Gardening Tool - How To Grow Bamboo

How To Grow Bamboo

Bamboo is a mysterious and elusive plant that baffles taxonomists who try to contain it within a botanical class and gardeners who try to contain it within a limited garden space as they learn how to grow bamboo. For many years, bamboo was thought to be a primitive grass but recent DNA testing has shown it to be one of the most highly evolved forest grasses. There are over 1200 forms of bamboo that grow in a broad spectrum of color including the familiar green and gold as well as burgundy, blue and even black grasses. Some varieties of bamboo can grow up to a foot a day and ultimately reach 130 feet tall while the smallest bamboo cultivar attains only six inches of growth.

The first step in learning how to grow bamboo is picking a cultivar and beginning to unravel its many mysteries. While most of us picture tall stands of green and golden canes growing in tropical bamboo forests, bamboo cultivars range from the temperate to the tropical. As well as diversity in cultivar, bamboo has over 1500 documented uses that range from use in construction to the making of acupuncture needles and from agricultural fodder to the making of musical instruments. Until they are cut, bamboos stems are properly called culms and not canes. In India bamboo plants are commonly called the "Wood of the poor" and in China the" friend of the people". To add to the confusion, a cultivar commonly sold as "lucky bamboo" isn't bamboo at all but a type of lily from the Dracaena family!

Unluckily for bamboo, it has the reputation for being an invasive plant, growing from running rhizomes. Although this is true for some cultivars, the most cold-hardy plants don't run at all, but grow from well-behaved clumps with well-established root systems. One thing that bamboo cultivars do have in common is that they are perennial plants. As noted above, some bamboos varieties are temperate and some are tropical. Because its diversity, it's easy to find a suitable cultivar when you want to learn how to grow bamboo. Bamboo cultivars range from those that grow indoors to outdoors, in a garden or in a container, in bright light or shade.

Two considerations in knowing how to grow bamboo successfully are water and air. All true bamboos are grasses and won't grow in saturated soils. They also need air circulation to thrive. In fact, some bamboo growers raise the pots of their small cultivars on chopsticks to provide air circulation under the plant as well as around it. Large pots are often elevated with heavy dowels.

The bamboo is a symbol of long life, strength and versatility for many cultures of the world. Unraveling its mysteries is a continuing source of enjoyment. When you know how to grow bamboo, you'll find that your love for the plant grows as fast as your bamboo does!

About The Author

Hans is gardener and owner of Gardening-Guides.com and Patio-Furniture-Ideas.com.

Car Insurance Rates | Dental Insurance | Health Insurance | Home Owner Insurance | Life Insurance Quote

| 1 |

How To Grow Bamboo
Bamboo is a mysterious and elusive plant that baffles taxonomists who try to contain it within a botanical class and gardeners who try to contain it within a limited garden space as they l...(related: Gardening Tool)

What Is Compost Tea?
Organic gardeners all know compost is fantastic stuff. But now, there's something even better and that's compost tea. If you start with a good compost you'll have a versatile elixir for all your garden needs. Compost tea helps prevent fol...(related: Gardening Tool)

Hot-weather Fish Feeding Facts
Summertime provides the best time of the year to water garden ? and also to be on the alert for high-temperature problems.To remain healthy and continue growing, fish need to get all the nutrients available from the...(related: Gardening Tool)

Mosquitoes In Your Garden? Try Planting These
If you are a serious gardener, you spend lots of time outdoors. And, for sure, you would rather be tending your plants than swatting mosquitoes.While there are many things you can do to keep mosquitoes away, there are some plants that will beautify your yard and help repel mosquitoes.As one more way to keep mosquitoes away from you and...(related: Gardening Tool)

Winterizing Your Pond
For many parts of the country, it's getting to be that time of year again. Time to start thinking about getting your fish and plants ready for old man winter......(related: Gardening Tool)

The Sundial - Garden Ornament Or Exotic Timepiece?
Most of us regard a sundial as an attractive ornament fora park or garden. Their effectiveness as time keepers ishighly variableThat's unfortunate, because it is not at all difficult to ensure that your garden sundial will be an accurate timepiece, provided, of course that the sun is shining.But that will be covered in another article. For now, let's see what a sundial is, and what it is capable of.Sundial HistoryWe forget in this modern age that accurate, affordablewatches and clocks have been around for much less than 200 years.Before then, sundials were one of the few ways to tell the time with reasonable accuracy.Shadow clocks dated at 1500BC are known from Egypt, but the first dials appear to have been Babylonian. The Greeks ...(related: Gardening Tool)

Fish Health In Hot Summer Heat
Summer is over, but for many of us - the heat remains.Here a couple of things to do to keep your fish healthyand your pond clear going into winter. First, rememberto keep your pond well aerated. This is very importantto your fish because the pond water actually holds lessoxygen at higher pond temperatures. So if it's stillhot in your part of the country, keep those waterfallsand fountains running! This will keep your pond waterfull of oxygen, and reduce stress on your fish.If you see your go...(related: Gardening Tool)

Gift Ideas For Bird Lovers
Some of the best gifts you can give to a bird lover are those that have to do with birds! :)Here are a few favorites of all bird lovers:* Bird HousesYou can find a wide variety of bird house designs and styles. Usually anyone that really loves birds also really loves different types of bird houses too. Also, when shopping for a bird house, keep in mind that some bird houses are made for specific types of birds, and others can be used by multiple types and sizes.* B...(related: Gardening Tool)

Choosing The Proper Pond Pump
Whether you have a preformed or a liner pond, a pond pump is a paramount component of any water feature. Stagnant bodies of water attract mosquito infestations, which are a nuisance, and also undesirable, due to the recent outbreaks of the West Nile virus. Therefore, it is paramount that you utilize a pond pump that circulates your body of water.Pumps ar...(related: Gardening Tool)

Mosquitoes In Your Garden? Try Planting These
If you are a serious gardener, you spend lots of time outdoors. And, for sure, you would rather be tending your plants than swatting mosquitoes.While there are many things you can do to keep mosquitoes away, there are some plants that will beautify your yard and help repel mosquitoes.As one more way to keep mosquitoes away from you and...(related: Gardening Tool)

Trust Your Plants - They Know How To Grow!
I've done a lot of container gardening over the years, and one thing is a given for potted plants: it's a life of constant change. Moving around from one part of the garden, patio or sunroom to another, moving indoors and back outdoors again, and of course the inevitable periodic re-potting. It's a wonder tha...(related: Gardening Tool)