All photos on this page taken by Chuck Theroux
May be used or reprinted with credits listed as ..."Chuck Theroux , www.bamboo.ws"

Last updated: Sunday, November 9, 2008
Bountiful Earth  -  1200 W. Canal Street, New Smyrna Beach, Fl. 32168   386-427-3330
New Store Hours Tuesday through Saturday 10 am to 5 pm

WWW.BAMBOO.WS

PLANTS LISTED BELOW ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE
WE DO NOT SHIP PLANTS.    STORE PICK UP ONLY .   Prices on this list supercede older lists
Reg # 47232801

  Care of your new BAMBOO

From BOUNTIFUL EARTH

1200 W. Canal Street,  New Smyrna Beach, Fl  32168  -  386-427-3330

      Choosing the right bamboo for your purpose:  With over 1200 varieties of bamboo, one can usually be found to fit most needs. (Such as privacy, garden focal point, decorative yard plant, wind barrier, potted house plant, bonsai, soil retention, ground cover, forest grove, food, building material, crafts, instrument making, just to name a few!).  Plants range from one foot ground covers to over one hundred foot giants, divided into two basic groups of running bamboo and non-invasive clumping bamboo.  Be particularly mindful of the temperature extremes in your area and choose your plant accordingly.  We have a minimum temperature field on our bamboo price list.  These temperatures are the point that the plant may loose some or all of it’s leaves and are not necessarily temperatures that will kill the plant unless exposed over a long period.

Most plants recover fully from brief cold spells. Growing three times faster than most woody plants, bamboo can fill your needs quickly and beautifully.  

      Picking the desired location:  Most bamboos like sunny areas, although certain varieties can deal with some shade better than others.  Check to see if your bamboo can take shade, such as under a canopy of large trees.  Keep in mind that sun must still reach them for a portion of the day.  Bamboo likes to be in well-drained soil, kept moist but not sitting in water.  Bamboo can adapt to most soil types.  Extra sandy soil may possibly require the periodic addition of organic matter and possible extra fertilizer and water.  Bamboo has a strong will to live and will survive under most conditions but properly placed and given a little care, it will thrive!

      Planting your bamboo:  Plantings are best done in the evening and not during the heat of day.  Dig a hole approximately twice the diameter and 50% deeper than the pot.  Place some potting soil (amended with organic matter, if desired) and mix with your soil in the bottom of hole to the depth of the bottom of plant.  Remove plant carefully from container.  If root bound, pull away and separate roots from sides and bottom of plant.  Place in hole with top of plant soil about the same level as ground surface.  Fill the rest of hole with potting soil mixed 50% with your soil.  Water plant liberally.  Use some of the excess dirt to build a small water retention wall around plant.  If possible, place mulch, a few inches thick, around plant to help with water retention and heat/cold protection. 

      Care of bamboo:  Water plant daily for a couple of weeks or more, if possible.  Once plant has been established happily in it’s new location, watering can be cut back to an “as needed” basis.  Of course, the amount of sun, heat, rain and soil type will ultimately determine your watering schedule.  Usually a deep watering once or twice per week is advisable in the Spring and Summer and less in the Fall and Winter months. When the plant needs water, the leaves will fold inward similar to blades of grass, although, some bamboos naturally do this in the heat of the day, so this method is not absolutely accurate but a guide.  Eventually, you will get to know the needs of your plants by simple observation.  Commercial fertilizers are ok.  At BOUNTIFUL EARTH, we use a slow, high quality, 3-month 18-7-14 mix.  Depending on the fertilizer itself, bamboos usually should be fertilized three to four times per year.  Do not use grass fertilizer mixes, as they are absorbed too quickly.  Palm mixes are said to do fine or some ornamental mixes.  A good Florida schedule is the first of Sept., Dec., March., and June.  Plants will usually survive without all of this but a little care is needed to have them flourish and to be as hearty, large and healthy as possible.             

 
Bamboo Insect alert

Bamboo Mealy bug has unfortunately arrived in Florida.  This little pink menace usually hides under the culm leaf and in branch sections.  Mealy is detected by seeing a white web/cotton type substance on canes.  The bugs are usually under this substance.  We have not ever lost an entire plant to this bug but it has done a job on some new canes.  The best treatment we have found at our home nursery is a retail product called Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub insecticide available at Home Depot or Lowe's etc.  This product claims to work for a year and seems very effective.  There are many other products that can also be used if you have your own favorite insecticide for Mealy Bugs.  The "Bayer" product is a systemic so takes awhile to become effective.  In the meantime...visable Mealy Bugs should be sprayed with any good insecticide soap.  The soap should be applied directly on vi sable Mealy and repeated when new Mealy's crawl form their shelter under culm leaf.  If carefully done, the culm leaf can be peeled away from plant slightly to expose Mealy for spraying.  Living in Florida is great.... but unfortunately many of the world's bugs also like this hot, humid climate.  This bug probably hitched a ride on someone's un quarantined smuggled suitcase plant  A good point for the 1 year quarantine period for all bamboo plants imported.  At Bountiful Earth, we try our best to control this bug, but sometime success eludes us due to the hidden nature of the bug's growth.  Although we guarantee the health of our plants,  we can not guarantee against Mealy Bugs.  They are a force of nature and unfortunately sometimes a part of owning bamboo in Florida.  The good news is that they apparently don't affect any plants but bamboo so fears about spreading throughout your yard should be satisfied.