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How To Propagate Bamboo And Care For It?

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Bamboo is the tallest grass in the world. For many people, it symbolizes universal love, loyalty, eternal youth, and indomitable energy. Also, other people seek to decorate their home or office with it.

There are different species when it comes to the bamboos. The bamboo that grows in apartments and is called indoor bamboo and does not belong to the variety of bamboos growing in the wild.

Wild bamboo belongs to herbaceous plants; however, sometimes, they stretch up to forty meters. For indoor bamboo they are close to the woody plants than herbs. Propagation of indoor and wild bamboo have different ways.

How Does Bamboo Look Like?

Bamboo has a bare stem with several leaves and shoots on top. The trunk typically grows straight from the beginning or starts to curve in a spiral.

Most of the time, the indoor bamboos are bright green, but there are golden straw species. If the plant is exposed to strong sunlight during the day, its color will turn dark green.

How To Propagate Bamboo And Care For It
via Pxhere

How To Propagate Bamboo

1. Seeds propagation

Planting bamboo seeds is one of the most fun activities for the bamboo forest. This method is based on a natural process by which rats or birds usually transfer the seeds to areas with suitable germination substrates.

It has been proven that this technique is inexpensive and relatively simple; however, it has the disadvantage that it produces poor-quality plants.

It has gone for many years from an uninhibited land polluted with weeds to the garden of paradise full of frogs, countless butterflies, and exotic birds.

But if you want to plant bamboo on planters, worry not, for it will also help you grow bamboo plants with tricks that no one else will tell you about.

2. Apical cuttings

When propagating indoor bamboo, apical cuttings are the best. This is the easiest and most convenient way to breed a plant at home.

To obtain a stem suitable for propagation, the top of the stem is cut off from the mother plant. The length of the cut should be about 15 cm. After cutting, the cutting is placed in water for the roots to grow back.

It is recommended to dilute the root stimulant Heteroauxin in water beforehand. So that, while the roots are sprouting, the cuttings do not rot in the places of the cuts.

The part that is in the water is lubricated with liquid natural wax. After the roots appear, the cutting is transplanted into the ground and looked after until it is already a full-grown young plant.

3. Stem cuttings

This method is suitable if the bamboo is broken or has a large top that had to be cut and discarded. There are several ways to root the stem:

  • Place it vertically in the water with a root formation stimulator: You need to fill the top with wax and drip it from a burning candle, but it is better to use a slightly cool and soft one. This way, you will protect the cut from rot and disease, as well as from moisture loss.
  • Laid it upright in the ground: In this case, it is recommended to put on a transparent bag on the pot, which is removed when the stem gives the first green growth.
  • Laid it sideways in the ground: This is how shoots can grow from each bud of the trunk, which must be separated and rooted as described above.
  • Ensure the buds from which new shoots form do not lie in the water but remain dry.

4. Propagation by knees

This method is rarely used in indoor species; however, it is pretty working and effective. Usually, the technique is used when the old plant dies or is too old.

The knees are the segments into which the bamboo stems are divided. In those places where the knees thicken, the flower can theoretically grow roots.

For propagation, a high-quality, healthy segment is chosen without damage and rot. The knee is cut off, immersed in water.

After the roots appear, the part is buried in the ground, watered, and taken care of. Thus, it is possible to give a second life to even very old or badly damaged bamboo.

5. Division of roots

This option is only suitable for adult plants, but it is pretty complex; therefore, it is used less often. Root division is usually used when there is a need to transplant bamboo.

The maternal specimen is taken out of the pot, with the plant divided into several parts. The divided pieces are usually placed in pots immediately. Sometimes in the water so that the roots grow back better.

6. Growing rhizomes

It is good to understand the difference between bamboo rhizome and bamboo variety. The bamboo rhizome is the root from which the shoots emerge, which in the future will grow into new stems, while the strain is the lower part of the reed that has been cut, including part of the plant rhizome, to transform it into a single, free-standing bamboo plant quickly.

Propagation of bamboo by rhizomes is a method of obtaining plants from fragments of the trunk, especially from rhizomes, primarily by wild bamboo species. It is indicated for small and weak bamboos with limited ability to form root zones or vegetative formations.


How To Care for The Bamboo After Propagation

Bamboo is a natural plant and survives even in unfavorable conditions. But to obtain a beautiful and graceful bamboo, it is essential to care for it.

Since the root system goes shallow into the ground, a wide and shallow pot is chosen. These perennial species do not need constant transplants. If the plant’s roots begin to crawl out of the jar, they can be cut off.

In addition, indoor bamboo does not like drafts even in summer, and there is no need to talk about winter. For this reason, the window where the bamboo stands should not open. So, here is how to care for bamboo that has been propagated.

Watering

It would be best if you water it regularly so that the soil does not dry out completely. This means there should be a lot of water.

The fact is that the bamboo can grow simply in water, without soil, and under such conditions, it grows better than in soil.

In case of a lack of moisture, the leaves curl and wither, and with excess water, the roots can rot, and the leaves begin to turn yellow. Therefore, the bamboo needs drainage.

Top dressing

For this purpose, it is better to take fertilizers intended for feeding all varieties of bamboos.

Growing them needs to be applied every month, and in the summer, feeding is carried out at least once every two weeks. In winter, the bamboo does not need such frequent feeding, for you can fertilize them once a month.

Pruning

Indoor bamboo needs crown formation. To do this, cut excess shoots and stems off from the plant every spring. If the high-quality shoots are cut off, they can be used for subsequent propagation of bamboo.

Care for young, and especially for not yet rooted bamboo, must be careful. In addition to watering and fertilizing, the plant also needs regular wiping of the leaves and loosening the soil.

Lighting

Bamboo, mostly the indoor species, is very light-requiring and grows well under high-quality lighting, but it must be protected from direct sunlight, burning the leaves and leading to yellowing.

If there is too much light, the plant begins to lose leaves. In this case, you need to rearrange the pot on a window where there are no sun’s direct rays.

Humidity

A special humidity regime for bamboo is not required. It does not need to be sprayed, but dust must be removed from its leaves. This is done with a special sponge.

Temperature

Although bamboo is a southern plant, it does not need dry and hot air. This flower needs a moderate temperature and humid air because, in the tropics, it is always surrounded by water if it feeds on it.

How do you care for bamboo at home in the summer? Experienced growers advise to deprive the plant of light and find a suitable cool, damp corner for it, at least in the bathroom.

A suitable temperature in summer is considered to be 20-25 degrees, and in winter is supposed to be 13-17 degrees. The flower can withstand temperatures of 35 degrees if there is enough freshwater.

Soil

In the soil, the bamboo feels good. Suitable soil for any bamboo is to mix it in proportions of 4: 1 with expanded clay and add a little sand.

Also, it is important to choose a pot with drainage holes in the bottom and a drainage layer. Their absence will lead to the appearance of mould on the roots and plant diseases.


Conclusion

Bamboo is the important plant species that you can get. Propagating it at home is entirely different from what a wild one needs. The difference lies in the fact that they are not related.

The indoor beauty is not grass. This is a kind of such a common flower for home conditions. It is difficult to imagine that a bare stem with several shoots and leaves, growing straight or twisting in a spiral, can be propagated in any way. And yet, it is possible.

There are several ways in which you can reproduce these bamboos. With the above techniques, you will find it is easy and possible.