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.

In general about Moso bamboo:

Moso bamboo comes from China and it is believed that it was spread to Taiwan by immigrants in the mid-18th century. Today you can find Moso in many parts of the world; from Canada to Australia.

They say Moso can grow more than 25 meters (82 feet) in height with diameter from 7-18cm (3-7 inch) and can withstand temperatures as low as -23°C (-9°F) (hardiness zone 6). But, the warmer weather and shorter winters the better growth can be expected.

In the ideal conditions it can grow a litle over 1 meter in 24 hours (47 inches), and 24

meters (78 feet) high in 40 to 50 days. For more info use this LINK, and on this LINK you can find excellent photographs of Moso growth speed once it reaches maturity (around 6 years or more).

Many things can be made from Moso, and here is a link to a webpage with many diferent products from Moso: LINK.

Moso likes a lot of sun and it also absorbs a lot of CO2 so by planting it you help stopping overheating of the earth (although bamboo is a small hope in stopping the climate changes it is still a hope and a mean).

Now my story…

Last winter my father’s records say it was -10°C so I hope my Moso will survive. Where I live we have around 8 months of sun and 4 months of winter weather.

Seed arrived on 14th July and the same day I soaked them for 3 minutes in 10% salt water (9 glasses

of water and 1 glass of kitchen salt) and then I rinsed them with tap water and left seed to soak for another 10 minutes.

NOTE: when they started to germinate I noticed that the seeds from which I removed flakes germinated and developed much faster. So, remove flakes (I think it is called flake) before planting.

Since it is July and it is very warm (during the day up to 36°C (97°F)) I soaked the paper towel, placed seed on it and put it into the ice-cream box covering with plastic bag.

After 3-4 days I filled another ice-cream box with 2.5 cm (1 inch) of dirt and lined them up in the same way as they were on paper towel. I just needed them to germinate but I figured that dirt can provide much better environment for seeds than a paper towel can. When I plant I go with my intuition. In the end I covered them with another 1 cm (0.39 inch) thick layer of dirt (do not press down the dirt, just lightly cover the seeds). Then again I placed ice-cream box into a plastic bag and waited…impatiently.

Box with the seeds was opened from time to time to let in the fresh air and 7 days after planting them I poked a little around the seeds and saw that some of them had a root 2 cm long (0,78 inch). The same day I transplanted them into the pots where they will grow until they are 1 year old. I figured that it is a lesser trauma to the plant if I transplant them before they develop big root.

 

When transplanting them, I used two sizes of pots; 1,5 liter (0,26 gallons) and 2,6 liter (0,53 gallons). In smaller pots I planted only one, and in bigger two germinated seeds. After transplanting them I also watered them.

As they develop I will update this post. Now I am waiting for them to sprout out. Then I`ll post some new pictures.

By today, July 24th germination rate is over 70%, and I`m still waiting for some seeds to start growing.

25.07.2011.
Several seeds like this one on the picture have been transplanted into their own pots. These ones were the last since I didn’t have a pot to plant them. Their root is very big.

On Friday 22nd after four days on a wet paper towel I planted additional 30 seed into plastic cups/box.  

28.07.2011.

Yesterday and today the ones that I planted in pots on 24th of July have started to come out. Since weather became a bit colder I put all pots in an old car we have in our backyard. There the temperature is perfect and can be regulated by opening and closing the door. First 3 day after transplanting all germinated seeds into their own pots I haven`t water them. After that I water them slightly; just enough for the soil around them to be lightly moist. Syringe is practical tool to do this.

03.08.2011.

04.09.2011.

16.09.2011.

After a month and a half and after bamboo has developed 5 to 6 leaves first shots of new bamboos will emerge. Keep in mind that young bamboo plants are not to be kept in direct sun; it will burn the leaves and destroy the plant. Seedlings that are yellow from the beginning are especially sensitive to direct sun.

(measurement unit is centimeter)

to restart the slideshow click at the lowest bottom of the picture (if you press play button it opens picasa album in a new window)

15.10.2011.

