What time of year do you plant bamboo? Spring? After the last frost?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), April 24, 2001

Answers

I am not quite sure. The only information my book gives is that you can start it from seed and set it out when its 'well established.' Not much help.

They flower in January and February, if that helps any -

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), April 24, 2001.

My first response is "NEVER"....

I have planted it after the last frost and in the fall before the first one. Did just fine both ways.

Perhaps you have seen my other posts re: this, but I have regretted the planting of it. Please read all the posts re: bamboo on this site for a balanced opinion.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), April 24, 2001.

I too would not recommend planting bamboo. Once it gets started it will take over and is very difficult to get rid of.

-- jennifer (schwabauer@aol.com), April 24, 2001.

I understand the warnings about how it takes over. I'm prepared to try that risk. If they get out of hand, I plan to put a strong fence around it and pigs in the fence. I'm told that that will take care of the bamboo.

So... bamboo should be planted in cool soil, right?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), April 25, 2001.

From my book:

For a comprehensive look at bamboo, including uses worldwide, see The Book of Bamboo by David Farrelly, available from Ecology Action, 5798 Ridge-wood Road, Willits, CA 95490. Another source of books on bamboo is Endangered Species, P.O. Box 1830, Tustin, CA 92681-1830. Two they don’t carry are Bamboo on the Farm: Increase Farm Income by Growing Bamboo, available from Bamboo Press, 322 North 82nd Street, Seattle, WA 98103 and Bamboo as a Cash Crop, available from New World Publishing, 3085 Sheridan Street, Placerville, CA 95667. A newsletter is Temperate Bamboo Quarterly, 30 Myers Road, Summertown, TN 38483- 9768.

Volume 21, Number 2 of Farm Show (800-834-9665) includes an item on a farmer who says he may be the only commercial bamboo farmer in North America. He sells all of the production from his current three acre plot for $2 per pound and expects to still sell everything he produces when he expands to six acres. For additional information on ‘bamboo farming’ contact the Oregon Bamboo Company, 278 Taylor Street, Myrtle Creek, OR 97457 (541-863-6834).

Not all bamboo species are spreaders, they range in size from oramental grasses to giants and can grow in many areas of the U.S. Your local library may be able to get you a loaner copy of some of the books.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), April 25, 2001.

As said above, check the archives. There are three articles in "gardening, general" and one in "trees" (classification, Ken?). People seem to have slowed down on this - must have got tired of answering the same questions over and over.

As Ken said, there are two types of bamboo - running (invasive), and clumping (non-invasive). The right time to plant running bamboo is about two years after the people who were thinking about planting it have been planted themselves - this for the good of the world. Clumping is OK. There are variants of either type which will grow nearly anywhere, sometimes needing other shelter (forest, for instance). Check out lists as mentioned in the archives on different types, their qualities and requirements. One thing to note is that some people appear to think all bamboo shoots are edible - not so. Some are high in cyanide, some are just not worth the trouble. Types vary too in usefulness for timber, and durability inside and out.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), April 26, 2001.

Don:

Technically bamboo is a grass, not a tree, which is why I have been putting them under Gardening - General. The one under trees slipped by. Will move it next time I do housekeeping.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), April 26, 2001.

Ken, thanks for the excellent info. I'll dig up those books. What is your book?

Don, I may be the guy that started a lot of those threads, but the questions I'm asking now were things that were not covered in those threads (I think). Is there a search facility that I'm missing?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), April 26, 2001.

Paul:

"My book" is the one I self-published on How to Earn Extra Money in the Country. It is still available as a free e-book upon request.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), April 26, 2001.

I would like to take a look. How much do you want for the printed book?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), April 26, 2001.

Paul: It is only available as an e-book now. Will send you a copy. You are welcome to print it out. - Ken

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), April 26, 2001.

Ken, Can I have access to 'How to Earn Extra Money in the Country' too? Thank you!

-- Marsha / GA (CaprisMaa@aol.com), April 28, 2001.