Moso bamboo diary 5

Fifth part of the Moso bamboo diary starts a little later than expected. Previous year was slow and there was not much happening with bamboo in my garden.

Below are links to the previous parts of this mini research I`m doing with moso bamboo. I`m glad that so far bamboo has shown good growth rate over the years. Keeping in mind that they are all grown from seed it is great to keep track of them and observe their progress. Seed was start in 2011. and from then onward some of the stems grew beyond 3 meters in height and almost an inch in diameter.

Links to the previous posts:
Moso bamboo diary 1
Moso bamboo diary 2 (moso seed germination instructions at the end of the post) 
Moso bamboo diary 3
Moso bamboo diary 4

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Moso bamboo diary 4

Finally, fourth part of the diary is here. It is nice to know that this little project is helpful to people and encourages them to grow their own moso or other species of bamboo. I hope that one day I will be able to write about fully mature moso plants.

In recent years there are more and more articles on the web about  bamboo which is a great thing because consciousness about bamboo`s application and it`s usefulness is rising.

Links to the previous posts:
Moso bamboo diary 1
Moso bamboo diary 2 (moso seed germination instructions at the end of the post) 
Moso bamboo diary 3

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Moso bamboo diary 3

Third part of my "moso from seed" project begins here. The idea to take photos and write down my observations and activities regarding bamboo growing came in 2011. Since then there was a lot of work done; some successful some not but I learned a lot from and about bamboo. Growing bamboo was and still is enriching experience and there is always something new to be learned.

With this third part of the diary I will continue my online work the same way I did it so far. Approximately every 30 days or less I will update post with new information about moso. If there are any questions feel free to ask and I will answer them according to my knowledge and experience or I`ll refer you to some other sources of information. 

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Fargesia fungosa, yunnanensis and papyrifera

Almost two years after sowing fargesia seed it is time to do a winter test. While searching for experiences regarding fargesia overwintering I came across the same situation as before; not much information scattered all over the internet. So since my fargesias are going to overwinter outside anyhow, I will document their progress and publish it here. That way everything will be in one place.

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Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

A friend of mine introduced me with water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) several years ago and ever since then I had it maybe two times. Since we have cold winters hyacinth cannot survive outside but it also rarely survives indoors. Lack of sunlight is the biggest problem and artificial lights are too expensive to use. It is interesting that sometimes it survives through entire winter and when spring comes it starts to die. Don`t understand why but it is very disappointing to see that.

To me water hyacinth is very interesting looking plant and great addition to ponds and lakes. My biggest reason for wanting this plant is that it looks very unusual and I would like to see it flower :). I hope that this post will end with water hyacinth flowering and producing seed. Since it is hard to overwinter plants seed would be great thing to have.

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Moringa oleifera diary

Moringa is an interesting tree. It can be eaten from root to leaf and it contain very high amounts of vitamins, minerals and proteins. Basically it is a vitamin-mineral-protein factory that produces pills every day for free and most important thing is....they are all natural! That is one of the reasons I decided to plant it.

Since Moringa is native to northwestern India and is tropical tree I will grow mine in container so that I can keep it indoors during the winter.

While gathering information about Moringa I read somewhere that 65-70 liter (17-18,50 gallon) container is best for growing Moringa indoors. The tree itself has deep root because in dry climate it has to go very deep to get to the water, that is why deeper container should be used.

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Moso bamboo diary 2

It is safe to say that spring has finally came. Winter test that I mentioned in Moso bamboo diary 1 has been successful, except the part with mice.

Winter itself was mild so there was no damage to the bamboo planted outside. Since winter officially ended I am opening this new post to continue writing about my bamboo experience. Winter actually closed last phase that I had to do before deciding to plant all moso into the backyard - most of them are in containers indoors. When I find more time I will summarize the most important things that I have learned. 

Today was a very busy day. I had to move some plants from the house into the greenhouse, repair the greenhouse, reorganize plants indoors, water them...Well, by the time I finished it was dark so I couldn`t take any picture.

