From: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com[mailto:bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Maria
Subject: [bamboo-plantations] bamboo from seeds
Has anyone tried to grow bamboo from seeds.
This guy sells them on the internet but I'm kind of skeptical about buying
these seeds.
http://www.exotic-plants.de/bamboo.php
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I've actually written a bit about those seeds/seedlings from your link
source. Here's a link to that rant:
http://www.tropicalbamboo.com/bamboo_faq.asp#q5
We have noticed an increasing interest in bamboo seeds over the past couple
of years - phone calls and emails to our nursery and inquiries on list
groups such as this one. The vast majority are coming from people who have
recently taken notice of bamboo and are having their
save-the-world-bamboo-epiphany. They envision an instant bamboo plantation
for timber, shoots, pulp, carbon sequester, etc.
Some people are just looking for a cheap way to obtain plants for their
private garden.
I understand the novice's attraction to bamboo seeds. In areas of the world
where land and labor is relatively cheap, the idea of sowing seeds seems the
most logical way to quickly fill a large area with the desired bamboo
species (or at least the species named on the seed bag). For a home
gardener, a $3 packet of seeds seems like the most economical choice for the
fastest-growing woody plant on Earth.
In both cases, the odds of disappointment over wasted money and,
most-importantly time, are great.
Bamboo seeds are truly your bamboo-lottery. They're your bamboo-lottery not
because you're lucky to obtain massive amounts of true seeds from a
particular species (although it is sort of fortuitous - flowering cycles are
notoriously long). Bamboo seeds are your lottery because not every seed is
a winner. They're not naturally all supposed to germinate and grow to
maturity. They come to existence in copious amounts because of sexual
reproduction and the seedlings WILL vary in form AND vigor. In nature, only
a small percentage of seedlings out of thousands that managed to germinate
would be strong and vigorous enough to survive the elements and competition.
Humans germinate bamboo seeds in controlled environments, nurse them along
(eliminating natural selection), and then they plant every one of them.
That's a myopic formula for failure. I've been in huge Thai plantations of
Dendrocalamus asper that consist of 90% pathetic, lethargic bamboos. This
is supposed to be a majestic, massive timber bamboo species! Sure, some of
them are over-harvested and they've never had a chance to fully develop.
Most of the weaklings are just weaklings. They never have, nor never will
perform like they should.
When the Thai asper flowered in the mid-1990s, the word was "Grow the Thai
asper seedlings. They'll never flower in your lifetime!". The book Bamboo
World advised the same thing (now we, and Victor Cusack, know better).
Unfortunately, that advice was printed and is still perpetuated today. For
those who know better, the word is now "Grow the Indonesian asper clones.
The Thai seedlings are too diluted with variable stock".
So, if seeds must be used for plantations, the seedlings should be
aggressively culled. Vegetatively clone only the most vigorous, most true
of the seedlings. Then cross your fingers and hope your strong babies will
become strong mature bamboos.
If you're growing seedlings as a hobby, for your home garden.have fun! The
exciting part of growing bamboo from seed is you never know what you'll end
up with. Just (please) don't email me photos in a few years asking why your
bamboo looks nothing like the species named on your seed packet label.
Robert Saporito
Tropical Bamboo Nursery & Gardens
Florida
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