The Risk of Starting a Bamboo Plantation

A crucial part when starting a bamboo plantation is selecting good quality bamboo plants. Although it is very difficult to verify the flowering status of a bamboo plant, you may want to do some research on the bamboo species before buying bamboo plants from a nursery.

Most bamboos flower in very unpredictable cycles, some may flower every year and some flower once in 120 years. The majority of bamboo species with very long flowering intervals die shortly after seed setting, this is called Monocarpic. Furthermore, when bamboos of a particular species set seeds, they do it simultaneously all over the globe, this is called Gregarious flowering.

In other words, if you buy bamboo plants to start a bamboo plantation from a species that is about to set seeds, you might end up with a dead bamboo plantation soon! In the worst case scenario, you might have bought bamboo plants that are in their flowering cycle and won’t even take root.

In my case however, I bought a Bambusa textilis offset in July 2008 and planted it on our bamboo farm in Costa Rica. Although the slow but steady growth, the clump never produced appropriate diameter culms. This year around July 2010, I noticed that the Bambusa textilis clump was flowering, and today I saw the bamboo stalks bending down and changing from a green to a yellowish color. Yep, my Bambusa textilis is dying!

Bambusa textilis offset in 2008

Bambusa textilis clump early 2010

Bambusa textilis flowering in July 2010

Bambusa textilis Dying!

Strangely enough all seeds are empty, so my high hopes on getting a ton of seeds and produce some nice healthy seedlings are shrinking by the minute. The risk of starting a bamboo plantation is all about the quality of the planting material. Fortunately, we still have tons of Guadua seedlings left!