Why is bamboo so expensive?

So that is my question. Clumping bamboo I am looking for. A local superstore has it for $60 a bucket. Could I divide that into 3 buckets for planting?

If you are going to divide bamboo, I would wait until January or February before doing so. It's too warm this time of year and most likely it would die. Bamboo is expensive mostly because it's difficult to propagate and it is a slow grower. The larger the specimen, the more expensive because it took more time and care to get it to that size.

Jen

It is so expensive!! I just bought a 15 gallon pot of Black Bamboo for $189.00. Killed me. And do not tell my husband for he will kill me again.

Kell, your secret is safe w/ me. My husband is clueless to what my spring gardening (perennials, annuals, potting soil etc) cost. But tell me about your new bamboo.

The reason I got it is because last year a friend Sue told me she wanted black bamboo. So I started looking at it wherever I could find it. Then after a few months she told me she was not going to get any. Well by then I was smitten. But all I would see where ugly pots of it for big bucks. When I saw a full pot the other day I wanted it. LOL Now the hunt is on for a big ceramic pot to put it in. I wish money grew on trees. LOL

There are a few bigger culms in the pot than show here.

I now have my eye on Himalayacalamus Falconeri 'Damarapa.'


I have seen it in nurseries and the new culms are very PINK!! But I saw a mature clump at the San Francisco Arboretum the other day and it was kind of blah.

And also Phyllostachys vivax ''Aureocaulis.''

I am so needy.

Love my black bamboo....I do grow it in my garden...don't faint!
I get out there in Spring hack off a few shoots as they are starting to come up and pour roundup down the little hole in the centre...works fine at stopping invasive habits...sometimes I hack off the end bits as they start to wander....pot them up and give them to very delighted friends (I do this late winter )...along with a big warning about it's growth habits.....when the wind blows the bamboocanes bump together and make a lovely noise.....I love the black stems and some of mine are pretty thick......had it in the ground for 10 years and still managed to confine it to a garden of about10ft x10ft....it is about 12/15ft tall.

That sounds beautiful. I do not have enough room to let anything take a 10 x 10 space. I so wish I did.

Kell, your black bamboo is gorgeous. I recall reading about black bamboo a few months back and fell in love with it, then I kind of just forgot about it. Hope you will share more pics when you find a pot.

I have not really even had time to look for a good pot yet. Maybe next week. Are you going to get some too Seawatch?

I am very very tempted. The Lewis website has me drooling. Well I'll put it on my list...

re: pots--we have this giant pot place in san diego with acres of pots--I went there for the first time earlier this month. When you first go in, you are just overwhelmed. Then you find several you like. Then you start getting into sizes and finally there is so much to choose from you start getting picky. The prices are pretty good--60% off retail. I spent more than an hour there. Maybe you have a similar place up north.

I wish. We have a discount place but the pots are defective in some way. I had a place that was selling me some from Vietnam for 50% off because I was one of their original customers. But she sold the business and the new owners just looked at me when I told them of my deal. LOL The pot can cost a lot more than the plant.

Generally, bamboo can be somewhat expensive compared to other plants. There are a few reasons but, rather than type everything here, there's a page on my website that provides plenty of information relative to the subject. There are hundreds of ornamental temperate and tropical bamboo species now available in the USA and the cost of these varies greatly - they're not all terribly expensive.
This link is from a website that deals with tropical bamboo species but the information mostly applies to both tropical and temperate bamboos:
http://www.tropicalbamboo.com/Bamboo_Species_value.asp

chrissy100... ever harvest the shoots to eat? Some botanical gardens in the American northwest have had a problem with people sneaking off with shoots. A restaurant might be glad to come by and make sure your Phyllostachys nigra doesn't spread from where you want it.

It feels like Easter egg hunting time when I scrounge around my bamboo patch to see where the new culms are poking through each spring. I have several varieties (and 5 acres to accommodate it) - but the black is certainly the most interesting. When culms appear in places not wanted, I give them until winter to get hale and hearty - and then I dig them up for transplant!

G'day Paul_David .....no... I did not know that you eat the shoots of the Black one...I thought you only eat certain types of Bamboo.....but I tell you what...the shoots of mine would be quite a mouthfull as they are about 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches across!.....when I had some in a pot the stems were a lot thinner but.. in the garden
well that is a whole different thing altogether!.....I think I will just look at them for now until someone says they are edible......have you tasted black bamboo shoots?

chrissy...Never had the black bamboo. Some are better than others I suppose. My sister bought one bamboo shoot in New York City a month ago for six dollars. The base was two inches in diameter. I don't think they have much taste but they are probably great for fiber.

ha ha ha .....chrissy :)

I am interested in bamboo as a screen/hedge, there are so many var. out there. Which one would you suggest? My sister has a terrible time with the black in ga. as it takes over! I would like something less invasive, local to central florida.......thanks,

Tell your sister to get hold of the shoots coming up in spring and snip off the shoots ...pour round up into the little hollow and that will stop that line of the bamboo...I keep mine in bounds that way ...but you have to do it as the new shoots are just coming up.I don't know about any others but clumping ones are less trouble. :)

I'll let her know, maybe she can send me some of those unwanted shoots. The black are fast growing right?
We bought a piece of property and really need a hedge with in 2-3 years. Have any other suggestions for hedge about 20 ft? z9

If you do what I said you can manage ...you can also put an underground barrier...if you like it needs to be about two ft deep ...better check ...I think bamboo places sell this...good luck :)
I love the black bamboo.

Fyi, Santa Rosa Gardens has a 50% off selected grass sale going on now.