Frequently Asked Bamboo Questions

Some frequently asked bamboo questions are listed and answered below.
If you do not find the answer to your questions just email or call and we will be
happy to answer them for you.

Let us help, give us a call at:
1-877-RZN-CANE

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We are located 50 miles west of Birmingham, AL on 60 acres of waterfront propery and yes you can visit to purchase bamboo at the farm.  Lewis Bamboo Inc. is a state licensed bamboo nursery and can mail order worldwide. Most of our business is done within the 48 continental states. Our retail nursery offers on site purchases plus mail orders. For information about appointments click here  tours







Bamboo is a swallow rooted grass which is a colony plant. Since you are dealing with a grass and not a tree everything is a little different. We hold our bamboo in plastic containers just like any nursery and these vary from 1 gallon size all the way up to 45 gallon size.

If you are not familiar with nursery standards you may want to visit your local nursery or even Walmart to see that the sizes of a fluid gallon and a nursery container gallon are very different. A standard 3 gallon nursery container measures 10 inches in width by 9 inches in height.  So your 3 gallon timber bamboo will be 3 to 6 feet in height with a root mass 8 to 10 inches long, 6 to 8 inches wide and 5 + inches deep. We do not ship bare root. We add water plus peat moss to ensure your bamboo arrives healthy with a moist root ball.

A standard 2 gallon size nursery container measures 8 inches wide by 8 inches in height. So your 2 gallon timber bamboo will be 3 or 4 feet in height with a root mass 6 to 8 inches long,  4 to 6 inches wide and 4 inches deep.  On many divisions, if the cane is flexible enough, we bend them over and send you a taller plant. If the canes will not flex they must be topped to ship them. This does not hurt the bamboo as new canes will emerge each Spring once the bamboo is established.  Below are photos of typical 3 gallon bamboo root ball ready to be boxed.



Above are photos and details of U.S. standard nursery size containers.
From left to right, top row first show a 25 gallon, 15 gallon and a 7 gallon.
From left to right bottom row shows a 5 gallon, 3 gallon and a one gallon.
There is a Cola can for reference.
Width  x Height
25 gallon = 24 x 18
15 gallon = 18.25 x 16
7 gallon = 14 x 12
5 gallon = 12 x 11
3 gallon = 10.7 x 9.25
2 gallon = 8.5 x 8.5
1 gallon = 7.5 x 6.5







Field Specimens generally means big bamboo such as the ones shown above which we delivered to a new Rave Theater in Hurst, Texas.  However, it basically is any division dug from a grove and not grown from a rhizome (root) propagation. We sell divisions ranging from 1 gallon size to 45 gallon size. We ship 3 gallon and smaller sizes by UPS ground. The larger divisions are picked up here or can be delivered if the order is large enough. We have been delivering the larger divisions of bamboo throughout North America since 1996. We have hundreds of photos showing these large divisions being picked up here or delivered to commercial sites and private customers. We have extensive web site pages showing these deliveries and listings of five Zoos, Botanical gardens, two golf courses, several malls, landscape companies, etc. we have done business with.






Since bamboo is a grass and colony plant, there is a single colony with one or more above ground culms (canes) which contain branches with foliage for photosensitization. Your division of bamboo has been stabilized and is ready to plant. Divisions from your starter plant can be taken after three full years of growth in the ground. Container grown bamboo can be divided after one year and every year thereafter. For example, if you order a Phyllostachys giant timber bamboo there will be one to three canes attached to the colony of rhizomes. If you order a Sasa there may be 8 to 25 canes. It all depends on the species of bamboo selected and there are many to choose from. 

You can plant bamboo as close together as you wish. Close spacing will not impede the growth, but will produce a bamboo grove or screen faster. On our Growing Habits page, we go into detail on how your bamboo will grow and how to control it. With a 3 gallon division we recommend planting no further than 5 feet apart. Mowing or root pruning is how 90% of all running bamboo are controlled, but there are other methods which we cover on the above Growing Habits page or on our  barrier page.