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Cyperus papyrus

I have big problem when it comes to planting and sowing. No matter what time of the year it is I always have trust that seed/plant will grow. That was the case with papyrus. First seed was sowed indoors in December 2011. and...nothing. But I didn`t gave up, so I sowed more seed and few small and very fragile plants emerged from the soil. The mixture I used was half ordinary soil from the store/half cat litter sand. When seed starts to germinate root is very fragile so the soil must be wet and soft. Germination usually occurred within 7 to 14 days if it is kept in a warm place. Just to mention this; seed is very very tiny so be careful you don`t lose it!

I didn`t have much luck with papyrus first several months. Since it was wintertime there was very little or no sunlight, and daylight period was very

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Rice planting diary

When I got the idea of planting rice in an area that had only seen rice in groceries stores I must admit that I wasn`t sure how it will all turn up. Well, it turned up just fine and left me with question why people stick to growing cultures that they have been growing for decades especially now when you can get the seed very easily. It is much more practical to walk into the store and buy bag of rice but it is by far greater pleasure seeing something you saw grow and develop into strong plant and bare fruit. You will see that growing rice is not problem at all and it is very fun! OK, you have to put some muscle in it at the beginning but later comes the fun part. I have taken general description of rice from Wikipedia since there is no point in writing my own when there is already one well written.

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Summer 2012.

Here are some summer photos...

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Spring 2012

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Lotus from seed

This is how you can grow your own lotus from seed (latin name Nelumbo nucifera). When I started planting bamboos and other plants I wasn't planing on planting lotus until I received 4 complimentary seeds from 1949Store. Those seeds grew into nice plants very fast.

Before weather becomes warm enough for lotuses to grow outside, I am planting few indoors. Later they will be transplanted into big containers. Their root is very delicate so that job must be done carefully!

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Planting containers, sand, water plants

Spring is coming and it is time to prepare for sowing and planting new plants. Old ones are holding very well for now, although it doesn`t mean anything. Plants can sometimes survive the entire winter and then die in the spring; probably from exhaustion.

Spring sometimes also represent time when people spend money on planting containers that are usually used for short period of time: for growing seedlings. It is much cheaper to use what you have at home and make you own containers. I used aluminum foil, sticky tape and a box as a mold. This is the result:

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Winter 2011./2012.

This winter is all but not cold, at least for now. Temperatures are like those we have in spring and plants are loving it, especially those native to warmer climate. Chances that in February snow will cover everything are very high but nevertheless I am very pleased that we are having sunny and warm days. Although all of the plants are inside the house some of them are in heated and some in unheated places. Those that are more sensitive to cold and temperature changes have their permanent place in the heated parts of the house. 

Since winter is almost at its end I decided to sow some bamboo seeds (Bambusa arundinacea, Fargesia fungosa, Fargesia papyrifera). If I had known that winter will be so warm I would have planted more bamboos much earlier.

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Canna indica diary

Canna indica is a annual/perennial plant that has rhizomes and can grow up to 2,5  meters (8,2 ft). It likes rich, soft soil and moderate amounts of water. Drought will slow the development of the plant and it will not reach it`s full potential. The flowers are hermaphrodite so there will always be seeds. 

There are many varieties of canna flower colors in the world. Unfortunately, I only have the red one :( but if luck serves me well there will be some more varieties in my garden.

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Pond making

In 2008 I made my fourth pond. Third pond was too small and too shallow for water lilies so I had to make a new one. In this story I will show how it was made. Note that it is today, four years later still in good condition.

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Moso bamboo diary 1

Recently I bought “Moso bamboo” (Phyllostachys pubescens) seeds and after successful germination I decided to share with everyone their development. Although I will have to wait for years until they grow tall and strong, I am excited because they are alive and growing. Maybe my experience described on this blog helps someone to grow their own. For the beginning I will sum up the most important facts that I’ve learned from many web pages.

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