Plain and simple....no.Wait until you move.Most bamboos really take off in the 3rd year.

I have kept clumping and running bamboos in pots for many years, sometimes the clumpers for up to 10 years. However, the plants were kept in shady areas, out of direct sunlight and they don't always look in peak health. Usually after 3 or 4 years they become rootbound and I will add soil to the pot on top of the rootball. I will also fertilize lightly. At this point, I usually set the pot in a pan of water and keep it constantly filled with water so the rootball never dries out, which it has a tendency to do when it becomes packed with roots. And if I use plastic pots, the pots will split down the side, but this will not harm the plant, just be sure to keep it watered well.

So I will wait another year, maybe two. I have gone to this plant fair for the past three years and she has always been there. Chances are decent that she will be there next year and the next.

Thank you.

What plant fair?The one @Leu?I have 10 different kinds growing.I ordered most of mine from Tropical bamboo.Buy the 3gallon.Grow fast.My favorite so far is the angels mist.

The Spring Festival in Ocala. The past few years it has been on the same weekend as the Leu Gardens sale. Since I limit myself to one sale every two weeks, I have yet to make it to the Leu one.

Never been to that one.The one @Leu is awesome!Plus it is free to get in.Ever been to Kanapha?You want to see bamboo.....a must.So ladylake,are you in the Villages?Or real close by?Going to be pretty darn cold out there.

I have always liked bamboo, not as much as my wife, but enough that I would like one some day. But it was while visiting Kanapaha that I really got psyched about growing some here.

Bamboo at Kanapaha

I am on the outskirts. I don't know if I could ever live there (Villages). It's too controlled and... well... I won't take this down a negative path.

I did not think so."They"would never let you grow it.I'm in a HOA.Lucky for me they are not too strict.I have some "Kanapha"growing in my yard.I try to keep the size of the clump small.Been into tropical gardening &the jungle craze heavy for the last 10 yrs.Like I said,have 10 varieties of boo.About 55 varieties of palms(some from seed out of Dent Smith's old yard).A sausage tree,rainbow eucalyptus.many fruit trees,a succulent garden,bromeliads,a jacaranda tree,a royal poinciana,silk floss,ferns,birds of paradise.Just to name some.Most is still small and growing.If you ever are looking for something-let me know.My first name is Bill.

Michael-

I'll take the contrarian view. I've grown many types of bamboo over the last 15 years. Most are in the ground, but I have 15-20 in plastic pots. The one I have had the longest in a pot -- about 10 years -- split its 25 gallon pot about 5 years after I put it in there, but all you need to do is put it in a bigger pot if it does this. If you decide to buy something now and plant it in a couple of years you should be fine. I'd just be careful about having it in anything but a plastic pot with sloping sides. When root balls expand to the container sides they exert enormous pressure and the friction this presents is impressive, making them difficult to remove. A metal container could be deformed by the roots (giving the rootball a larger diameter than the top opening), and the surface of the galvanized container could cause a lot of friction. You might be surprised how hard it is to get a root ball out of anything but a plastic pot. I helped a friend who needed to re-pot a rootbound bamboo he had in a half whisky barrel once: between the pressure of the root ball and the friction on the wooden sides, we were unable to get it out without first destroying the barrel.

I don't know about friction, I will take your word on that, but I did just realize that the galvanized tubs generally have a few ribs in the sides. As tough as bamboo roots are reputed to be, giving them those indentions to form into would definitely make it difficult to remove a rootbound plant.