Bamboos have grown and are growing nicely. Winter is coming so I have moved them into my room, by the window. Unfortunately during the winter sun is weak so I bought metal-halide light bulb and made ballast/starter flowing the YouTube instructions :). It is working at 80W although the bulb is 100W. I am using this light only to help bamboo (and other plants) to overwinter much easier, my goal is not to force them into faster growth or anything like that. (video)

30.10.2011.

For now bamboo is growing well. Some of them are growing very fast. Average temperature in my room goes between 15°C (59°F) and 23°C (73°F) – depends if it is night or day and humidity is around and above 50%. 

They are being watered every 3-4 days. It is amazing that they are very resilient to mechanical damage – if tip is damaged they develop new stems from the nods and continue to grow as if nothing happened. Roots are a bit of a problem because they are going out of the pots through the holes on the bottom - next time moso should be planted into much deeper pots.

The artificial light was too strong for them so at the moment it is not in use. Also, leaf tips started to turn brown – after some thinking I concluded that tap water is too hard (it is known problem) and that light was too bright for them. Now I use only rainwater and natural light. Few bamboos that died much earlier have been replaced with new ones. Although I still fear the winter, I have enough seed to replace those that will not survive the cold months. 

I am still not clear about the yellow-leafed plants. From what I have read in Bamboo for gardens, they might be variations or they might have a root problem (undeveloped or weak root at the time when seed stopped providing the food). For now I have 5 bamboo species (Phyllostachys pubescens (moso), Dendrocalamus asper, Dendrocalamus latiflorus, Fargesia fungosa and Fargesia papyrifera). Seedlings of new species just started to grow and I hope they will survive especially because species like Dendrocalamus asper, Dendrocalamus latiflorus are rare. These last two (if they survive) will must be kept in the house because they cannot withstand temperatures lower than -4°C (24°F) during the winter.

to restart the slideshow click at the lowest bottom of the picture (if you press play button it opens picasa album in a new window)

01.11.2011.

In later germination attempts i had problems with mold. Probably because it is autumn there are more spores in the air so seeds get more easily infected. In search for the solution I took ordinary sand (used for construction) and planted seeds in it. Sand was divided into small cubicles so that every plant has its own germination place and to prevent possible infections that could be transferred from one seed to another. I made small ditches in the wet the sand (approximately double the width of the seed) and then placed seeds in them covering them gently so that air can get to the seeds. After all that I placed them in plastic bag and let them in a kitchen since there is always warm. Sand is good because there are no insects and it has no nutrients on which bacteria and funguses can feed (that is my presumption).  There is no need to water them further because water cannot escape the plastic bag. In 4-5 days first seeds will start to germinate. When that happens (when you see a root that is about 0,5 cm - 1 cm) transplant the seedling into a normal pot with dirt.

Also, bamboo seeds that are not viable will get moldy and root. I had a case where I bought big pack of seeds and almost none of them were viable but with the other supplier that sells smaller packages of seeds I had almost 100% germination rate. From what I have read about bamboo seed, they have very short viability period. If I am not mistaking, moso is about 6 months and some other species are from one month to 12 months. It all greatly depends on storage conditions such as temperature and humidity. People with experience say that one way to prolong the viability of seeds is to put them in a refrigerator. They say that temeprature from 4-6°C (39-42°F) is the best to keep the viability. Apparently moso seed viability can be prolonged from 1 to 3 years. Since winter is coming I stored all extra bamboo seed into a refrigerator so we will see will they survive until spring. Hopefully they will.

Also, and this is very important! Do not store your seed in a plastic bag because they need air. In a plastic bag humidity can cause seeds to become moldy and die. A small paper bag is ideal for seed storing because humidity can be absorbed by paper and there is always some little hole on a paper bag for air. If you do not want to put the seeds in a paper bag at least leave the plastic one open so that air can go in and out.

04.12.2011.

Bamboos are growing nicely. Since it is winter time sun is something that we do not see so often but it seems like that bamboos don’t pay much attention to that because they keep growing. I water them once a week or twice, depends if the soil is very dry or not. Metal halide lamp is also turned on from time to time to help them produce more food. My earlier observation on MH light bulb being too strong and causing leaf tips to turn brown was wrong; over-watering causes leaf tips to turn brown.

