Growing Bamboo:
Yesterday I had reason to quickly internet research how well bamboo grows in Britain or America, having suggested to someone in America who had a lot of trees burned in fires that they might like to consider growing bamboo. If it could be grown it is a worthwhile crop when harvested.
In Asia it grows so well it is a $billion dollar industry. It has too many uses to describe here but there are plenty of videos on YouTube with just some uses described. So why does it not do well here? Firstly; in places like Vietnam the undergrowth greenery is lush and it is that which supplies the feeds for the bamboo. You must remember it is a grass, and no different in it’s needs than the grass on your lawns, which can fail badly if not properly fed. Leaving the clippings as a mulch is a good feed. How much more a grass plant you expect to grow to thirty meters or more. The soil would initially require a lot of preparation well in advance with a lot of nitrogen and decaying materials ploughed, or dug, in. I saw some growers in the UK and US with their largest bamboo that had dead tips and they blamed the cold. I think lack of a correct fertiliser is a more likely cause. It always is with farmers green crops, and they know to have the soil tested for how much fertiliser to apply. Their plants with weak and distorted growth are obviously a result of poor nutrition. Bamboo is a very big and greedy plant I should think and nitrogen would not be it’s only need for strong growth. Well worth the effort though if you want to try a small patch. This is the kind of things agricultural colleges should be experimenting with. They just need to realise bigger needs more until the roots find their own way.