Sorry, bamboo flowers very seldom. Some species have never been documented flowering while others go 100 years or longer between flowering. Seeds are often available from other countries such as China, but these are usually confiscated by custom authorities as they enter the country and discarded. Seeds are subject to the same quarantine regulations as live plants. Bamboo seeds bought on E-Bay are buyer beware and we do not recommend it. Propagation by seeds is a very difficult task and high attrition rates will be experienced.





This plant is a member of the Lily family or Liliaceae and is not a bamboo. There are several different types of this plant, but the most common is Dracaena Sanderana. For years it has been a common charm for "good luck" when opening businesses in the Asian community. The current Asian and Japanese trends in home decoration has led to the popularity of "Lucky Bamboo". For information about this non bamboo plant please do a web search. If you wish to have bamboo just email or call us and we will be happy to answer all your questions and help you with an order.

When you receive your bamboo, it should still have a moist root ball. The leaves should be green  (during the Spring leaf exchange will occur so some brown leaves will be present the weeks prior to new leaves forming ).  Handle your bamboo by the root ball only. Remove all packing material (tape and paper) from around the plant, being careful not to damage the root ball or any new shoots. If new shoots or foliage is broken, not to worry, the bamboo will replace these.  Please plant or pot the bamboo as soon as possible. Do not let the plant dry out before planting. Do not divide your new bamboo divisions. This will void your 30 day warranty and will not accelerate the bamboo growth, but will actually set your growth back. You may place the root ball in a few inches of water (do not cover the entire root ball) for a few hours before planting. If you cannot plant the bamboo within a day or two,  just open the wrapping on the top of each root ball.  Add 1 cup of water every two days until you can plant them. Provide plenty of light, but keep out of the direct sun so the root ball will not dry out completely until planted.

With bamboo, dig the hole at least three times the size of the root ball.  The larger the area of soil you loosen up, the faster the bamboo will spread.  Back fill your holes with good topsoil mixed with some composted material such as composted manure that any Gardening center sells. In our area this sells for around $1.20 for a 40 lb. bag. This will help the rhizomes (roots) get off to a good start no matter what soil conditions you may have.

Make a doughnut depression to help keep the water around the plant. Always mulch to help retain the moisture between watering. Also, this will help protect the rhizomes in colder regions. We prefer leaves or grass clippings as most bark mulch attracts voles ( mice like rodents) and can damage new canes. Once again, mulch, mulch, you have to mulch to hold the water in and prevent evaporation.  Here in warm climate zone 7, we mulch 6 to 8 inches. In colder zones mulch more than 8 inches for the up coming winter.

Watering

Over the next couple of weeks, water the plant regularly. If your plant does begin to loose leaves, it may be just adjusting to its new home and sunlight conditions. Even under most all conditions, the bamboo will retain 70% of its leaves. After a period of time, it should put on new leaves to replace the ones it dropped during the transition. During the hot summer even established bamboo will roll their leaves to prevent transpiration. This is a neat characteristic of bamboo so do not be alarmed to see your bamboo roll up its leaves. Watering during very hot times is great and will assist the bamboo during its growth. Once established, bamboo needs little care and normal rainfall is generally all that is needed. Watering daily if you have well drained soil is great!

Remember the bamboo canes on your existing division are through growing. Most all the growth now will be underground. Each Spring new canes will emerge taller and larger in diameter each year until mature size for your species and climate zone are reached.

Please do not fertilize with chemical fertilizers ( 13-13-13 etc.) for the first year. You need to allow the bamboo's root system time to establish.  Hot chemical fertilizers can burn up the feeder roots, damaging or killing new bamboo divisions. After a lot of trials, we have come back to natural fertilizing by adding leaves, hay, grass clipping and compost to our bamboo groves.  You can simply use general lawn fertilizer such as 8-8-8 as directed. The three numbers are important factors. The first number represents nitrogen. Nitrogen is the element for growth. the second number is phosphorus and it has to do with the transfer of carbohydrates.  Carbs are essential for the bamboo to store nourishment in the rhizomes.  The last number represents potassium and is necessary for photosynthesis. This is very important for the plant's metabolism. Extra amounts of this element helps the bamboo to withstand drought, heat and cold.


