Will vinegar kill new bamboo shoots?

It's a cold-hardy golden bamboo. I would like to use something non-toxic. Zone 7a.

go to the abs we site and send in a picture to ask for help in removing the bamboo. www.bamboo.org

Jan

Hello,

Are you trying to kill the bamboo, or asking out of concern for something else?

Karen

Assuming you're trying to kill bamboo that's spreading farther than you want it, I don't think vinegar is going to do the job. Vinegar can kill the top growth of plants (best results if you use it in hot sunny weather) but it won't kill the roots underground, so vigorous plants like bamboo would just put up new shoots.

I didn't want to kill all of the bamboo as I want some of it as a privacy screen/thicket.

I thought that was probably the case with the vinegar.

It's not that difficult to snip off new shoots at the ground. I've read that the energy in that new root or rhizome growth will diminish after it is cut, weed-whacked or mowed-over a few times. I didn't know if that was true or not.

Right now, mowing over and pruning down is working well and since it only has to be done for a month or so, I think it will be okay.

Thanks for the replies.

Cville,

Don't forget that the underground rhizomes will carry on. :-)

You might want to stick a shovel or other digging device in the ground
to sever and remove the rhizome in areas where you don't want the bamboo to grow to prevent more work next year.