What should I do about canes that died this winter?

A visitor to our website writes:
Hi Sherry, I live in Lakeland, Florida and have really enjoyed viewing your web site. Your photo pages are very helpful in trying to determine what varieties I’ve been growing.

I have about 10 clumps of what I believe is “Golden Hedge” Bambusa multiplex alphonse karr that I’ve planted from diggings over the last 20 years & it looks great and has been very low maintenance. People who visit my 1 acre property are always amazed when they see it!

We also have a single clump of “Giant” Bambusa vulgaris (I believe) that I purchased about 13 years ago. I really enjoy the tall green canes with their large leaves.

This plant had 2 or 3 small canes on it originally and over the last 4 years it has grown only one cane really fast each summer.

This Giant is usually affected by the freezes that we get each year at the top half.

But this January my family & I were camping at the “Alafia River Rendezvous” during the latest freeze and unfortunately were not home to take any measures to protect the plants.

So now my Giant is brown all the way to the ground.

My question, Sherry is should I cut the Giant canes at the ground or just clip the small branches? It looks bad & I feel like I’ve neglected it.

I’m sort of in a hurry to see some kind of growth activity.

In the past when freezes affected just the top half, it seems like most of the growth on the canes stayed down in the lower half with just minimal signs of life up top.

I’d greatly appreciate any advice you can give and I do plan on visiting your nursery “one of these days”.

My response:
Bambusa Vulgaris, better know as Giant Bamboo, is one of the more tropic-loving bamboos and, therefore, is more susceptible to temperature dips than more cold-hearty specimens. Even in a normal Central Florida winter we would expect some leaf loss and possible cane die-back with this particular bamboo.

This winter was anything but normal. I'm not surprised that even a mature plant like you have got killed back. Our Vulgaris bamboos suffered cane loss too. The good news is, by the end of the summer Giant Bamboo - your and ours as well - will be beautiful again!

All bamboos, including cold-sensitive plants, regenerate from the roots. The cold may kill the canes but it never kills the roots. Any day now you should see some young, thin shoots sprout at the base of the existing dead canes. Initially, the canes will be rather short and leafy but by the time summer comes along larger, taller shoots will have emerged. By the end of the summer your stand of bamboo will look better than ever with large diameter, tall canes bigger than the ones that died.

If it is too much work to cut down all the dead canes, you can leave them. Woodpeckers will drill holes for nests and in the breeze, dead canes will clack against each other and make nice sounds. Don't feel bad about the dead canes. Even if you had been home there would have been nothing you could have done to protect a tall, mature Vulgaris from freezing temperatures.

If you do decide to cut and remove the canes, cut them as close to the ground as you can so your grove will look neat and tidy.

What's the best time of year to plant bamboo?

A visitor to our website asks:
Hi! I've been doing a lot of research on Bamboo and came across your site. First I want to thank you for the information concerning the plants. I think I learned more from your documentation than I have from several other sites combined. That being said. We live on the Eastern Coast of FL and would be interested in what times of year are best to plant the bamboo and in regards to that possibly set the ground work for an appointment to look at the selections you have first hand and ask some questions etc. That's about all I can think of at the moment. Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing back from you as time allows.

My response:
I'm glad you enjoyed our website and look forward to your visit in the near future. Bamboos can be planted all year long but now is an especially good time because the roots have a few months to get established in their new location before summer canes appear. It's the roots that determine the number and size of shoots each year so a well-established root system is important.

The best thing to do is to schedule a visit to our nursery to see our demonstration garden where we have mature specimens of all the bamboos we carry. An in-person visit makes it much easier to decide which bamboo is right for your yard.

When should I trim back cold-damaged leaves and canes?

A customer from San Antonio, FL asks:
I wanted to know if I should trim off the dried leaves on the Angel Mist and Dwarf Budda Belly?. We covered the Budda belly on the cold nights. The bottom 10" is green the rest brown. I gave them a little dynamite fertilizer the other day and plenty of water. Should I just leave everything alone and let nature do its thing or should I trim?. Second question, is now the time to lay down some good compost?. This year I have "Worm Castings" for compost and I'm also growing composting worms, I wanted to go a little more "green" this year. Have you ever tried worm castings? What do you think?

My response:
We're still being cautious and waiting until the end of February to trim but it's probably safe to do some snipping now. As the weather warms, live sections of cane will start to send out new leaves and, of course, as soon as it gets even warmer, new shoots will begin to appear. You can add compost and/or worm castings any time at all. There is no bad time to apply top dressings of organic matter or mulch to bamboo. Good for you for growing worms! That's something I've always wanted to do but never gotten around to setting up. We've had a compost pile for years but no worm bin. Your plants should respond with vigor!

Is Winter a Good Time to Plant Bamboo?

A perspective customer from Orlando, FL writes:
I am considering getting my partner a bamboo plant for Christmas. Is this a good time to plant or should I wait until spring?

My response:
Bamboos can be planted year round. Each season has its own advantage. Bamboos planted in the winter have more time to develop strong root systems in their new location and a well-established root system is one of the most important factors in determining how many new shoots will appear in the summer growth season.

If you wait until spring or summer, you will see new growth almost immediately. That can be very gratifying especially for first-time bamboo growers who are not yet familiar with bamboo growth patterns. But it is also important to note that a bamboo planted in the spring will usually produce smaller and fewer canes during that first growing season than a bamboo planted in the winter, which would have had several months to develop a strong root system.

Why are the leaves on my new plants turning brown?

A customer in Jacksonville, FL recently wrote:
I have a question for you about the giant bamboo and the Asian Lemon you installed a couple weeks ago. I have been watering for 2 hours per day as I was advised. I am seeing that many of the leaves are brown now. Especially on the giant bamboo. Is it possible I am watering too much? They are not curling up so it seems they are getting enough water. I am hoping this is normal part of the shock a plant goes through. We have had some cold nights but only a couple hours below freezing and that might have been 25-27 degrees.

We are happy with the plants overall and look forward to seeing them really grow next year.

My response:
Very often newly planted bamboos shed leaves during their transition period. As you suggested, it's part of the shock of being moved into a new location. It is possible the cold weather might have damaged some of the Oldhamii's leaves. Younger plants of that variety are more susceptible to freezes than the Asian Lemon are but even if that's the case, the plants will recover as the weather warms up. To determine the health of your bamboos, see if new leaves are forming. Even when some leaves brown and fall off after being transplanted or during a cold snap, new leaves are also appearing. Regarding your question about irrigation, as long as the plants are not sitting in standing water, you are not over-watering.

You are right that in a few months when warm weather returns all you bamboos will explode with new growth. It's good to keep an eye on them but it's also important to remember, bamboos are very hardy plants. Even when stressed they will continue to grow.