Adventures in Bamboo Propagation 2005

Here I've skipped ahead to 2005. So far after almost 2 years of attempting bamboo propagation from culm and branch cuttings my guess is we are at almost a 50% success rate with three different species. This year I will make my first attempt at propagating my Bambusa Vulgaris Vitatta, which I am told is also very easy to root using culm and branch cuttings.



March 2005. The cuttings to the right were taken in October 2004 after Hurricane Charlie damaged 2 culms of Bambusa Vulgaris. It was a no brainer to see what I could make of them since they were going to die anyways. Below you will see the some of the results of this attempt.




	These propagations here were also taken in October 2004 after Hurricane Charlie, however, these are a different bamboo. I'm told it is possibly Oldhaami, though not positive. We decided to do something different and just dig holes, put the culm cuttings in the ground, fill with water and see what happened. Much to our suprise we have had quite a few sending up new growth. Hopefully we will be able to dig these up without too much damage to the root system.


April 2005. After noticing new shoots and leaves developing I decided to pull out one and check for root development. Much to my suprise the node was loaded with new roots, some longer than 12 inches long with plenty of secondary rooting! I therefore made the decision to carefully dig up all cuttings we put in the ground and put them in their own pots. All total I have potted 15 new bamboos with 4 more still in the ground that are sending up finger sized shoots!