Robert,
My apologies if I sounded like 5-10 % cuttings produce viable seeds. I
never got viable seeds from any of the cuttings in my decade old
experience with bamboo propagation. In fact, most of the time there is
no seed setting and the what you get is just the husk. A couple of
years back I received 1000 cuttings of P. stocksii a place near Mumbai,
out of which about 100 plants flowered in next 6 - 8 months. Similar
experiences with D. hamiltonii but rate of flowering 2-3 percent, D.
asper 5 percent, B. nutans 1% etc. I do not want to generalize the
above statement. Just to share the information that one should not be
panicked in such a situation and is more of a general phenomena. But we
should continuously watch this phenomena and collect the seeds.
Possibilities of getting viable seeds is always there.
It is likely that apart from incision, the local factors of soil
quality and moisture may also be playing a vital role in initiating the
flowering. Dr. R. L. Banik in his book says intensive heat, dry
weather and low soil fertility cause flowering. But he also says that
there is no experimental proof for this statement.
Vimal Dhiman
On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:01:02 +0530 wrote
>
I'm sure there is some logic in all of this but I'm not really clear on
the statistics. From most species, 5-10 % of vegetatively propagated
bamboos come to flower? Or is it only 5-10 % of the bamboos that DO
flower produce viable seeds (if these bamboos were vegetatively
propagated)?
I can offer my own experience with tropical bamboos. Over the past
decade, each year, we've produced thousands of vegetatively propagated
bamboos from more than 150 tropical species and varieties. About 70%
from cuttings, 29.99% from rhizome division, 0.01% from seed. Most
species and varieties were of Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Gigantochloa,
Guadua, Schizostachyum, and Thyrsostachys.
Over that same period, I can remember only two varieties that have
sporadically flowered.
Dendrocalamus minor ameonus seems to occasionally have a culm or two in
flower somewhere in the nursery each year. We've never found a seed. I
suppose this could be a reproductive reaction to the vegetative
propagation.
Bambusa textilis var. albostriata (alboliniata) has been flowering
quite a bit over the past two years but seems to be slowing down now.
A couple of containerized specimens did die. Most have survived. We
did get four seedlings that emerged from the soil of the dead
containerized bamboos. Two of the four seedlings are vigorous – we
destroyed the other two.
All of the Schizostachyum species flower continuously, but that's
normal for the genus (and they rarely offer a seed).
That's about all I can remember of as far as flowering is concerned.
5-10% viable seeds from our vegetatively propagated bamboos that do
flower seems believable. Our vegetatively propagated bamboos certainly
are not acting as if they're forced into flower.
Robert Saporito
From: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com [mailto:bamboo-
plantations@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Vimal Dhiman
Subject: Re: RE: [bamboo-plantations] Re: G. Atter Flowering
It has been observed in most of the bamboo species that when they are
vegetatively propagated nearly 5-10 percent of the cuttings come to
flower, that in general, do not produce viable shoots. My own
experience is with Psedoxytenanthera stocksii, Denfrocalamus hamiltonii
and Dendrocalamus asper. This phenomena may be the plant's reaction to
a shock that comes from incision of culms / rhizome. There must be a
definite age message hidden in each species that clicks one or two
years prior to the completion age and triggers the flowering process.
This we can refer to as message of death that is in actual the message
to prepare for a new life in the form of offspring. This message system
may work in the same way in some cuttings that triggers the flowering
but since the complete age cycle of the plant is not completed, the
result is in the form of sterile seeds.
Vimal Dhiman
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:14:37 +0530 wrote
>
Dear All,
G. atter along with several other Gigantochloas are plants that are
only found in cultivation and do not occur naturally in the wild. They
have always been vegetatively propagated by people – not from seeds.
In some places G. atter clumps can be found in regrowth forest areas
because they were planted before the surrounding vegetation
regenerated, however G. atter does not occur naturally in old growth
forests.
You may be lucky and get some plants from seeds, however you will
probably have to get a new division from a plant that isn't flowering.
The vast majority of G. atter plants are not in flower because it does
not flower gregariously – only sporadically. The current flowering
plants are most likely the vegetative divisions of the same plant.
Best Regards
Andre
From: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com [mailto:bamboo-
plantations@yahoogroups.com ] On
Behalf Of eberg54
Sent: Saturday, 27 November 2010 6:01 PM
To: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [bamboo-plantations] Re: G. Atter Flowering
You could very well be right about the insects, but with the close
proximity that the flowers are in, and the constant breeze, I would
have thought that the flowers would have cross pollinated anyway.
