A customer recently wrote:
We purchased some bamboo from you last year. We have a quick question about
GIANT TIMBER BAMBOO (Bambusa oldhamii). How big can we expect the diameter of the clump to get. Just want to make sure we have it in a large enough area. The Blue, Black and the Asian Lemon bamboos are all doing well! Will send pictures soon!
My response:
Like all clumping bamboos, Giant Timber will always continue to send up new shoots around the outer edges of the existing plant. That means as the years go by, the circle of bamboo will get bigger and bigger. When you think it's large enough, vigilantly chop off or knock over the new shoots when they emerge in the late spring/summer. Once a new shoot is broken like that, it will stop growing.
If you're afraid the spot where you've placed the Giant Timber will fill up too fast, moving it would be a good idea. But, if you can, wait until December or January to do transplant. By then, all of this year's new shoots have completely grown up and leafed out. Moving a bamboo when it still has young canes often prevents the canes from continuing to develop and results in a loss of potential growth for those particular canes. Also, to make it easier to dig up the bamboo, the night before you plan to move it, thoroughly soak the ground around the bamboo. Wet ground is much easier to dig through.
8/12/07
A customer recently wrote:
"My husband and I were at your farm last winter and bought about 12 bamboo plants from you. They are all doing well, but I've notice on two of the clumps there are black areas around the base of the leaves where they grow out of the cane, and there are these large ants running up and down the canes. I don't see any bugs, so I'm not sure why the ants are attracted to the canes. The ants don't appear to be doing any harm, but they are only on the canes with the black areas on them. Do you know what this might be?"
I answered:
The problem you are experiencing on some of the bamboos is probably sooty mold. Sooty mold is a cosmetic problem that does not hurt the plants themselves. The black areas around the base of the leaves is caused by a nectar secreted by aphids. Ants climb up the culms to reach the nectar and take it back to their mounds. To control the sooty mold, you need to eliminate both the ants and aphids - no small problem in Florida. You can defeat the ants - at least for a while - by applying an insecticide like Spectracide granules or Amdro. You can also use an insecticidal soap to kill the aphids. There are various organic formulas available for this purpose as well. Please remember that this is a cosmetic problem. The plant will not suffer from the aphids or the ants climbing up the canes. We caution you to consider the effects pesticides have on the environment before unnecessarily applying them.
"My husband and I were at your farm last winter and bought about 12 bamboo plants from you. They are all doing well, but I've notice on two of the clumps there are black areas around the base of the leaves where they grow out of the cane, and there are these large ants running up and down the canes. I don't see any bugs, so I'm not sure why the ants are attracted to the canes. The ants don't appear to be doing any harm, but they are only on the canes with the black areas on them. Do you know what this might be?"
I answered:
The problem you are experiencing on some of the bamboos is probably sooty mold. Sooty mold is a cosmetic problem that does not hurt the plants themselves. The black areas around the base of the leaves is caused by a nectar secreted by aphids. Ants climb up the culms to reach the nectar and take it back to their mounds. To control the sooty mold, you need to eliminate both the ants and aphids - no small problem in Florida. You can defeat the ants - at least for a while - by applying an insecticide like Spectracide granules or Amdro. You can also use an insecticidal soap to kill the aphids. There are various organic formulas available for this purpose as well. Please remember that this is a cosmetic problem. The plant will not suffer from the aphids or the ants climbing up the canes. We caution you to consider the effects pesticides have on the environment before unnecessarily applying them.
2/14/07
LITTLE RED RUNNING 'BOO
People often ask how running bamboo grows. Since roots, by their very nature, are under the ground, they are not easily seen and difficult to imagine. But recently some red bamboo (Semiarundinaria fastuosa) appeared in a section of our property where we had recently cleared away several feet of soil. Since the ground had been disturbed, a nearby section of red bamboo sent runners out into the open space. While some of the roots are anchored in the very dense cayola (white clay) soil, others are exposed providing an unusual opportunity to see exactly how a running bamboo grows.
If you look closely at the photo above you will see how the rhizones have spread in a straight line toward the open space. Every 4 - 6 inches a shoot has begun to reach upward, looking for light. Since the soil is so dense and lacking in nutrients in this location, the shoots are relatively short - less than 4 feet tall while only a few feet away, where the ground has been enriched with soil amendments, the same plants have stretched upwards of 15 feet.