Plants have elongated themselves toward the window but I think that is perfectly fine. They are trying to get more sun light. There is no point in turning the pot in a circle to try to straighten the plants since new stems that will eventually grow from the rhizomes will every time be bigger and thicker and these old ones will eventually disappear.

to restart the slideshow click at the lowest bottom of the picture (if you press play button it opens picasa album in a new window)

24. and 25. 12. 2011.

Here are some new photos of my moso bamboos. I have included one photo of Dendrocalamus latiflorus and two of Fargesia fungosa since they are growing amazingly well. D. latiflorus develops new stems much faster than moso under the same conditions (temperature, humidity, lack of light). One moso bamboo has elongated itself up to 50 cm (19.7 inch) because it is reaching for the sunlight which is scarce these days. Before the slideshow I will put one photo that nicely demonstrates how every new stem is thicker than the previous one. They are nicely aligned and it is one of my favorite photos. :)

to restart the slideshow click at the lowest bottom of the picture (if you press play button it opens picasa album in a new window)

12.01.2012.

I have decided to transplant bamboos from the styrofoam box into a milk cartons. People usually throw them away but you can make a good use of them by using them as plant containers. Since my plan is to plant many more bamboos I have asked my friends to collect milk cartons and hopefully by spring I`ll have enough to make my plans reality. 

Well, styrofoam box was a bad idea because bamboo has a very strong root ant it literally went through the styrofoam. By the time I started to transplant them in milk cartons I had no other choice but to do at least small damage to every root while taking them out. Fortunately it didn`t damage the plant because they started to grow after transplanting as if nothing has happen. I would recommend planting young seedling into a container that is deep because root can develop much easier, especially the the strong one that goes first. It is interesting how that main root has a red tip and is very strong :).

29.02.2012.

Winter is at its end and days are much longer. Bamboos are still alive. My decision to place them in unheated part of the house has changed when temperatures outside went down to -20°C (-4°F). Although temperatures in the unheated part of the house never go below freezing point, I didn't want to risk bamboo lives because they are still very young.

Unusually strong sun in January did some damage to the bamboos but that doesn`t bother them too much because they are developing new and bigger shots. Recently I planted new seeds but this time in sand. I tried many different methods that can be seen above but the sand seems like the best method. It captures and releases heat, maintains the humidity and allows seeds to develop nice root before planting them into the soil. Best thing is that germination with sand is almost 90% without any seed disinfection or anything like that and seed starts to germinate in 4-7 days. Some seeds are lazy :) so for them it takes a little longer but with time they germinate.

28.03.2012.

By the time snow melted down and sun came back up I noticed that many bamboos have sustained damage. At first I thought sun burned the leafs but I was wrong, big time. Closer examination of leafs using magnifier and microscope I discovered that bamboos are being eaten by mites. To be exact it was Tetranycus urticae that attacked them. They are really nasty when you look at them under the microscope. First time I saw them I got scared and threw away the leaf I was looking at. It was warm and dry in the house and the mites just thrive in these conditions. What they don`t like is cold, wet weather and high humidity, and of course acaricide. I bought one that kills mites on contact and is absorbed by the leaf to provide longer protection. The damage they have done is irreversible but at least the poison I spray them with killed all of them and prevented them in destroying the plants completely. Before using acaricide to kill the mites I have taken all bamboos outside where temperatures were very low. My goal was to slow them down. There were days where temperature went down to -5°C (23°F) but bamboos were covered with cloth so there was no damage or it was minimal. On two or three bamboos new stems froze to death but the old ones (tiniest and weakest) survived. It is a matter of time before these plants regenerate.

 - mite damage:

After solving the mites problem, and when weather got warmer and relatively stable it was finally time for some of the bamboos to go out of their pots and into the ground. There was a free piece of ground that is not being used for growing vegetables so I declared it to be mine, prepared the ground for the planting and transplanted 18 bamboos into the "school" (place where plants grow for some time until they grow bigger and stronger AND are ready to be transplanted to another location). For now I think they will remain there for 1 or 2 years, depends on how fast they will develop.

I used old Arundo donax stems to provide support to the bamboos since they have elongate themselves during the winter. Weather is windy and a strong wind could make a mess out of them. It has been 8 days now since they are in the ground I see that they are continuing to grow as they did in pots.

