HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
“How is it that you can hear that grasshopper by your feet, master?”
The master replies “How is it that YOU can not?”
The master replies “How is it that YOU can not?”
Bamboo Bonsai
- Thread starter penumbra
- Start date
HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
Hmm.. definite reason for question marks... That’s strange.
Michael P
Omono
Same as Penumbra, I got an email of a great follow-up post from Leo, but it doesn't appear in the discussion. Here is the copied and pasted text:
"In the previous styles of "bonsai-ing" bamboo, the only way to stop the bamboo from getting taller was to prune off, or pluck out the growing tip, the terminal meristem, from an extending culm. This always ends up looking "chopped" rather than the natural apex of the culm tapering to a branchlet with a single leaf. In the method below, you do not prune the terminal tip. Rather you shorten the internode lengths, by peeling culm sheaths off the growing culm.
"In "Bonsai Techniques II" by John Naka, there's a 4 page chapter with illustrations on how to shorten the internode lengths of full size bamboo species to give a really good simulation of bamboo in miniature. I've attached a rather poor quality scan of the pages that was originally scanned and put on line by someone else.
"This technique will actually shorten the natural distance between nodes, the shorter internodes will make the bamboo look like a natural version of bamboo in miniature.
"He used black bamboo which would normally be 15 to 40 feet tall ( 5 to 12 meters). The technique involves peeling off culm sheaths as the culm is shooting up in spring. I tried attaching both the pdf and photos, but then the website won't let me insert the photos where I want them, so I will terminate this post with just the pages from Naka."
"In the previous styles of "bonsai-ing" bamboo, the only way to stop the bamboo from getting taller was to prune off, or pluck out the growing tip, the terminal meristem, from an extending culm. This always ends up looking "chopped" rather than the natural apex of the culm tapering to a branchlet with a single leaf. In the method below, you do not prune the terminal tip. Rather you shorten the internode lengths, by peeling culm sheaths off the growing culm.
"In "Bonsai Techniques II" by John Naka, there's a 4 page chapter with illustrations on how to shorten the internode lengths of full size bamboo species to give a really good simulation of bamboo in miniature. I've attached a rather poor quality scan of the pages that was originally scanned and put on line by someone else.
"This technique will actually shorten the natural distance between nodes, the shorter internodes will make the bamboo look like a natural version of bamboo in miniature.
"He used black bamboo which would normally be 15 to 40 feet tall ( 5 to 12 meters). The technique involves peeling off culm sheaths as the culm is shooting up in spring. I tried attaching both the pdf and photos, but then the website won't let me insert the photos where I want them, so I will terminate this post with just the pages from Naka."
Leo in N E Illinois
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The "Ooops" was the fact that for what ever reason I was having trouble posting a pdf attachment to illustrate the text. Then I realized it was 2 am and time for me to "back away from the keyboard". So if you get email notifications of postings on BNut, you got the attempt, I went in and removed the post, replacing it with "oops" because I also could not figure out how to delete the post entirely. So I just sat down to try again. Got the same error. I think the pdf file is too large. I'll work around it.
kite-eating bonsai tree
Yamadori
hi penumbra, your initial post immediately reminded me of an example in a paul lesniewicz book from the 80’s. i thought i had the book stored away, but i just found it on my bookshelf. unfortunately, lesniewicz doesn’t state the botanical name (hopefully someone here will easily recognize it).
i’ve been tempted to emulate that example over the years.
i’ve been tempted to emulate that example over the years.
kite-eating bonsai tree
Yamadori
Leo in N E Illinois
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One of the things to keep in mind, is in growing bamboo in general, we grow rhizomes, not culms. Bamboo are essentially giant grasses, and as such their culms are only a temporary feature. For most species a culm will live 1 - 9 years, with 5 years being average as to when senescence begins. New culms from the rhizome must be developed to replace canes as they age out or become unattractive. Key to bamboo culture is keeping the rhizomes healthy.
The cycle is a new shoots emerges, rapidly growing to full height, then branches descend and expand. The leaves unfurl, expand and harden off. This all happens usually within a few weeks. The remainder of the growing season is spent building and storing energy in the rhizomes. If the cane survives the winter it will add secondary branches to the existing branches, but will gain no further height, and no significant caliper to the culm. Each subsequent year the culm will add additional degrees of branching to the original branches, but no further height. You can tell the age of a culm by degree of fine branching.
