have one, and a 3-year-old one would have two scars.
The first year after planting bamboo, culms are only a few feet in height. Culms originating during each succeeding year grow a few feet taller than those of the year before until the ultimate height for the species is reached. For the larger varieties this is usually 15 to 20 years. It usually requires 7 or 8 years after planting before canes large enough to be of use are produced.
The flowering and production of seed is a curious and interesting feature of bamboo. When this event occurs, many species die. Whole forests may die, requiring several years for the seedlings or vegetative parts to repopulate the region. Another phenomenon associated with bamboo is the simultaneous development of flowers. All plants of the same species, regardless of age or size, over a wide region will bloom at one time. Plants flower for 2 or 3 years and then die. A few buds usually survive at the base of a plant. The plant must be reestablished from seed or from buds that did not die.
This peculiarity of bamboo is of prime importance from an economic standpoint, for it would be unfortunate after spending time and money in the development of plantations suddenly to find the whole destroyed or so weakened that several years would be required to reestablish them. The flowering is rare, occurring only once in many years.
In reestablishing bamboo after it has seeded, some small shoots appear. These should be left for the first 3 years at least. All the shoots that appear should be allowed to mature. After the grove is once established, only the largest shoots should be permitted to grow, the others being cut as soon as they appear. This thinning process concentrates plant growth into a comparatively few large culms and gradually increases the height and strength of the forest. At Auburn since 1933, three bamboos have flowered, recovered, and reestablished themselves. The whole process required about 6 years.
Bamboo in general requires a moderately moist, well-drained soil of good fertility for best growth. Preferred soils are loams, with best growth made on moist bottom lands. Good drainage is essential, as bamboo will not tolerate a water-logged condition. Bamboo at Camden on river terrace soil has withstood flooding by flowing river water for a few weeks without being killed. Most any upland soil can be used to produce bamboo if it is fertilized. Watering is desirable for maximum growth, but the plant can stand long periods of drought. The hardy species stood severe droughts at Auburn and at Camden without dying, but growth was retarded.
Bamboo has grown at Auburn on eroded Cecil clay soil, but growth was better on uneroded Cecil sandy soil. At Camden, bamboo has grown well on Wickham sandy loam in the river terrace and on Norfolk fine sandy loam on the hills.
Some kinds of bamboo are adapted as far north as Pennsylvania. Others are killed by freezing temperature, hence are only suited to tropical climates. The hardy bamboos will withstand the climate anywhere in Alabama. Temperatures of 5?F may kill the leaves, but new leaves will come next spring or the plant will come back from new shoots. The rhizomes are not killed. Leaves usually remain green throughout the winter.
At Auburn, a temperature of 17 degrees F on March 26, 1955, killed the leaves of several species of bamboo and the culms of several species. In this instance the sudden cold followed a warm period in which the bamboos had begun active growth. The species damaged most had already developed new shoots. In previous winters, they had experienced lower temperatures without damage to the leaves. Some species are defoliated most winters at Auburn, whereas others are seldom damaged. Phyllostachys rubromarginata and Semi-arundinaria fastuosa have never been damaged at Auburn, and Phyllostachys viridis only once in 20 years.
Propagation and Culture
When all conditions are right, bamboo plants are easily propagated. When conditions are not right, however, little success will be obtained. Principal methods of propagating bamboos are (1