Bamboo Growing Oakland CA

Show of hands: How many of you received bamboo for the holidays? There must be a lot. Grocery and drugstores to the discount marts and quick stops offered them in bags of water-retaining gel.

Word is they bring good luck, especially in romance situations. That’s all it takes in to make millions on a common jungle plant. The problem is there are no growing instructions, and we have 250 varieties to choose from on the Internet, all with varying needs.

I’ve been there. I’ve killed off a number of these cuttings packages over the years. I’ve tried growing them in water, stones, etc., and find they get about 5 inches tall and then die, no matter what.

And everything I read about bamboo is it’s so easy to raise into beautiful, 6-foot-tall wonders. Yeah, right.

My last adventure started three years ago on my birthday. There it was again, another bag of bamboo.

This time, I ignored the soil-less growth and potted the clump in my handy-dandy houseplant dirt. I ignored the advice about keeping them wet. I shunned their alleged need for full sunlight. And guess what?

It’s still growing, and a very nice plant. Of course, my luck still is lousy, but you cannot have everything in the bamboo world.

I believe the secret is to grow them in the bathroom. They love the warmth and moisture in there. I have mine in a south-facing window that gets direct sunlight about six hours a day and filtered light in mornings and evenings.

It is 3 feet from a hot-water radiator, another plus as the warmth is constant.

Winter in a low-humidity, drafty, chilly house is hardly the tropical-jungle paradise these guys love. Looking back, mine always died in winter. The leaves turned brown, and soon the whole plant was useless.

I used a well-drained ceramic pot. Here’s another lesson. Bamboo likes its space. I used an 18-inch pot for my fingerlings. They soon fell to work filling it. This summer, it will need a bigger pot.

Once these take root, you can see their growth almost daily. Gotta feed those panda bears. In summer, move your pot to your patio. Established plants tolerate mild shade.

Bamboo in water and decorative stones grows very slowly. Root the plants in the stones and fill with water. Do not fertilize.

Oh, and by the way, good luck.

Send gardening questions to jim.hillibish@cantonrep.com.