my rubro have recently begun putting up whip shoots, not culms. some are staying airborne, other are diving back in. I think this is fairly typical of rubro.

I got a small start of C. quadrangularis last fall, that put up four new shoots, just in the last week..

Among the bamboo that I've had put up shoots in the past few weeks are:

Pseudosasa japonica
Hibanobambusa tranquillians 'Shiroshima'
Sasa veitchii
Pleioblastus viridistriatus 'Chrysophyllus'
Phyllostachys edulis
Phyllostachys aureosulcata

Plus, the supposedly cold hardy Buddha Belly has sprouted a shoot, which means I upgrade its condition to alive.

My Ph. Rubromarginata has put up shoots in the last few weeks also. It did this last year also in August and late September. My Ph. Atrovaginata only put up shoots in the spring both years.

I also potted up some Rubro whip shoots last fall and grew them indoors in a pot and it put up shoots again in February and in spring. I think Rubro is an exception to the rule and it will put up shoots anytime it is warm enough.

I'm fairly new to Bamboo My Silverstripe has put up 3 shoots within the last week,

These are the first shoots it has put up since I planted it this year.

It's kind of funny. I was excited to see my first shoot on the silver stripe 2 weeks ago. WELL, I was playing kick ball with the kids and when trying to throw one of them out I knocked off my very first Silverstripe Shoot. I was a little bummed but within a couple of days I noticed 2 new shoots comming up.

These shoots look like they would be dangerous to fall on. Has anyone ever been injured by shooting bamboo.

The people at lewisbamboo.com sorta "warn" people to watch rubro carefully, as it's IIRC a very active, aggressive runner.

The point of a shooting culm looks dangerous, but I have more problems with wind and falling branches breaking them off because they are quite fragile until the culm stops growing and hardens.

a general thing with bamboo
first year it sleeps
2nd it creeps
3rd it leaps
i find it doubles each year +

Here is a link that might be useful: east coast bamboo group

In the last week: Chusquea culeou; Sinobambusa tootsik 'Albostriata'; S. fortis; Ch. quadrangularis; Borinda fungosa; and F. nitida.

So it must not be unusual to have shoots in late summer. I noticed a second shoot yesterday as well. The first shoot is now 1.25 inches tall. I estimate it will be 1.5 inches tall by 2:00 pm. I'll post how tall it is by then for anyone who's interested.

I wonder if a lot of this shooting is due to immature plants. I got my rubro as a 1 gallon plant in April 2004, so it still has years until it reaches full maturity. Does anyone have bamboo shooting now that is mature?

I have also heard that Phyllostachys species need a cool-season rest period. I don't know if it's true for all of them, but I found that P. nigra got increasingly scraggly if kept in a warm winter room and not allowed a few months of semi dormancy.

Also, bamboos (like any other plant) will go into shock if moved from one temperature extreme to another. It's better to move them gradually - from a cold outdoor environment to an unheated (but window-lit) garage, to a cool room in the house.

I once kept a Ph. aura indoors for two years, it died. Though it was not bright indoors.