The technique outlined by John Naka starts with planting a rhizome in a bonsai pot. This technique is more like planning a forest planting where every few years the "trees", in this case the culms are replaced. Where the culms are in the pot will change over time.
Figure from Naka, before
figure from Naka after 
My mistake, was 2 fold. I used too small a container. My tray was only 16 inches long and less than 2 inches deep. I needed a significantly deeper container to keep the bamboo healthy long term. I probably could have also used a bigger segment of culm. It was a windy day in March when I attempted this, my hair makes me look pretty insane.
The cycle is a new shoots emerges, rapidly growing to full height, then branches descend and expand. The leaves unfurl, expand and harden off. This all happens usually within a few weeks. The remainder of the growing season is spent building and storing energy in the rhizomes. If the cane survives the winter it will add secondary branches to the existing branches, but will gain no further height, and no significant caliper to the culm. Each subsequent year the culm will add additional degrees of branching to the original branches, but no further height. You can tell the age of a culm by degree of fine branching.
The technique outlined by John Naka starts with planting a rhizome in a bonsai pot. This technique is more like planning a forest planting where every few years the "trees", in this case the culms are replaced. Where the culms are in the pot will change over time.
Figure from Naka, before
figure from Naka after My mistake, was 2 fold. I used too small a container. My tray was only 16 inches long and less than 2 inches deep. I needed a significantly deeper container to keep the bamboo healthy long term. I probably could have also used a bigger segment of culm. It was a windy day in March when I attempted this, my hair makes me look pretty insane.
Michael P
Omono
Thanks Leo! Purely by accident I did the right thing when I potted a tiny rhizome of black bamboo a year and a half ago. It is growing very well in an 8" deep terracotta azalea pot.. I can see new rhizomes, but the culms are still short and very bushy. I must be in the "3 or 4 years of training in a deep pot" stage.
What exactly does Naka mean by "training"?
What exactly does Naka mean by "training"?
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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The tray was planted in March, the first of the rhizomes peaked above the mix around May 19
New culms are soft, like tender asparagus, great for eating, or stir fry. They are sheathed in layers of culm sheaths, these provide the rigidity needed until the internodes expand and lignify enough to be self supporting. The culm sheaths also provide protection from moisture loss. By removing these culm sheaths, the lengthening of the internodes is retarded by the removal of the culm sheaths. Photos of 2 culms that I was harvesting to eat. One split to show the individual septum at each node.
Because the bamboo shoot expands very rapidly, an inch or two per day, you must daily remove each additional culm sheath. By timing when you remove the sheath, you can control the length of the internode. Just as with trees, the lowest internodes should be longer, the upper internodes should be shorter.
On June 1, 2014 removed the lowest culm sheaths. the tender culm proved to be "floppy", so I staked it up. Note: If you attempt to do this, have stakes or other supports long enough to support the entire "future" length of the culm. In the course of 14 days I had to tape together stakes to make a support long enough to support the culm in a straight position. If the culm is not held perfectly straight, when the culm lignifies, it will harden into a crooked position. (another one of my mistakes).
June 4, more sheaths removed
June 7, more sheaths removed, and had to cobble together more supports for the height.
June 11 lower part has hardened somewhat. This culm would have been about 40 inches tall if left to grow without peeling. I neglected to write down the exact measurement, but the shortened internodes resulted in a much shorter culm,
Then shortly after the last photo, we had a windy day, the culm broke off, in part because of my awkward cobbled together support. That culm died. Then during the summer, while I was out of town on a long weekend, the tray dried out and the whole planting died. I have not attempted again. I really should. It is a time consuming project, and in spring I am busy on the family owned blueberry farm.
New culms are soft, like tender asparagus, great for eating, or stir fry. They are sheathed in layers of culm sheaths, these provide the rigidity needed until the internodes expand and lignify enough to be self supporting. The culm sheaths also provide protection from moisture loss. By removing these culm sheaths, the lengthening of the internodes is retarded by the removal of the culm sheaths. Photos of 2 culms that I was harvesting to eat. One split to show the individual septum at each node.