 



 If running bamboo were going to take over the world, it would have done so thousands of years ago. There are running species (temperate cold hardy, Leptomorph) of bamboo which we love and there are clumping (Pachymorph) species. We dislike the clumping species and specialize in cold hardy runners. I grow around twenty species of clumping bamboo and have never been impressed with their looks or growth rate.

• Running bamboo can provide a serene privacy screen or a beautiful bamboo grove to walk through. Runners with easy maintenance can make a dense natural screen.
  
• Clumpers for screening purposes leave a lot to be desired as they are narrow at the base and weep over at the tops leaving huge gaps between each bamboo plantings.

• There is a running species for most all climate zones. From the cold of climate Zone 5 to the warmth of the tropics, there is a running species suited for all applications.
• Clumpers are very limited to the areas they can grow.
  

• The cold hardy clumping species ( mostly mountain bamboo) are very limited in the climate zones they can live in. They take years to reach 8 to 12 feet in mature heights. In climate zones 6 and warmer, clumping species struggle to survive and usually die due to the summer heat and humidity. You can waste money just as Roger Sr. did years ago when he tried to grow many different clumping species. In cold climate zone 5, they will do fine if you desire a slow growing bamboo that matures at 8 to 12 feet in height. For screening purposes they leave a lot to desire as they are narrow at the base and weep over at the tops leaving huge gaps between each bamboo plantings. We sold hardy clumpers for a while and our customers were not happy, so we stopped dealing with clumpers because of their poor growth performance.

• Tropical clumpers can only be grown in very warm climate zones such as zone 8 and 9. The tropical clumpers are giants and can grow very fast like running bamboo. The problem is the limited climate zones and the spacing of the canes within the clumper. The spaces between the culms (canes) are so close most specimens are very unsightly due to the large amount of dead canes and limbs in the interior of the clump. These dense dead canes and limbs cannot be reached unless some of the outside canes are cut away first. The tropical clumpers I have seen in my travels have been poorly maintained and are unsightly giving bamboo a bad image. Even a well kept botanical garden such as Fairchild Botanical Gardens in Miami, FL which we visited in 2003 for a bamboo meeting, had thousands of unsightly dead canes in their clumping bamboo. A grove of running bamboo is unparalleled in my book and we have seen thousands of groves over the past 50 plus years.
  

This is an example of Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' in climate zone 7. It generally comes back in the Spring if the winter is not too severe. Most of the U.S. is in a climate zone 7 or colder, so you can expect similar to worse results. The green bamboo in the background is temperate running bamboo. If you desire an evergreen privacy screen, running bamboo is the best option.

• Control of running bamboo is simple and there are numerous methods which we have listed on our web site. Click here to read about growing habits and control methods: Growing Habits
• Control of clumping bamboo is almost impossible. It is not as aggressive, but is forceful about where it wants to grow. Running bamboo follow the path of least resistance and change directions when they become impeded. Clumpers are persistent and will force their way through obstacles in their outwardly spiraling root path.
  

We live on a river in the deep South and are surrounded by more animals than imaginable. The last facts I saw, we had the second largest deer population in the U.S. and have turkey, squirrels, rabbits all over our bamboo farm. The most damage is done by rabbits and that doesn't amount to much. During the first couple of years, new plantings should be protected with wire enclosures to prevent any animal from tasting the new shoots. In our experience, deer pose no real problem. Every area of the country is different in relation to the available food sources during a given time frame. So if you have animals either fence them or the bamboo to protect your new planting. Once it is established and producing an abundance of bamboo, you can relax and everyone can enjoy bamboo.





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