normally grown as a hanging house plant. My opinion of sooty mold is that ants farm the aphids for their excrement and for some reason, it does create a lot of mold. It is believed that it has no growth effect on the bamboo, but I'm going to humbly differ with that. My fernleaf grown with turtle vine is bushier than any fernleaf i've seen growing with mold. Just my opinion. I have not used soapy water, so maybe thats a better way, but I prefer prevention rather than treatment. From what you've said about transplanting, I don't think it could have been done better. I'm sure your bamboo will do fine. Now, although many species are prone to sooty mold, I don't think Wong Chuk or Oldhamii have issues with it. But Wong Chuk is a Textillis, and I've seen a textillis with sooty mold (bambus textillis 'RG' Rockledge Gardens), so it is a possibility. But in my opinion turtle vine will remedy that issue. Your new rhizomes have not died because you took so much root mass with the culm. I had angel mist shoot five days after removing it from the ground and all shoots lived. As far as what you read about bamboo, I always say there is no steadfast rule with bamboo and there is an exception to every bamboo rule.
Good Luck!

Thankyou for the info on the calissia repens Is looks beautiful and I am definantly going to use it as a companion for my bamboo. My Bamboos are starting to sprout new branches now..:-D

Hey Seagal,
Here is a picture of turtle vine. I started with a good handful of clippings I pulled out of a friends compost bin. Within a year it had multiplied a hundred fold, probably more. All you have to do is throw clippings on the ground and it will start growing immediately (literally).
Turtle vine does not have an extensive root system. It actually has short, thin tap roots that help hold it in place, while it actually "runs" above ground, spreading by it's stolons. It does not climb vertically, but it will perk up to about 12-18 inches. It's typically grown as a hanging plant. In a one gallon pot, it will drape down 4-5 feet.
Some have said it's invasive, but it's a soft vine easily pruned barehanded. And if you're tired of pulling weeds, plant turtle vine where weeds grow and it will eventually take over. However, it won't grow up a plant so everything taller than turtle vine prospers from this companion plant, that doesn't compete for root space and keeps ants away. If you ever need to remove turtle vine it's easy and it doesn't resprout from it's roots.
If you can't find it for sale, let me know. I'll mail you a bag of clippings.
Good Luck

Hi Jonifarr I cant find the turtle vine anywhere I would love to get some clippings from you. I live in charlotte county are you nearby? How do I contact you by email?

check the link to mail order from amazon.
In fort myers there is a nursery on bayshore blvd (exit 142). Try them, they seem to have a very good selection.
http://www.bayshoregardencenter.com/

On palm beach blvd (exit 140) there is another nursery, riverland, again, good selection. It seems these mom and pop owned nursery have better selections.
http://www.mapquest.com/places/riverland-nursery-fort-myers-fl-4672081

The last place I can think of is that educational nursery on Bayshore (exit 142) on the east side of I75. Its called ECHO
http://www.echonet.org/

Here is a link that might be useful: amazon

Thanks Botanical Bill, No luck on the turtle vine yet but Riverside nursery looks like an awsome place to visit. Ive been to echo I love that place.

jonjfarr@hotmail.com is my email. Send me your address and i'll mail you some clippings.

jonifarr-
Just a tip: I suggest you not put your personal email in a post for millions to see and for more spammers to collect. There are better options: 1) going into your GardenWeb Profile and checking the box that allows other members to contact you by email. Once you do that, it will show up as an option on your "My Page" link and you can have email exchanges without your address being revealed, or 2) privately emailing the person who wants your email address, since the majority of GW members seem to have enabled email exchanges on their "My Page."

After you read this, If you are concerned about having published your email address, use the edit feature that is now available to remove that info from your post.