16.04.2012.

Last week there were days when morning temperature was -3°C (26°F) so I had to construct some kind of protection for bamboos. They already survived longer period with even lower temperatures so there is no need to put them through that again. Once again I used Arundo donax stems to help me a little:). I also used old sheets and sewing them together created one big protecting sheet with which I cover bamboos every evening.

It is 27 days since I planted bamboos in "school" and it looks like they like the place. Although they have suffered damage in the period before I transplanted them here they are growing new stems and new leafs. Some stem tips that sun destroyed are growing again. It is still to soon to be sure but I think that all of them will survive. Last few days are rainy one and that is a very good thing since soil is very dry. Here are few photos...

Above are some of them. More or less they all look the same but the thing that makes me happy is that they have started to grow. These bamboos are now approximately 9 months old but there is a bunch of young ones planted in milk and juice cardboard this year. Some of the old ones are still waiting to be transplanted. First I must find them a permanent place where they can grow and then all of them will be transplanted.

(one part of the young bamboos planted this year)

    
13.05.2012.

Time flies very fast and I have a lot of work so finally there is one day when I am not to tired to write about bamboos. :)

So, when spring came sun became very strong. This year real spring was skipped over and we got summer heat instead of nice spring weather. In order to prevent soil from drying up to fast and to stop weed from growing I placed hay around the bamboos. Thick layer of hay will rot with time and provide nutrients for the bamboo so it is a good idea. (I hope so)

But, sun created another problem. Bamboo is still young so to strong sun can easily kill it. 

I remove the "sheet" when it is raining; simply shift it to one side. Since soil is wet and bamboo is  better protected from strong sun, I have noticed that they are developing nicely.

One more thing. Under this cloth it is warm but is you stick your head inside the air is humid also. I never close the sides so the air can flow freely but the difference is still easy to notice.

After last weeks rains I have noticed that there are a lot of new stems emerging from the soil. Some thinner and some thicker but I have concluded that plant have adjusted to the new environment and started a new faze of development.


27.05.2012. - 16.06.2012. 

After all the fuss with exams has passed and I sorted most of my plants it is time to continue writing. Photos have been taken often although I didn`t write or post them here. FB  group follows the progress of other plants about which I will write here.

Period from 28.05. to 16.06. was rainy one. More or less there was rain every week and that was very good for the bamboo. The only problem was strong sun between rainy days but as wrote before bamboos were covered with cloth. During this period they grew very well and there was one problem that made me worried and it looked like black spots on the leafs. All bamboo had them and it was unrelated to the place where they grew. It might be due to too much water in soil during that rainy period, I don`t know, but leafs that grew later didn`t have that problem. Anyhow, rain helped them to establish much faster. Rain also encouraged grass under the layer of hay to grow like crazy so I had to weed out several times. Here are some photos...

27.05.2012.

02.06.2012.

15.06.2012.

17.06.2012. - 25.07.2012.

This period was very hard on all plants. Temperatures went up to 38°C (100°F) in direct sunlight but it was extremely hot in the shade also. Bamboo was covered with cloth but heat dried up soil very fast. Hay kept some moist but not enough for bamboo to continue its fast growth. They did grow slowly and I watered them from time to time. Last few days rain came again and they are crazy again :). A week ago I added thick layer of hay because the old layer became thin (it rooted and fed the the bamboo - that is one of the reasons I put it there). I must mention that during one watering I added small, very small,  amount of fertilizer usually used for corn (nitrogen, phosphors, potassium, magnesium oxide - well, I used everything I found in my backyard :D ).  My estimate on amounts would be 1 gram (0,035 oz) of each on 100 liters (26 gallons) of water and half of that water was used for watering lavender and canna indica. I was afraid to use more fertilizer because plants are still young so it might burn the root. On the other hand, bamboo is grass and grass likes nitrogen a lot so it probably helped a little.

It it is very interesting to see how bamboo folds its leafs when exposed to strong sunlight. Sometimes happened that I forgot to cover them in the morning and when came they all folded their leaf but as soon as I covered them they immediately unfolded them.

20.06.2012.

01.07.2012.

25.07.2012.

