Florida Bamboo Forum

Hey Scott, My Oldhamii Highrose is Shooting!! I've only had them in the ground, what, a little over a week? Of course I gave them a little shot of "Palm Fertilizer", daily watering and ( Finally) some good Rains and they were 7-gal. Plants, but still, I am impressed!

Old Hippie

That is awesome! Mine has produced about 4 shoots this year, recovering after it's decimation from this past winter's freeze. I'm really hoping that it doesn't continue to die back every year up here in Jacksonville.

Now two of my three Gal. Oldhamii's are shooting as well!! I know what you mean about the Cold, but from what all of the "Locals" are telling me, last winter was extremely rare. Another thing you might consider though, is placing a more cold hardy species between your Hamii's and the prevailing winter Winds...........

I have an oldhamii that I transplanted into the ground from a 3 gal container, 4 years ago, and it has died back every year (near Tallahassee, FL). Every year when the main shoots come up, they get a bit bigger. I hope that it eventually gets big enough for some of the culms to survive the winter. It has sent up several nice shoots this year.

I had two banana Plants out last Winter and I saved them by buying some wire mesh,( that they use to re-inforce Concrete slabs),( it's 6"x6" Mesh). anyway I made a circle about four foot Dia. and 5' high and anchored it down with a couple pieces of re-Bar, drove into the ground and tied to mesh with tie wire. then on Cold nights I would cover the Mesh with one of those "Frost Cloths",( from Lowes), then cover that with Plastic sheeting, stick a 60 watt. Bulb down at the bottom of the Plant and kick a little loose Hay around the bottom, to seal out any drafts. I got two spots frost bitten, where the frost cloth was in direct contact with a leaf, but didn't loose a single plant and we had several nights in the low Twenties. As you know though, it only last for a few hours, until the Sun comes up and warms back up. Then I would have to run out and un-cover them, LOL. My Wife said she was jealious, I told her it wasn't anything personal, just a Farmer thing,LOL........

Yeah, I should have done that with my citrus trees as it would have saved me from buying another one this year. As to protecting the bamboo, it's hard to when it's 40 feet tall, and I do have more cold hardy bamboo planted around the more tender and they still got hit. The ONLY two bamboos that got no freeze damage was my Mutabilis and Gracilis.

As to my bananas, they all have rebounded nicely, though no fruit yet.