Because the bamboo shoot expands very rapidly, an inch or two per day, you must daily remove each additional culm sheath. By timing when you remove the sheath, you can control the length of the internode. Just as with trees, the lowest internodes should be longer, the upper internodes should be shorter.
On June 1, 2014 removed the lowest culm sheaths. the tender culm proved to be "floppy", so I staked it up. Note: If you attempt to do this, have stakes or other supports long enough to support the entire "future" length of the culm. In the course of 14 days I had to tape together stakes to make a support long enough to support the culm in a straight position. If the culm is not held perfectly straight, when the culm lignifies, it will harden into a crooked position. (another one of my mistakes).
June 4, more sheaths removed
June 7, more sheaths removed, and had to cobble together more supports for the height.
June 11 lower part has hardened somewhat. This culm would have been about 40 inches tall if left to grow without peeling. I neglected to write down the exact measurement, but the shortened internodes resulted in a much shorter culm,
Then shortly after the last photo, we had a windy day, the culm broke off, in part because of my awkward cobbled together support. That culm died. Then during the summer, while I was out of town on a long weekend, the tray dried out and the whole planting died. I have not attempted again. I really should. It is a time consuming project, and in spring I am busy on the family owned blueberry farm.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
- Messages
- 11,427
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Now you BNuts know about as much as I do about the technique that John Naka outlines. It definitely works. A you saw form the photos, to do it right requires daily attention for the period of time the shoot is developing. (for most running bamboo, about 1 to 2 weeks).
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
- Messages
- 11,427
- Reaction score
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- USDA Zone
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@kite-eating bonsai tree
The bamboo you posted definitely looks like it was treated to the technique outlined by John Naka. The technique is not unique to Naka, it is probably well known in China and Japan. As to which species of bamboo I can not tell you. Given the spacing between the culms most likely it is in the genus Phyllostachys or Semiarundinaria, though there are a few other possibilities. Definitely one of the running bamboos.
The bamboo you posted definitely looks like it was treated to the technique outlined by John Naka. The technique is not unique to Naka, it is probably well known in China and Japan. As to which species of bamboo I can not tell you. Given the spacing between the culms most likely it is in the genus Phyllostachys or Semiarundinaria, though there are a few other possibilities. Definitely one of the running bamboos.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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In terms of natural dwarfs, I really like the miniature cultivars of Bambusa multiplex. The photo is a tray of Bambusa multiplex 'Fernleaf Stripe Stem' that I put together and sold in maybe 2015. Bambusa multiplex is a tropical clumping bamboo. All members of Bambusa genus are "clumpers", all are tropical or sub-tropical. B. multiplex is probably the most cold tolerant of the genus Bambusa and it will only tolerate brief plunges below freezing. Its cold tolerance is measured in hours or days, it will no tolerate weeks of below freezing temps. I think around +23 F for a few hours is the maximum cold it will tolerate without winter kill. The cultivar 'Alphonse Karr' is exquisite with golden yellow culms, random green stripes and a reddish flush where direct sun gets to the culms. 'Alphonse Karr' can be kept to 5 to 10 feet tall in a pot, in the ground it will get to 20 feet tall. The 'Fernleaf Stripe Stem' has similar golden culms with green stripes but will top out at 3 feet tall with unrestricted growth.
I no longer grow this clone.
I no longer grow this clone.
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Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
- Messages
- 11,427
- Reaction score
- 23,606
- USDA Zone
- 5b
Sasaella masamuneana albovariegata - this is a favorite, dwarf variegated bamboo. It grows a little larger, upr to 4 feet tall, than Pleioblastus fortunei and P viridistriata, and has much more bold variegation than P viridistriata. If planted in the ground in early spring, so that its rhizomes can "find their depth", it can be persistent "kill to the ground in winter" perennial in the Chicago area. Mow off the dead in early spring, and beautiful fresh new culms with fresh leaves will sprout in spring.
I don't currently have this one. I was running out of room and was offered good money for the last of my divisions. I will pick it up again in the future.
I don't currently have this one. I was running out of room and was offered good money for the last of my divisions. I will pick it up again in the future.
