Re: Hello
MediaHound, I am not sure if you know, but there are quite a few types of bamboo that look similar to B. v. vittata. In my mind I question what the ones you speak about in vegas as to their identity. Reason being that B. v.v does not like to be potted, and it also does not grow erect like the lako. It tends to weep at the top, so its possible it might something else. If yours is in a large enough pot it should be ok for the time being.
Your lako should be fine when you transplant it, as long as you can do a couple of things. One is that you do not want the roots to dry out at all, so digging the hole before hand where you want it, followed by getting it in asap will really help. I think it really helps to dig a bigger hole than what it will need, so it will use minimal energy for the roots to spread outwards into the surrounding soil. Then water it every day for about a month or so. A good thing to remember when looking for a location for the lako, is to find the place with the most amount of light. I have noticed that every time I have seen this one in a place that does not get much light, it does not look as nice, and grows slower as well. In a low light environment it tend to put out less leaves and it looks a little bare.
In regards to the budda's belly, if yours is not swelling, more than likely it is the B. tuldoides 'Ventricosa' instead of B. vulgaris 'wamin' which tends to belly in the ground even when it receives plenty of water. Yours in Fl. tends to revert to a giant, and if you would like it to belly, you would need to divide it, then plant it up and keep it as dry as possible, and allow the roots to really fill up the pot. That stress will cause it to belly out. Its the lack of water, and roots being so tight that will enable the bellying effect. Hopefully I have been of some help, and good luck with your projects.
For anyone interested, here are a few pics of what some of the bamboo we have been speaking about will look like when mature. The B. lako shown here is not fully mature, and has not come to the full size culms yet. It should get a good deal larger. The same is true with the Vitatta. Most of the pics come from Bambooweb.info
Here is B. lako, D. asper and B. v. Vitatta. Also, here is B. vulgaris 'Wamin' which is similar to B. tuldoides 'Ventricosa', but that it consistently produces swollen culms, no matter the conditions.
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