Tropicman

Pete,I lived Bossier City 1960 and again 1967,spitted a few snow flakes that winter.
I wondering about this tropicanna,one of the guys at work said his only reached 3 to 4 ft as well,and mine always get taller than that,is it the location I wonder, from the tuber that I originally got mine from, Horns Canna farm,from Oklahoma.

Lagniappe

The culture tag that came with mine shows 6' max . I fertilize mine a lot and their soil is very heavy clay type . They do manage to send out pups through the mulch but they may be dwarfed by the soil composition . Just a thought.

xyzzy

Do you get lower than -15 degrees C? If not, P Pubescence will grow. P Vivax will only take -5 degrees C.

Pubescence starts off forming a nice bamboos screen, but eventually forms a giant timber bamboo plantation, which if managed wll remains narrow like a hedge, of culms up to 4 inches wide! The shoots you cut off to keep it narrow are edible and yummy.

My Canna tropicana always go to 5 or 6 feet. They get an early start though because they are frost hardy here and normallt dont full die down in winter.

__________________
There is no such thing as can't grow it - but the determination required may lose you your partner, family and friends - but does that matter?.

Tropicman

Mine get a very late start,they don't even pop out the ground until late May,but I compost right in the bed I grow everything,I use to have heavy clay,but since I compost right where everything grows my soil is excellent
In the fall I cut everything down and let it rot right where it grows,after a few years the soil is really good and fertile.

BGreen

Going to have to get some pics, but my bamboo has added close to 30 new shoots so far this year! Very glad I put the barrier in! Pics coming soon

__________________
Take care,

BGreen

Tropicman

hey Ben,
how tall has it got to now?
I talked to a school teacher friend,and his has traveled quite a ways and has poke holes thru his pond liners!!!

Kylie2x

Yes!! I want to see pic's.. !!!!
LOL I can kill bamboo...I have a couple of pieces of Variegated and some Black but that is the only thing that has survived...I would love to have a big stand of it...It grow on the side of the road... just not at my house...ROFL!!!!

BGreen

Ok here are some new pics, hard to see with the weeds in the background, but most of the green is bamboo.







The two tall sections, Phyllostachys aureosulcata, were planted in the fall, and have a few new canes close to 7' tall.
Most of the P.rubo canes are 3'-5' and still growing.

The P.aureosulcata before planting:


And my wife bought me a new palm, and wanted to share:

__________________
Take care,

BGreen

Chironex

Seeing your bamboo and the Tropicana Cannas is really something. Very nicely done. I have just started my Trop. Cannas, Ti plants and waiting for my bamboo to germinate. Can't wait! Thank again for sharing the photos.

__________________
Scot

Bananaman88

Nice photos, Tropicman!

I also grow Tropicanna and mine rarely get over 3' tall, though as mentioned by others, I have seen them get large. In fact, I've seen them well over 6'! I think mine stay small due to the fact that there are some large Ilex opaca (American holly) and an oak planted nearyby. So I'm sure there is a great deal of competition for the available moisture. Just my opinion.

BGreen

Ok another update.
Now that all the new clums have leafed out you can really see the mass...

__________________
Take care,

BGreen

sandy0225

I'm growing yellow groove Phyllostachys aureosulcata, and my tallest cane is up around 17 feet now. Not too bad for zone 5a! It's four years old now though. We're also limited here in which varieties we can grow. It took three years before it got tough enough to not winter kill some of the canes in the winter, but this year it's bullet-proof.

__________________
Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!

BGreen

Nice Sandy!
Any pics? I went with the Rubo. because I was told it would get the largest for the cold hardy types, but then had to add the aureo because the clum color...
I am also looking at getting some Fargesia 'rufa' because it won't spread. I have a nice place in the front where it would look great!

__________________
Take care,

BGreen

sandy0225

I'll get some taken, maybe tomorrow, depending on customers and watering, and put them on a separate post. I don't like to "hijack" other people's posts. Sorry that I did that. I get excited sometimes!

__________________
Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!

BGreen

Here is the bamboo bed in July of 2010.
Filling up nicely!

__________________
Take care,

BGreen

Tropicman

Hey Ben,
Nice looking green you got there,filling out nicely!

Raules

Very good work! The beautiful bamboo at you has grown, my congratulations!

__________________
Tropical agriculturist

stevelau1911

Being in approximately the same zone as you, I planted a rubromarginata division last summer which got a bit of leaf burn over last winter probably due to not enough time to establish, but this year it has made many new small culms, nothing close to what you have. Hopefully next year mine will be pushing 10ft like that. I'm still kind of impressed that you went from spindly 3ft culms to a grove in 1 year.

March 2010 with leaf burn.


June 2010, and still shooting now, but still everything under 4ft.


Being in this zone it seems like moso does pretty well as single tarp protection is enough to prevent leaf burn here, but vivax gets top killed regardless of getting tarped.

__________________
I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas.

my picture website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

BGreen

Thanks everyone,

We had a really harsh winter here last year, multiple days below zero and a few -10 and colder. During most of those days we had a nice blanket of snow but that didn't protect the bamboo. The Phyllostachys aureosulcata had mulitple canes with leaf burn and I cut out 3 or 4 canes that were killed, but all of the P.rubromarginata canes leafed back out, very tough stuff. I will see if I can find a picture from last year and post it too. Most of the canes are now about 1/2" diam. and the whole bed is going to get some fertilzer this fall for the first time!

__________________
Take care,

BGreen

stevelau1911

Sounds like you had a much harsher winter than I had. It only got down to about 4F last winter here on the coldest night according to my weatherstation so I'm probably in a warmer zone 6 than you. I hope that means I will be seeing 1/2 inch diameter canes next year given that they are reaching the 1/4 inch mark this year.

Red margin is pretty hardy, but not the hardiest. Parvifolia and Atrovaginata gets through winter with less damage than this here.


I also see that you have a barrier on the whole thing. Are you worried about it getting root-bound in there at all? It might require some rhizome pruning since rhizome & roots will be continuing to grow over the same area.

__________________
I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas.

my picture website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/