How deep should i plant my bamboo?

Question

I'm having trouble with my first "stalk" the leaves turned brown and are crispy the stalk i got today looks a little healthier but how can i help insure it will grow

Answer 1

Plant it where you don't want it and run!!   lol.

Do you really want Bamboo???? It is virtually uncontrollable once it is established. It will go where it pleases. Come up 30' from where you want it. Grows 6' a day. Come up in your lawn, and the other side of the house.

I suggest you keep it in a container and not let in come in contact with the ground.

Now, if you are just getting shoots, do they have roots? I would take a piece of viable root without the shoot any day. Or buy a planted plant already growing in a nursery somewhere.

Generally plant it the same depth as it was originally. Keep it watered, daily at first, then every other day, and so forth.  

Answer 2

Bamboo grow from rhizomes, underground stems. This website http://www.farminfo.org/othercrops/bambo... says 45 cm depth for the rhizomes (The one I planted actually has the top of the rhizome showing).  It is important to know if your bamboo is clumping or running.  

             Running Bamboo need a barrier or they will take over your whole yard (digging them up is very costly and long once they get established). Plus they need to be planted deeper than clumping. They are the bamboo that give all bamboo a bad name.

            Clumping bamboo stay in a clump and radiate outwards, they are used for wind screens and blocks because they are very thick and get very tall, so you need some room if you want to plant it.

            Also, make sure that this is true bamboo, the lucky bamboo sold in stores is not true bamboo it is part of the dracaena family (Dracaena sanderiana) and they do not have rhizomes.  

            Stem cuttings from bamboo are less successful and can take up to year or more to grow.  So make sure it has a rhizome (looks like a thick root) on it.  I had to try 2 times before I figuered this out (the bamboo I planted with little to no rhizome all died), I finally had to dig up a stalk with a rhizome, now it is growing like crazy!Water it, water it,water it, keep it moist. Good luck!

Answer 3

Top Catt is right,,, do you really want that stuff ?  Container grown maybe.  In the yard or garden ?  OUCH.

Here's a true story about bamboo,,,

I lived in central VA for many years.  The church that adjoined my property decided they wanted a privacy screen on two sides to buffer road noise.

Someone suggested bamboo, nice height, dense, maintenance free.  Okay.  They obtained 100 shoots.  Planted them in mid spring without benefit of soil conditioners.

By the following summer the dratted stuff had spread out over 4 acres,,, hill and dale, flat land, wet land, dry upland, no matter at all.  Nearly as bad as kudzoo or crabgrass.  Pull it up, think you have all the root ?  Ha.  You missed a piece and now it is off and running again.

Give it some careful thought before planting that stuff into the soil.