I have read that Oldhamii becomes relatively resistant to wind once it has developed sufficiently.

Thanks for the wind advisory. The climate zone I am in is zone 10a so I don't need to worry about it getting to cold here. Does anyone know the climate that Oldhamii bamboo can grow well in?

Where does all of the excesss water runoff go. pOTTED BAMBOO WILL NEED TO BE WATERED 1-2 TIMES PER DAY to live on rooftop.

Use a heavy soil in order to cut down on how often it will need to be watered. I have several in 25 gallon pots. The largest(Henon and Vivax) need watering once every day or so.

Kt

I plan on using a sprinkler system "Rain Drop" type so I can place a spray nozzle next to each plant, 18 all together. With a timer I can run it in the morning or in the evening, or both. The water run off channels through a drain system that keeps water from saturating the roof each day. The roof slopes to the drains and I have placed the planters near slopes that allow for quick water run off.

I have practiced with different types of bamboo for the past two years, Vivax, Nigra and temple. All have done well when watered 3-4 times a week. But these are 6 foot plants and the current fence acts as a windbreak, mind you it's not Hurrican force wind, I just live in a valley where wind and fog channels into San Francisco. The Oldhamii when I dug it out was reaching 30 feet and living in a well protected area in sunny San Jose. I plan on cutting down the culms to 10-15 feet. I agree that a heavy soil would be best, I've tried in the past a mix of, high silica soil from my local bamboo shop mixed with a lot of potted plant mix and wood chips. The Oldhamii seem to love that stuff, although it is still located near the site where I dug it up. The roof garden planters are finished and I plan on moving the bamboo soon, before late Summer. Will a move now harm the growing cycle of Oldhamii bamboo? I'm sure it will go into some kind of shock, but I am amazed that all of it survived up to this point plantted in barrels. They should be used to container living by now.

Seems like weight would be the next problem.

There shouldn't be much shock since you are going from one container to another. Sounds like everything else has been well thought out...post pics when you get it done!

Yeah weight was an issue, but I had planters along the perimiter of the lower walls before. A redwood deck covers the entire roof and it is fenced off. With the Bamboo and planters on the perimiter the wall structure from the lower floor should be able to handle the extra load. I've asked a structual engieneer about this and he agrees.
I will definitly post pics once the bamboo is put in. I read in another post that his Oldhamii in San Diego is shooting. I have not seen my bamboo since it is San Jose. If it is shooting will moving it disrupt the growing cycle?

I recently planted oldhamiis and my original area was 2.5' x 5' but the nursery (bamboo headquarters - vista, ca) told me that for timber bamboo that space is inadequate and the bamboo might suffocate. So I planted in a much larger area expecting it to spread. The new ones I planted were only 5' tall max, with pencil thin culms.

I had the same experience with the other bamboo I experimented with, Vivax and Nigra. The shooting culms never got any bigger or taller than they were when I started, two years ago. I guess the container restricts the size the bamboo will grow. What I figured was I would start with a big plant to begin with so the hedge of bamboo are already established. The thinner culms can just fill in the area around the lower fence line.

I have noticed also that starting with a large plant 20+ feet, and potting them in barrels, that the shooting culms still tend to be about an inch to two inches in diameter. The largest culm grew to fifteen feet. This is more than tall enough for my application, since I am looking for a ten foot hedge anyways.

It's a go I plan on trasplanting the oldhamii this weekend, I'll post the results as I go forward.

I posted a picture, a while back in the gallery, of my Oldhamii growing in a 14-inch pot. It was 22 feet tall.

On the colder nights, I saved it from freezing this past Winter by laying it on it's side on the floor of my greenhouse.

Kt

Wow 22 feet thats impressive I'll try to find the link. but could you post the link to the picture here.

I have the photo on my computer(somewhere), so I will post it again in the gallery when I find it, or either I will take another photo of it and post it. It has a few more leaves now, then it did on the original photo.

Kt

Old photo of potted Oldhamii in the gallery, taken last Fall.

I will get an updated photo of the same plant and post it soon.

Kt

Thank you all for all your posts, they have been very reassuring. From what I gather and what were my main concerns, Oldhamii is fairly wind resistant and can survive well enough in containers to do well on a rooftop garden.

Today I started moving some of the bamboo to my roof garden. It was a pretty windy day, as windy as it gets here, 20 to 25 mph winds. The smaller bamboo, 1 inch diameter, are handleing the wind great. I guess the thicker culm that Oldhamii has does well in the wind. They just sway with the wind, my 5 foot vivax with 1/4 inch culms gets blown all around, so the 2 inch diameter Oldhamii culms should do even better. In the next few days I will be dividing some of the larger root balls into smaller sizes to fit into the container and also trimming them down to 10 feet in height. I will also trim back some of the braches since some of them are a bit top heavy. Hopefully all my time on this project will work out since I have been planning this rooftop garden for a few years. The addition of the bamboo should be the garden's crown jewel and hopefully all the hard work of digging it up, storing and tending the bamboo, and then transfering it to the second floor, should be well worth it.

I have a large clump of Oldhamii that I planted 24 years ago. For many years it did nothing, but now in the last 5 years it has gone crazy with numerous shoots and tall healthy shoots over 50 feet tall. Any tips for continuing this good growing season? Why did it stay dormant for many years?

Anyone know where I can find Giant Black Bamboo in San Diego?

The only time I've experienced that kind of change was when I limbed-up some of my tall firs and the bamboo (Ph. aurea) got more sunlight after decades in the shade.

Here are some pictures of the Oldhamii in their containers before the move to the deck. I'll post some pictures of how they look on my deck soon.

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Here's one more

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Well those pictures didn't last long, try this

Here is a link that might be useful: click here to see photos of bamboo

Thanks for reposting the pix. Those bamboo look like they're doing very well.

Those look really nice. You will be pleased with how well they do in pots.

One of my potted Oldhamii's is putting up a shoot that is almost 2 inches in diameter. The pot is only 14 inches across and the plant is almost completely rootbound, but it is still growing.

My two very large Oldhamii clumps planted in the ground, have stopped shooting, but the shoots are still reaching for the sky. We have been lucky here and have had no high winds. A wind of between 20 and 30 mph will break these new shoots right off, whereas Textilis shoots will just bend with the wind.

If Hurricane Rita hits here, we may get some winds strong enough to break them off, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

I took some before pictures just in case.

Kt

how bushy do they get? if my space for it is 17 ft x 4, how many should i plant?

thank you

Bianca-
Here is a link to about 20 Oldhamii pictures, so you can form your own judgment:

Oldhamii

If you want clean culms at the bottom, you can infrequently prune branches from the lower nodes, say, until you get them out of your face.

I prune the lower nodes of my with B. tuldoides, to get them above head level, and for the pleasure of seeing the culms.

All right my summer garden project is finally complete. You can see pictures of the garden at the link below. It was an adventure getting the bamboo on to the roof. I had to build a pulley system and I had three friends helping, two on the rope and two to guide each bamboo on to the roof. We had twelve plants in 20 gallon containers, each weighing 50 lbs. each. My back was on fire the day after. With planters, soil and bamboo there is a lot of weight on the roof, but I've already inquired about the perimeter wall load and the walls were built to handle the load of a second story which was never built. So load capacity of the bamboo is nominal.

I've been watering them every day and added some Ironite grass fertalizer which really got the green in the culms to start coming back. I think in winter when we get fog the culms should be a nice green. right now they are yellow on one side because of the bright sun.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rooftop bamboo garden pictures here: