Running Bamboo Propagation

9 years ago

Hi all,

I recently received some bamboo plants from a nursery and divided one of them as the culms were about a foot apart from each other. After doing some research, it appears separating the bamboo at or near the neck is dangerous and can kill the bamboo. I am new to this hobby but I love plants that can rapidly spread and can be propagated easily. With this being said, I have a few questions:

Can the bamboo's rhizomes heal themselves after they have been cut and continue to spread and produce shoots?
In running species, is the runner produced by the shoots/ canes so even if the rhizome is damaged will the shoots produce more "main" rhizomes?
Is there only one runner in bamboos?
Can bamboos such as Black Bamboo and Moso be propagated via roots/ cane cuttings or can they only be propagated via the rhizome.
What is the correct way to propagate a running bamboo?
In states where bamboo isn't "hardy" such as Northern Illinois, will it die to the ground and come back in the spring or die altogether?

Sorry for all of the questions, I just want to make sure I am propagating safely. In the attached picture is an example of the "neck" of the rhizome, I cutted in the MIDDLE of this, was that a mistake?

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Comment (1)

kentuck_
9 years ago
In the picture you posted, it looks like a clumping bamboo, but in that photo, I would separate the rhizome closer to the culm on the left, since it is growing 'from' that direction.

There are many species of running bamboos and they are not all the same cold hardy, so some will do better than others.

Running bamboo needs to be propagated by division, and I would suggest 2 to 3 culms close together for each division on larger culms and more on smaller culms. The more rootball you get with the division, the better chance of it surviving and the faster recovery from the dividing process.

You can't propagate from culm cuttings, or at least it would be a very rare thing to accomplish.

Rhizomes are everywhere in an established grove, but you need to get above ground growth with the divisions to ensure success.

You will not harm a grove by taking a division from it. Dividing a pot of bamboo, I will usually get a machete and hack it in half, and sometimes into quarters, and then plant each quarter in a new pot, water well and don't let it dry out.
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