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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
 Posted - 22/12/2008 : 09:19:57
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I now have three new bamboo plants after I cut and used some bamboo as garden stakes... oops  I needed some stakes and couldn't find anything else handy so I cut them straight off the plant a few weeks ago... I noticed some nice new shoots growing from the stakes this morning 
I'm going to have to dig them out as they can't stay where they are only about a metre apart and about 30cm out from one of the fish ponds - they are Bambusa vulgaris which grows around 10 or so metres!
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 09:27:19
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A living stake 
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 10:30:21
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Let me know if the stakes have roots as well when you dig them up.
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 10:55:43
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Judging by the length of the new shoots they will have roots. Bamboo is easy to strike from cuttings - we started quite a lot (over 50) at the kid's school to sell, though mainly B oldhamii, but I didn't even think about the possibilty of these stakes 'growing'. That is why I don't understand why bamboo, especially the common ones, are so expensive to buy. I know some are harder to start but many aren't.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 12:02:10
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My neighbour over the road has just bought three from Bamboo Down Under and they were $55 each
Which part of the plant do you use to strike cuttings the older wood or the new shoots.. And how long ago since you cut those stakes I know the growing season here is from November to May so I guess any time in those seven months would be ok, maybe now would be ideal..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 12:20:38
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You need culms that are a year or two old and cut them so each piece has two or three nodes. Put the bottom one or two nodes in a pot of mix or in the ground, leaving the top node above ground. Treat like any other cutting - keep moist - also fill the hollow in the top with water. I can't remember when I cut the stakes - would have been Sept or possibly Oct. They are in full sun but would have been watered regularly as there are plants right next to them that are watered.
The oldhamii we did at school I think was around July or August but we had to keep them warm so warm weather is better, and they took around three months. There should be a lot of info if you google it as that is how I found out for the school.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 13:36:17
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Nice to dream Gail there is no way I could cut anything off ours.
And guess who wont be going near any bamboo again after what he did to his fingers.
Yes I will google and see what I come up with..Thanks.
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 14:54:24
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you did not stick the bamboo p his finger nails  
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 15:14:59
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No I did not do a thing Cheryl 
What happened was Tony did not wear gloves when cutting it down and he sliced across the palm side of four of his fingers on those sharp little things where the leaves grow when he pulled too hard, right old mess he made of his hand too he got a lot of stitches that day..
And a lot of needles He is a brave man I tell you I was the one nearly fainting in the Doctors surgery and he had to drive us both there and back. I was no help at all, I hate the sight of blood 
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 15:17:50
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OMG bet he don't do that trick again, and yeps I don't like the sight of blood either , espec. my own
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 15:23:39
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this is kinda funny, gail.
yeah...why does it cost so much, i wonder? but then again...why do they sell lemons in the woolies? we can't give 'em away.
it also makes me wonder why deforestation/global warming is a problem. we could have the entire planet (almost) reforested by next christmas.
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever! perth, wa |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 15:25:31
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A nice bamboo in a pot dpwn here can cost over $100, bullcrapsI say, my 2 I got for nothing 
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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pitta
head gardener
Australia
1209 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 18:54:52
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Today I was googleing sites for bamboo,the Bambusa vulgaris,the one they call Buddha's Belly .And tonight I look at Gails post all about that very bamboo.The prices I found were too dear for me , the cheapest was $55 without post etc.You can go into business Gail by potting up your garden stakes Pitta.
If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive.
Gwen
Cooktown |
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tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 19:17:38
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maybe gail can mail you a stake or two? LOL.
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever! perth, wa |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2008 : 20:05:06
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I know why Bamboo cost so much because they are too hard to dig up and divide that plus they only seed once in a lifetime then die, so I should imagine most bamboo are grown from cuttings or rhizomes so more labour intensive.. And it also takes a few years before they take off, so they have to be watered and looked after in that time.. They might be the fastest growing plant in the world but that's not when they are young..
I had a long chat to the guy I bought mine off in July 2002 when I rang him asking which was the best variety for this area he told me he was selling up as there was no money in bamboo as you don't get your money back. Even those people have to eat, pay for water and put a roof over their heads and all the rest..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 23/12/2008 : 05:00:25
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Pitta, I didn't name the bamboo right it is actually Bambusa vulgaris cv vittata though we do have Buddhas Belly too. This is the plant the stakes are from
The main reason the guy we bought most of our bamboo off was closing down because of the drought as his dams were nearly dry. He was hoping to get going again eventually if the weather started looking better. I haven't seen him for a while now to see what he is doing (he is a parent at our kids school) but hope he will get back into it. We never paid over $15 for any of ours - a couple were from 2 different little local bamboo nurseries, the rest from this guy's nursery.
Some bamboo cuttings do take a while but some only take a few months just like any other plant. The variety that the stakes are would reach full height in 3 years if planted in the ground now, oldhamii is the same, so is Buddhas belly and a few others we have.
Pitta, I would put one of these 'stakes' in your parcel after Xmas but these ones would be too long to post - about a metre. I will put in a couple of cuttings of different ones though that aren't so long. I'll do a list up later of the ones I've got.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
Edited by - Gail on 23/12/2008 05:04:04 |
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