Either way, can't stop the plant from dying!
--- On Thu, 25/11/10, m krell wrote:
From: m krell
Subject: Re: [bamboo-plantations] Re: G. Atter Flowering
To: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com
Received: Thursday, 25 November, 2010, 7:12 PM
Could it possibly be a matter of lacking pollination? Maybe there is a
particular insect species where the bamboo originally came from, but it
is not
present in most other places. Could manual pollination be the key to
get some
seeds out of the dying bamboos?
________________________________
From: "leu@austarnet.com.au "
To: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, 25 November, 2010 13:42:18
Subject: RE: [bamboo-plantations] Re: G. Atter Flowering
Hi Folks,
I have two plants from differents sources. One is in the process of
flowering
and dying. The other is growing well.
I suspect that the plants in Qld that are flowering are divisions of
the same
parent plant. This is a classic clonal flowering on one plant -
sporadic rather
than a gregarious flowering of the species.
G. atter rarely sets viable seeds. You will need to collect many kilos
of the
seeds and put them in planter boxs with a very light potting mix with a
huge
amounts of organic matter. You may get a few seedlings then.
Best Regards
Andre
---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:13:36 +1000
>From: "Hans Erken"
>Subject: RE: [bamboo-plantations] Re: G. Atter Flowering
>To:
>
>
>
> A friend showed me his plant at Crystal Waters, Qld
> which he had got from me some years ago, this was
> some months ago in Autumn. He wanted to show me the
> flowering and had failed to spot the seedlings
> scattered around the base. I dug some up and have
> them growing in pots now. Andre Leu up in Mossman
> mentioned to me last week that his atter is
> flowering also so it looks like this is a wide
> spread event. Keep your eyes on the ground for
> seedlings!
>
> Regards
>
> Hans Erken
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Earthcare Enterprises - www.earthcare.com.au
> Bamboos, Aquatic Plants, Tropical Root Crops
> Spices and Medicinals of the Ginger Family
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com ] On
> Behalf Of eberg54
> Sent: Monday, 22 November 2010 1:02 PM
> To: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [bamboo-plantations] Re: G. Atter
> Flowering
>
> Hi All. I had planted about 6 of the G.Atters about
> 5-6 years ago, and a few flowered a couple of years
> ago and then died without producing any viable
> seeds, the rest of them are now all flowering and
> also dying and still not producing any viable seeds,
> I also am in SE Qld. Australia.
>
> --- On Mon, 22/11/10, mkrell1
> wrote:
>
> From: mkrell1
> Subject: [bamboo-plantations] Re: G. Atter Flowering
> To: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com
> Received: Monday, 22 November, 2010, 1:10 PM
>
> Hi all,
>
> I planted a G. atter last year (2009) in S-E QLD
> (Australia) and noticed last week that it is now
> flowering. It is only about 1m high.
>
> I don't know when it started exactly and am not sure
> if this is the actual flower, or the remnants of the
> flower, or the seed.
>
> It looks much like the photo shown here:
> http://www.bambooland.com.au/information_flowering.htm
>
> Can anyone tell me how to best collect seeds and/or
> improve the chances for the "mother" to survive?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> --- In bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com , "Andre
> and Julia Leu" wrote:
> >
> > Hi folks,
> >
> > I have one G.atter in full flower and another not
> flowering.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Andre
> >
> > Daintree, Qld Australia
> >
> >
> >
> > From: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com
> > [mailto:bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com ] On
> Behalf Of eberg54
> > Sent: Monday, 26 October 2009 10:57 PM
> > To: bamboo-plantations@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [bamboo-plantations] G. Atter Flowering
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi all, two of my G.Atter plants about 4-6mt high
> that have started to
> > flower, last year 2 others flowered and died
> without producing any
> > viable seed, so I wonder if a trend is starting in
> this area ( Ningi, Qld.
> > Australia). Regards
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _____
> >
> > Get more done like never before with Yahoo!7 Mail.
> Learn more.
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++
> http://www.bamboo-plantations.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> bamboo-plantations-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Vimal Dhiman
Technical Coordinator,
Uttarakhand Bamboo & Fiber Development Board (UBFDB), Dehradun,
Uttarakhand, India.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Vimal Dhiman
Technical Coordinator,
Uttarakhand Bamboo & Fiber Development Board (UBFDB), Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.bamboo-plantations.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
bamboo-plantations-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bamboo-plantations/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bamboo-plantations/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
bamboo-plantations-digest@yahoogroups.com
bamboo-plantations-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
bamboo-plantations-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