Comparing the images from the time when they were planted into the field to those taken yesterday they have really grown a lot! Since it is rainy period again and temperatures are between 25°C and 29°C (77°F and 82°F) they started to grow much faster. Now I must support that growth by watering them until autumn so that rhizome becomes strong and big before the winter. 

24.08.2012.

August was and still is very hot. There was no rain for more than 30 days and temperatures during the day went up to 40°C (104°F) in shade. It is the hottest summer ever. Plants are dying and there is almost nothing we can do to save them. Bamboos are watered once a week with 0.5 L (0.13 US gal) of water per plant. Basically I am keeping them alive until we get some rain. Even with this small amount of water they are growing and holding well. Cloth that covers them is sometimes removed in the evening and then put back in the morning. If I don`t cover them they wouldn`t survive the sun because it is unbelievably strong.   

There was one thing I didn`t mention before. On a surface of 56 square meters (602 square foot) I planted 160 bamboos. They were grown from the seed at the beginning of this year and transplanted to ground in May. Everything would be fine if there was rain...drought destroyed most of them. Few days ago I had to change my plans and take them out of the ground and plant in pots. If they stayed a little longer in the ground all of them would die. This way I managed to save around 80 of them and since they are weak and small they will have to overwinter indoors. Some plants planted in pots are recovering very fast and some will not survive. Well that is the risk. This is test year for all my plants so losses are expected but anyhow it is painful to see them dying. If you ask yourself why I didn`t water them all...well we can`t afford it and the rain we collected went mostly to watering rice. 

What amazed me the most and helped me to remember why I love bamboos is this:

Despite drought dendrocalamus strictus which I also planted into a pot is growing new strong stems. It was amazing to see that. Alongside with that, today (25.08.2012.) I accidentally saw that one of the moso bamboos is growing strong rhizomes. Sometimes 4-5 chickens fly over the fence and do some damage in the garden/field and if they visit "bamboos school" they scatter hay around bamboo. Luckily they never damage bamboo. they did it yesterday and today when I came to collect the hay there was something very interesting...rhizome sticking out of the ground. It goes from the plant in the air and then again down into the soil, it basically creates arch. the part that is above ground is green and has few buds for new stems and the part that goes back to the ground has small roots in development.

Other bamboos are well. Cloth protects them from the strong sun and if weather people are right then tomorrow there will be rain. I hope that autumn will be good for the bamboos so that they can grow stronger before the winter comes. Weaker ones will be dug up because I don`t want to risk loosing them. We have a solar house so there is a lot of room for all of them to overwinter...alongside other plants :).

moso bamboo

rescued bamboo from the field - different species

24.09.2012.

Rain finally came in september and everything is better now. Bamboo hasn`t change much in growing new stems so I guess they are working on storing food into the rhizomes and preparing for the winter. Colder weather is big relief because there is more water in the air and in ground. Although I have to water bamboos and other plants water evaporation is slower so watering can be done every 2-3 days. 

Bamboos that I had to take out of the ground and put in containers because of the drought are growing nicely. First week they stood still but now new stems are emerging like crazy. That is good because they will get stronger before winter. Although they will overwinter inside it is important for them to get as much sun as possible and to store more food.

11.09.2012.

11.09.2012.

25.09.2012.

27.09.2012.

Today I noticed that mites season has arrived; or it has arrived much sooner but I noticed it today :). From what I see they just begun to attack the bamboos so damage is minimal. Hopefully it will stay minimal since I sprayed all bamboos with insecticide. In March that insecticide worked just fine in destroying mites so we will see how it work this time.

07.10.2012.

Mites died after treatment. So hopefully everything will be ok for some time. I will examine bamboos from time to time to be sure that they don`t come back. Lately we are having rain every few days and temperatures are much lower and it seems like bamboos are enjoying it. All of them (tropical and temperate) are growing like crazy. The ones that I planted in "school" are developing new thicker stems very fast. Don`t know is that normal but we will see. During this month there shouldn`t be any frost so they will have good conditions to grow stronger or to produce and store more food in rhizomes. Speaking of  rhizomes...the arched one I mentioned on august 24th is about 60cm (1.96 ft) long. Accidentally I uncovered the tip of the rhizome while putting back the hay that chickens  scattered around. Tip was passing next to the other bamboo :), I wonder where is he going :). Soon I will add some more hay to all bamboos to try o keep the soil as warm as possible. It is not very cold but anyhow I want to prolong the growing season as much as possible. More they grow, the stronger they will be when winter comes. Current temperatures are 5-10°C (41-50°F) during the night and 15-22°C (51-72°F) during the day.

rhizome traveling - about 60cm long

16.10.2012.