People often ask how running bamboo grows. Since roots, by their very nature, are under the ground, they are not easily seen and difficult to imagine. But recently some red bamboo (Semiarundinaria fastuosa) appeared in a section of our property where we had recently cleared away several feet of soil. Since the ground had been disturbed, a nearby section of red bamboo sent runners out into the open space. While some of the roots are anchored in the very dense cayola (white clay) soil, others are exposed providing an unusual opportunity to see exactly how a running bamboo grows.
If you look closely at the photo above you will see how the rhizones have spread in a straight line toward the open space. Every 4 - 6 inches a shoot has begun to reach upward, looking for light. Since the soil is so dense and lacking in nutrients in this location, the shoots are relatively short - less than 4 feet tall while only a few feet away, where the ground has been enriched with soil amendments, the same plants have stretched upwards of 15 feet.
2/3/07
EARLY SPRING
Although it is only the start of February, many of the running bamboos have already begun to send up new shoots. The warm winter seems to have fooled the plants into thinking it's spring.
Normally bamboos don't send up their new shoots until the weather warms up in late spring/early summer but this years seems to be the exception. The running varieties of green and red hedge bamboo have been the first to send up new canes here at Bare Lake Farms and I expect to see other running varieties doing the same over the next few weeks.
To encourage new growth in your own yard, this is an excellent time to add organic matter to areas where you want your bamboo grove to expand. A top layer of compost, manure, peat, grass clippings, leaves or other organic matter spread around existing plants will encourage those plants to send out more new shoots.
Although it is only the start of February, many of the running bamboos have already begun to send up new shoots. The warm winter seems to have fooled the plants into thinking it's spring.
Normally bamboos don't send up their new shoots until the weather warms up in late spring/early summer but this years seems to be the exception. The running varieties of green and red hedge bamboo have been the first to send up new canes here at Bare Lake Farms and I expect to see other running varieties doing the same over the next few weeks.
To encourage new growth in your own yard, this is an excellent time to add organic matter to areas where you want your bamboo grove to expand. A top layer of compost, manure, peat, grass clippings, leaves or other organic matter spread around existing plants will encourage those plants to send out more new shoots.
9/3/06
POETRY IN MOTION
While the hot, rainy weather this August may have caused all but the most diehard Floridians to seek refuge in air-conditioned rooms, the bamboos loved as much heat and humidity as they could absorb.
Ralph kneels beside two emerging shoots of vivax, a running bamboo. Vivax is a slow runner - that's not an oxymoron - with canes that will eventually grow to a diameter of 5-6 inches
It is during these steamy, hot days that you will see above ground bamboo growth. For most of the year, the roots of these giant grasses are steadily growing underneath the soil without any visible proof that much is happening. Only when the weather warms up - during late spring for running bamboos and early summer for clumping varieties – can you truly see signs of growth.
A close-up of the intricately patterned and curly tip of a new vivax shoot.
It is then that cone-shaped new shoots pop through the ground looking much like asparagus spears in a giant’s garden. In the short period of two to three months, those baby ‘boos will skyrocket to their full height – up to 70’ tall for some 
varieties.
Sherry stands next to two-week-old vivax shoots.
A few days ago, I had a call from one of our customers. His bamboo had been in the ground for several months and he wanted to know what was happening to his plants. Several tall stalks had appeared but they didn’t seem to be leafing out. Had he done something wrong, he wondered.
The tall stalks he saw were this year’s new growth. Although it takes a short time for new canes to reach their full height, it takes much longer for them to leaf out. Bit by bit over the next few months the leaves will unfurl, culm covers will fall off and the new canes – usually thicker and taller than last year’s growth - will take on 
the same appearance as their older counterparts.
Now is the time - as the flush of summer heat subsides - to enjoy the beauty of contrasts. One plant – two looks. For a short time, bamboo provides the best of both worlds – the promise of what’s to come together with the pleasure of what is. If that isn’t poetry in motion, what is?
A young clump of Asian Lemon Timber Bamboo (Bambusa eutoldoides viridi-vittata) sends up new shoots that are taller and thicker than last year's growth. Asian Lemon is a large-caned cold-hardy beauty whose bright yellow canes are accented by wide green stripes.
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