Giant Bamboo seeds on Ebay

I bought giant bamboo (seeds) from a guy in the UK on Ebay. I got the seeds promptly too! Supposedly the giant bamboo only seeds about every 100 years. He got the seeds in China. I can't wait to start them.

Another DG'r is giving me live bamboo at the roundup. I am going to have a really exotic, tropical place!

Bless your heart. Don't let that bamboo loose. A friend of mine has bamboo and she said that the first year it creeps, the second year it walks and the third year it runs. Your neighbors will not think kindly of you if it escapes.

Digs

I love clumping bamboo, but I would never plant the spreading types. In addition to taking over *your* property, they can also become a liability when they start ripping up your neighbors asphalt driveway! It is seriously tough stuff. Make sure you've got the acreage!

Yep- got 38 acres.

I hear the secret is an underground wall for the spreading bamboo variety. I guess We will have to rent a ditchwitch for that.

I totally agree- I'm not sure even where we will plant it. Some place tho responsibly.

Well, with 38 acres, I think I would plant some too! If only...

Yes, I also ordered black bamboo off ebay.

Another reason that I would like to have a bamboo forest is that we have alot of grassland and hunters come in with those big swampbuggies and kill the bear and deer. I want to at least give the critters a fighting chance. There is no place to hide in the grass plus the bamboo would keep out the swamp buggied. The deer would probably love the tender shoots too.

We can't afford fencing and these guys don't care whose property they're on. I went as far as posting signs saying "Children Camping" trying to keep out the hunters but it didn't help.

The bamboo ought to help PLUS give us some darn good wood PLUS we can sell it to local furniture manufacturers PLUS we can sell sprigs of it to garden stores PLUS we can eat the shoots. Anything to make a buck or save a buck!!!

Cyber, let me know if you find a low-cost way to contain the bamboo. I've been wanting to plant some for crafts and stuff but I am afraid it will take over.

Maybe you can get some of those signs that say "Private property. Tresspassers will be shot on sight".

We have private property signs up and a lock on the gate AND the neighbor put his camper trailer right there at our entrance to ward off vandalism. We aren't there full time yet until we sell out house but have had things missing. As we accumulate nice tools we are worried about losing them.

The hunters come in thru the grasslands all around us.

There are some articles out for containing bamboo. As soon as that computer where the bookmarks are in is freed up, I will look up the link for ya.

I have also read that there is clumping bamboo and spreading bamboo. I have some clumping bamboo that really doesn't spread much - I have mine in a pot but I visit its mamma from time to time.

I could be waiting forever for that computer to finish it's tasks so I looked it up in google.
http://www.burtonsbamboogarden.com/containing.htm

It's a great article with step-by-step instructions.

WOW - that's a great site. I'll have to read it later when I have more time. I'm supposed to be working - but i'm having one of those days when I just can't seem to concentrate on work!!

Tell me about it! I haven't even STARTED working today! I'm a freelancer so I can work anytime. It looks like I'll be pulling a late nighter at this rate!
I got so mad at my main computer today for freezes, I have been running diagnostics since this morning. I had to walk away. At least it's in "repair" mode now.

That site also has free meetings to discuss bamboo containment- see "events".

After reading these posts I have to make a couple of comments.

There are more than 1500 different bamboo species in the world. Like most plant groups, there are species within the group to fit nearly every landscape application. Planting aggressive running bamboo species in the wrong location has led to people making comments that "don't plant bamboo, it will take over". If appropriate species were selected, or the sites were prepared properly for an aggressive runner, there would be no problems. Also, in the limited sub-tropical areas of the U.S., clumping bamboo species can be planted with no site preparation.

Now I'll address the bamboo seed issue. A bamboo flowering event is indeed a rare occurrence. It can take up to 120 years or more between a flowering event of a bamboo species. Some species have no record of ever flowering. During the past few years, bamboo seeds, labeled as most of the desirable ornamental bamboo species, have appeared on EBay and other online sources. Despite the nearly mathematical impossibility of all of these species producing viable seeds simultaneously, folks have been happily buying and even reselling the seedlings. Almost daily, we (my nursery) receive emails and phone calls from people growing bamboo seedlings wondering when their bamboo will begin to resemble the bamboos pictured on our nursery website. When we're told the bamboos were grown from seed, we give the same answer - "most likely never".
My opinion is that the online bamboo seeds are a scam. There are probably a few non-ornamental species flowering in India and those seeds are collected and distributed with many different names on the labels. Even if the seeds were collected from a labeled species, the seedlings would vary in vigor and in form. Ironically, a bamboo seed grower could end up with a special hybrid, but that is not usually the goal (and the odds are kind of like the lottery). Most seed growers think they're getting a bargain on Giant Bamboo, or Black Bamboo, or Blue Bamboo, etc. The cost is not really too painful since the seeds are cheap. The wasted time (a year or two) is what really is disappointing.
The photo here is of a seedling labeled Bambusa lako. It was brought into my nursery by a confused customer who bought her seeds from the EBay seed vendor in Germany. The seedling is about 14 months old. Next to it is a true Bambusa lako at 12 months old (with my son). The photograph shows obvious differences but, in person, you don't have to be an expert to see the bamboos are not close to being the same species.

I had several health problems and lost most of my potted bamboo.
I hope to start again this year.