There was a good rain period before that soaked the ground. Bamboo loved it and started to grow like crazy.  After hot summer they finally got a lot of rain. Seedlings that were planted into the soil and then dug up and planted in pots are also enjoying the rain. They recovered very well and started to grow. When time comes, they will be moved indoors for overwintering.

20.10.2012.

After talking to Steve Lau about greenhouse for bamboo I decided to do something similar to his project. Over bamboo that is planted in the ground we constructed a greenhouse. Using material found in the backyard we constructed it in two days and my primary idea was to protect bamboo from frost and enable them to gather more energy before winter comes. This is their first winter in the ground and I strongly hope they will survive it.

When it was finished I jammed up all other plants in ti in order to protect them from colder weather. Later on all this plants got their own place in my house or in the basement. Construction of this greenhouse is not very strong (except the main beam and pillars) but we believe it can withstand the snow weight in case it does not slide down from the sides. Also, there is always someone at home who can remove snow that sticks to the nylon. On December 1st we will add some hay and rice straw to additionally protect bamboo. But we must also add some mouse poison because they seem to like living among the bamboo roots and sometimes they eat the rhizomes. Since this part of the ground is undisturbed they build a big labyrinth of passages that are good for soil drainage and bringing air to the roots.

Bamboo seedlings (all of them) were placed in the greenhouse attached to the house on 27th October.. We build the shelf for them in order to save up the space because there is more than 100 different bamboos and 10-20 other plants. In this greenhouse temperature never goes below 0°C (32°F) so all of them should be just fine. Greenhouse is facing south so if there is any light during the winter bamboo will have access to it.

Winter test will be the last test before closing this post and opening new one which will follow planting bamboo in the field next year. But in order for that to happen moso must survive the winter. I am interested in how will bamboo survive in the ground in this greenhouse and in the open (there are 5 bamboos planted in the open without any protection - will mulch them but will not protect stems). So, this post will be active until  spring.

11.11.2012.

Seedlings (and other plants) like greenhouse attached to the house. It is warm, humid and there is a lot of light.

phyllostachys nigra

Conditions in the backyard greenhouse are also good. There is lot of light (when sunny) and warmth and humidity and water :).

This stem grew up to 1 m (39 inches) high!

All of them started developing new stems, biggest so far.

25.11.2012.

Indoors...


02.12.2012.

It seems like I did this job in the last minute. In the afternoon I covered bamboo roots with hay layer 15-20 cm (5.9 - 7.9 inches) high and in the evening snow started to fall. Temperature during the day was around 5°C (41°F) and the weather people say it might drop to -5°C (23°F) this week or even more.

Before hay

After hay

08.12.2012.

Snow is here. Temperature today is around -3°C (23°F).

Snow started yesterday and it is still falling.

There is a thick layer of hay around stems.	This one is usually 80cm (31inch) tall.
This one is completely covered with snow. Only supporting stick is visible :)	Average snow height is between 20-40 cm (7.87-15.74 inches)
Some snow got inside the greenhouse but I don't think that is a problem. Temp inside is higher than outside.	Partially covered with snow. They look good - it still remains to see if they will survive colder weather.

15.12.2012.

Temperatures this week went down to -6°C (21.2°F) and bamboo looks good for now. Today it is much warmer (8°C (46°F)) and snow started to melt. Real winter still hasn`t started so I cannot say what will happen later on. We must wait...

04.01.2013.

In last two weeks snow melted and temperatures went up. There were days when temperature was 14°C (57°F) during thee day and days were it was -3°C (26.6°F) all day. These days came after snow melted so I thought outdoor bamboo will lose their leafs but they didn't (not counting time when turkeys attacked them and eat leave they could reach through the fence wire). Stems that were bent by the wight of the snow are now straightening up.

