Senia, I just recently discovered the species of Bamboo I started growing from a twig - its Oldhamii, and if you ask me, Oldhamii will grow anywhere, my 3 huge clumps that I had in my yard when Hurricane Katrina destroyed everything I had, my Bamboo was still green and growing after viewing Satellite Photos a few days after the storm. It survived being submerged in Gulf and River water for about 2 weeks or more. I moved from Louisiana to Mississippi and I just went back down to Port Sulphur a few days ago to salvage a few more things. One of my clumps since the Hurricane had already shot up 8 shoots over 7 feet tall, I cut them down to transplant on my land here. I posted a link where you can see the twig I strated with and photos thru-out its growing seasons there after. Give Oldhamii a try, Its a beautiful specimen after a few years of growing.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Bamboo and Katrina photos

I tend to think that growing Oldhamii here in 8b is borderline. It gets hit hard in colder winters, although the last two have been very mild here. 7a should be a bit more colder than here so I don't know how well it will do in the long run. Here it loses leaves and becomes too thin as a screen.

How tall of a screen do you need? If it needs to be tall, try B. textilis. It is much more cold hardy and grows in a very tight clump. There are several smaller clumpers that will do good in your zone also.

Kt

Hey kchedville,

The caption for one of your Oldhamii pics says:

"Baby Oldhamii Bamboo - grown from a plated ring."

Am I to assume that a "plated ring" was a node section cut and thus this is a vegatative propagation?

Thanks!

kchedville,

Your link shows images of Bambusa vulgaris. If you are able to grow B. vulgaris in Louisana and Mississippi, then I suggest you try B. oldhamii. B. oldhamii is more cold hardy than B. vulgaris. B. vulgaris gets damaged by the freezes we have in central Florida, but it comes back quickly. I don't see that B. oldhamii would grow in Georgia. As kentuck_8b suggested, B. textilis would probably be a good choice for Georgia.

kchedville--Sorry to hear about your losses from Katrina. I grew up in southern Mississippi and I still have family members in the Laurel, MS area.

Roy in Tampa

Here is a link that might be useful: Your image of B. vulgaris

Webgator,
you are correct = I just could not recall what it was called- All my Oldhamii started with that one Little planted Node - what I call a Ring..
Roy Rogers,
If that photo is B.Vulgaris, I guess I don't have B.Oldhamii, as I thought I had the last year. All of it is growing in Louisiana, where I lost my home. I am wanting to try growing it here in Mississippi, I have two small plants of Moso, which I may not live to see it grow into a forest if it keeps going. Here in Poplarville, the storm did a lot of damage also. But we have since moved here, making it an extended campout until we build a barn to live in.
I think I will have to find me some B.Oldhamii now to plant, since its more cold hardy. I will accept any Donations....:)

kchedville,

I'm suprised to see B. vulagaris growing in Louisana, but I've seen pictures of B. lako and B. vulgaris growing just south of Lake Pontchartrain.

Jim Bonner's nursery at Bambooplantation in Brookhaven, Mississippi might be of some interest to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo Plantation

Any idea of if will survive in Dallas?? I have planted it and so far it has lost all leaves, only two culms are still green. Would be interested if anyone else has grown it here and if the top growth dies off every year. Was thinking once its 2-3 inches diameter that it will be ok through the Dallas winter... anyone, anyone..

Hi kevip711,

I had replied to you about this on another message and understand that it may not have been what you wanted to hear, but I expect that B. oldhamii will get substantial top damage in most locations in the Dallas area, most winters. With adequate mulch in the winter and water in the summer, I expect it will increase in the number of culms, but I would not expect it to get to be very tall. All the qualifiers are because I do not know the exact location and there are heat islands and microclimes in cities.

Some anecdotal evidence, in addition to B. oldhamii, there are several other large Bambusas that the ABS rates at 21°F. Of these, my experience is that B. tuldoides and B. ventricosa are probably slightly hardier than B. oldhamii. I recall several years ago there was someone in the Dallas area who was selling their B. ventricosa because it was damaged every winter. They had had it several years and it had grown to the point they divided it into several clumps of about the original size. Another case is someone in the Waco area who had a B. tuldoides along side his house that was protected but would get damaged at the top. It was a decent size and looked acceptable to me, but he decided to divide it up and replace it.

From you earlier posts you had this next to a pond, did not want a runner and were concerned about the way it would look during the winter. My recommendation is to try one of the B. multiplexes or B. textilis, or use a runner with a rhizome barrier.

Good luck whatever you decide, Mike near Brenham TX

I need to plant about 1000 feet of fenceline in San Digo with Bambusa Oldhamii as a screen. any suggestions on how far apart to plant the shoots and what size i should start with and what the cheapest way to get that much coverage would be

bryan

I do not think there is an exact answer to your question. It is a matter of money vs time.

B. oldhamii sizes up fairly quickly with adequate water and fertilizer so unless you are rich or absolutely have to have an instant screen, I would start with smaller, say 2-3 gal, plants. If you are looking for a total screen in a reasonably short period of time you would need to plant these 10-20 feet apart.

I would be prepared to wait longer and buy say 10 plants and then take a few divisions every year (after 3-4 years) to fill in the gaps. Depending on the number of culms in the pot I might divide them initially before planting them. Eventually after several years of dividing them and there are no longer any more gaps, your screen is complete.

Not to scare you but it is possible that all your plants may be from the same original parent. This is even more likely if you buy all your plants from the same source. It they go into gregarious flowering, you could possibly lose your screen at some point in the future. You may want to consider alternating the B. oldhamii with another upright bamboo such as B. tuldoides so that it is unlikely you would lose the whole screen in one event.

Mike McG near Brenham TX