Bamboo!

SouthernN'Proud said:
He has it in a small area in the woods. He also has transplanted ginseng, golden seal, bloodroot, spearmint, and God above only knows what else down there. He keeps it thinned and cleaned off regularly. The man needs a hobby.
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Sounds like he already has one.
 
You'd have to know him. God love him, he's one of the kindest, generous, caring people I'll ever know. But he is blessed/cursed with the infliction that consumes so many retired males...he is a putterer.

I'm all for it. If he's happy I'm happy. But he ain't happy unless he has about 25 different "projects" going at once. His experimental grow-zone is but one of them.
 
Low light: chinese evergreen. It grows slow but it's a cute plant. I got mine from someone at work who just cut the stem in half and told me to put it in water. I did, it grew roots, I planted it in dirt, and it's been growing great ever since.

Bonsai: the act of miniaturizing. You can bonsai a lot of things. The typical one is juniper, it's those deep green spiky ones. They require a lot of care, creative pruning, precise watering and light. I haven't done that yet. And they are very expensive. Unless you have a Trader Joe's near you. I buy a lot of orchids from them, they have great prices. And they had about 15 bonsai the last time I was there.

Forgot-to-water-itis: cactus! I'm getting more into cactus/succulents myself. I just bought a few cute little guys and put them in an old fishbowl with some polished glass and rocks. They do need a lot of light though. I just put them in a windowsill and forget about them. I haven't watered my 8 cactus in a month and they still look great.
 
tonksy said:
i've been wanting to pick up some bamboo for the bedroom. it seems to dark for much of anything to grow in there. i regret not buying some in montreal's chinatown because the price was terrific.
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Wouldn't it have been a certified bitch to try to transport a plant across the border, though?
 
greenfreak said:
Most bamboo are extremely invasive plants and if given time, will destroy everything in it's path. SNP, if the clump is still small, he should yank it. They don't look very nice once they start taking over either. The only way to keep it contained is to surround the root ball in cement. That stuff is almost indestructable.

Nixy, my boyfriend's parents have one bamboo stalk that is years old and about 5 feet tall, in water. If you pot the "lucky bamboo" in dirt, it will grow faster. But only in water will keep it under control and you won't see much growth.

Water changes are a pain in those kinds of containers though. The rocks will get scummy after a while and you'll have to rinse them. I have an extra spaghetti strainer for just that purpose.
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Never heard of surrounding the rootball in cement... but it may be worth a try. But remember cement is a freaky chemical substance and caustic... it may effect the Ph of the rest of you garden due to leaching/grouned water...

The most common method I've heard of of curbing the invasive tendancy (caused by a rhisomal reproctive process - roots that run along rather than down and produce new shoots yards away) is by actually potting the bamboo in a plastic pot and planting the entire pot into the bed...

I'd also recommend the same for Pampas Grasses too... now those babies quickly turn into monsters... transplanting and uprooting is a nightmare too... the root ball can be over 3ft across and as solid... as solid as a cement encased one!!! I've been a party to many a "pampas burning!"
 
Inkara1 said:
Wouldn't it have been a certified bitch to try to transport a plant across the border, though?
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well...not if i smuggled them in in the same package i had a snip of those little white ground cover flowers that were everywhere in nat and pauls yard. had 'em on the consol and totally meant to declare them...
 
greenfreak said:
Forgot-to-water-itis: cactus! I'm getting more into cactus/succulents myself. I just bought a few cute little guys and put them in an old fishbowl with some polished glass and rocks. They do need a lot of light though. I just put them in a windowsill and forget about them. I haven't watered my 8 cactus in a month and they still look great.
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I once killed a cactus :lloyd:
 
ClaireBear said:
Never heard of surrounding the rootball in cement... but it may be worth a try. But remember cement is a freaky chemical substance and caustic... it may effect the Ph of the rest of you garden due to leaching/grouned water...
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Atleast around here it is not uncommon for peoplet o use cement in their gardens...concrete retaining walls, concrete stones, etc etc.
 
Nixy said:
Atleast around here it is not uncommon for peoplet o use cement in their gardens...concrete retaining walls, concrete stones, etc etc.
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Oh yes of course Nixy... concrete slabs are much cheaper than real york stone etc etc... but I dont know how a plant would react to having its roots encased in the stuff... or the concrete being buried and chemicals seeping into the ground water and its effect on other plants.
 
ClaireBear said:
Never heard of surrounding the rootball in cement... but it may be worth a try. But remember cement is a freaky chemical substance and caustic... it may effect the Ph of the rest of you garden due to leaching/grouned water...

The most common method I've heard of of curbing the invasive tendancy (caused by a rhisomal reproctive process - roots that run along rather than down and produce new shoots yards away) is by actually potting the bamboo in a plastic pot and planting the entire pot into the bed...

I'd also recommend the same for Pampas Grasses too... now those babies quickly turn into monsters... transplanting and uprooting is a nightmare too... the root ball can be over 3ft across and as solid... as solid as a cement encased one!!! I've been a party to many a "pampas burning!"
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Do a little research on bamboo, you'll find that regular plastic pots won't do the trick. Paul James himself (Gardening by the Yard - HGTV) told me about the cement method, but that in climates with cooler winters, you have to be careful with cracks. Here's a link to a bamboo site with instructions on how to contain or remove bamboo: http://www.bamboosourcery.com/catalog.cfm?print=1#76

I'm surprised you mention soil ph, most people have no idea and wind up screwing it all up with chemicals and fertilizers. Are you a gardener?

I'm actually looking into ornamental grasses for my garden this year but pampas grass grows too damn big.
 
ClaireBear said:
Oh yes of course Nixy... concrete slabs are much cheaper than real york stone etc etc... but I dont know how a plant would react to having its roots encased in the stuff... or the concrete being buried and chemicals seeping into the ground water and its effect on other plants.
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Concrete is buried all the time...many pipes are concrete...bridge piers that are under water on concrete...it's a marvelous marvelous material *feels all mushy and lovey dovey*

I must say...I really have no doubts whether I'm in the right field of study *looks over her shoulder at the chunk of concrete on her book case that she made and then crushed last semester*
 
ClaireBear said:
Oh yes of course Nixy... concrete slabs are much cheaper than real york stone etc etc... but I dont know how a plant would react to having its roots encased in the stuff... or the concrete being buried and chemicals seeping into the ground water and its effect on other plants.
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What chemicals? Concrete is made out of all natural substances, mostly sand and gravel. The California Aqueduct (which carries drinking water all over the state) is lined with concrete, so I'm not too worried about chemicals getting into the water from it.
 
Inkara1 said:
What chemicals? Concrete is made out of all natural substances, mostly sand and gravel. The California Aqueduct (which carries drinking water all over the state) is lined with concrete, so I'm not too worried about chemicals getting into the water from it.
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Yes, concrete is used for everything, it is fabulously fabulous!

Water flows through concrete pipes even...OH NO THE CHEMICALS!!! :lloyd:
 
Mare said:
What kinda plant is that and whats it look like?
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When you get it, it's a dried up ball of ... looks like cedar leaves. You put it into a bowl of water, it opens up to a bowl shape, all green in the middle. If you let it dry up, it'll close back up. If you let it dry back up too often without letting it recharge fully, it dies.
 
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