There was a ladybug on one bamboo stem. Not sure where did she came from but it was interesting to see some color in rather grayish days. Bamboo also sticks out as the only "green" in the backyard so that is probably the reason turkeys attacked them. They haven't touched them for months and now...:( 

Ones in the greenhouse in the backyard are holding well also. The only damage visible so far is on the young stems and their tips. Low temperatures caused tips to die off but the rest of the plants is nice and green. Weather for now is warm (in winter terms) and I expect it will be that way until February when temps will go down. Last year in February for a day or two we had temperatures between -23 and -26°C (-14 to -9,4°F). 

 

02.02.2013.

This winter is warm for now. Lowest temperature we had in my area was -7°C (19.4°F) and warmest was around 10°C (50°F). Snow comes and goes so we did`t have more that 8 days of snow in one piece. 

Bamboo planted outside (exposed to the snow) is just fine. Low temperatures do not affect it much so it bends under the snow and straightens up when sun melts the snow. No problems so far. 

Bamboo planted in the outside greenhouse is completely different story. Mice attacked some of them. They eat rhizomes...most of the rhizomes. Only 5 bamboo survived their attack before I realized what was happening. At first bamboo looked dry so I thought cold air got to them but when I got closer and tried to "pull" one out the entire plant stayed in my hand. Then it became clear what happened. Since it was a week when it was snowing and I was in other town taking exams, mice simply eat everything they could find.

I pulled all dry bamboo out of the ground and placed rat poison in mouse holes to prevent them from eating 5 remaining bamboos. 

Bamboo that was eaten still looked good and my first instinct was to try to give them a chance to recover, although some of them are pretty badly damaged. I planted them into containers and brought indoors. Most leafs are dry but the stems looks green. Now, all of them are somewhere in the house struggling to survive. Almost every plant had few healthy green leafs so I hope they will manage to recover, at least partially. I removed dry leafs so now I wait to see what will happen.

14.02.2013.

12 days after I discovered that mice eat bamboo and planted them in containers there is some progress. Few days after they were brought indoors up to 98% of the leafs died off because bamboo did not had enough root mass nor rhizome to provide them with water. On some plants there is only one stem with few leafs and on other there are only bare stems. Only one bamboo has big leaf mass. Good thing is that after planting them I kept them away from the sun. Strong sun that we had that week would kill them completely. Dead leafs stayed on the plant so I had to carefully remove them with the scissors. Now they look very skinny but I had to do that n order to reduce their size and to enable new stems/leafs to receive more light. Important thing is that I haven`t cut off any stems because new branches can grow from nodes...and that happened almost two weeks after planting them in containers. So, they are alive...well, most of them. Some still have not started to show signs of growths but I`m hoping that will happen soon. 

Bamboo in the greenhouse attached to the house also had their problems during the last month. They were attacked by caterpillars. They probably laid eggs in one of the containers while they were outside in the backyard greenhouse. Caterpillars slept during the day in dry leafs so I had to inspect all bamboo and remove them. Caterpillars did eat some leafs but nothing so serious that would endanger bamboo survival. Now situation is under control.

Hopefully there will be no more problems this winter. I had bugs and rodents, and that should be enough for one season. Last winter I had mites and that wasn`t pleasant surprise but I manage to get rid of them in time. If everything goes well in April I will open new diary, a year and a half after first moso seed was planted :).

19.03.2013.

It is March and I think it is safe to say that winter test is over. Except damage done by mice, bamboo survived without any problems. This winter was mild and temperatures went down to -8°C (17.6°F). I believe that much stronger winter would not do much more damage. Since this winter was mild plants will have more time to grow stronger before next winter comes.

No photos here in this last entry because tomorrow is spring and I will open a new post titled "Moso bamboo diary 2" :). In that post I will continue this story that began almost two years ago. I remembered now how excited I was when first seed germinated, when black bamboo rhizomes arrived and how long it took and how stressful it was to prove my parents that this is not a game. Looking back I really did a lot of work with bamboo and other plants. Soon I will open Moringa oleifera diary, Tropical bamboo diary and some other diaries. 

Moso bamboo diary 2 (link)