Arundinaria gigantea is a type of bamboo and can be distinguished from other bamboos a number of ways. Gigantea has no sulcus, initially only 1 branch, and very short, stiff branches. After time the plant will develop many branches at each node. Grows to be around 25 feet by 1.5 inches in diameter, though there is a large degree of variation between clones.

Barb, we do have several varieties of bamboo growing, but the projects made with the BIG stuff (the canisters, for instance) were made some years ago with bamboo Mark found growing in a wild area. There are quite a few varieties which will get that big around (or more) over time. One of the ones we ARE growing has new canes at least 3" thick already. It's clumping bamboo, though, and whenever any canes grow out a bit too far, I just cut 'em off. I have designated an area for it, and I don't plan to let it get wider than that area. Running bamboo, we mostly grow in containers. It's my favorite, actually, because I love the leaves all the way to the ground. But I don't want it popping up 20 feet away from where I planted it, so it stays in pots. We have some Buddha's Belly, too, but the one we have doesn't get real thick. It DOES make beautiful, sculptural looking canes (kinda short, so far) that look good as decorative stakes in potted plants. Marcia

Mario: LOL. You're the one who started this thing and you wait until now to come back in? Anyway, those "pruners" were put to good use in my script. However, I am surprised that you neglected to mention that the commercial ergonomic model you displayed also comes equipped with tools for farmers. . . it's called a "tractor beam". spectre

That's very interesting because that happened to me last year. To be fair, the wilt that happened to my tomato plant was not unheard of in my garden, but the timing was very suspicious. In my case, I had bamboo stakes in the ground already but added a cross brace for my staking system that rubbed part of the plant. Put it on one day. Within 2-3 days the entire plant was wilted. Here are some things I pondered: 1) It was just a coincidence and my plant was about to get wilt anyway. 2) The stake was a carrier of some wilt disease - fusarium, verticillium, bacterial wilt - or had something toxic. In my case, I believe the stakes were from China and they were dyed green. I no longer use the green ones just in case it was something about the dye, and I try to source from the US just out of unfounded paranoia. 3) Bamboo itself is a carrier of some wilt disease. I haven't researched it, but since bamboo is a living plant, it certainly wouldn't be out of the question. In your case, it's possible that you already have some wilt disease organisms in your soil and by putting the stake in - bamboo or not - you damaged some roots which allowed entry by whatever organism is involved. It's my understanding that as tomato roots grow they experience micro-injuries anyway, as part of the growing process, that are sufficient to allow entry of wilt-causing organisms, so perhaps this just hastened things. Or.... There could be something about bamboo. I've used it from day 1 in these beds and I've struggled with wilt issues every summer. I ultimately decided it was because of walnut tree roots underneath my beds (there are some), but I can't say that I'm completely sure. On the other hand, I've used bamboo stakes in potted tomatoes and have not had wilt issues there. But is it possible that some stakes carry it and others don't...? Maybe. Anyway, the main point is that, yes, I had a similar enough experience with bamboo last year that I questioned whether there was a connection between bamboo and wilt. It was probably just coincidence, but who knows? Sorry for such a long post!