Bamboo Fargesia Rufa

A cool weather clumping bamboo. I am getting ready to plant some. Has anyone had any experience with this bamboo? Anything I should know?

Hi Sarazen,

We've had great success since we planted last year. Mine are in a large planter and are growing well. They made it through the winter with sporadic yellowing. It grew about a foot last year and the new culms are about a foot again. Here is what I know.

In the first year, use manure instead of chemical fertilizer. The mix can be almost half compost/organic. I think we lined the hole with it and put a clump at the bottom. (There is some debate about that, but it worked for us.) Hi-nitrogen fertlizer after the first year while it's growing. It likes its soil a little acidic and a little moist but not too moist. It took us awhile to get it right. We water well then skip a day now and again and almost let it dry out almost but not completely. If the leaves are curling lengthwise, they are dry. Yellow/brown tips? Too much water.

We planted ours in the first week of June and it took off. Soil needs to be above 40 degrees but not too hot. I'll post a new photo when its grown in some more.

Ours gets very little direct light but a lot of ambient light. As I said, it's happy. Best of luck and let us know how it goes!



This message was edited May 2, 2008 8:41 AM

Good Morning; That Bamboo sounds like just what I'm looking for. Can you tell me the name of the Bamboo so I can look for it? Thank you. Happy Memorial Day WE.

Fargesia Rufa is the name. It is sometimes sold as Green Panda, but if it is not Fargesia Rufa, then it is some other bamboo.

Speaking of which, I finally have mine in the ground. So far it has been pretty happy. It is still very small though, only about 18'. I expect it will sleep for a while, but I am looking forward to some new growth.

Here is a photo of May's growth. When it starts to leaf in, it will start to fall forward, but it will continue to grow until July. I should say that I had to dig something out of the bed last week and I was amazed by how fertile the soil was. We really must have loaded it with compost and manure. From now on I will be using fish fertilizer.

Fish fertilizer is great, but it does bring the dogs in. I used some once on plants that were in my dogs accessible area. Never again....Never again.

I didn't know even think about the dog. Ours is a fish lover and she has been fine. She can't resist fresh compost. I am also working with an enclosed space so she's the only one I have to worry about. Good to know. I will keep an eye on her.