Different bamboo varieties and plants respond with varying success to propagation by culm cuttings. Probably the best technique for home gardeners is to cut off and bury complete culm sections of the desired bamboo. early springtime would be the best time to do this. this will not work however on running bamboo as they require rhizome sections for propogation. select a mature culm 2 or 3 years old. cut it into sections 4 to 6 feet long. cut back all the branches leaving a sigle bud on each branch. you can leave the largest branch at each node(one per node). these large branches should be selected so that they are all in the same orientation on the culm, so they will all stick upwards when the culm is buried. dig a trench long enough for the culm about 4 to 6 inches deep. bury the culm section with the longer branches sticking up above the soil. flood with water daily for a week, then twice a week for a couple more weeks. after that water often enough to keep the soil damp. you should start to see buds and new leaves. hopefully new roots and new small rhizomes will develop and produce new shoots and eventually a new clump. after about six months you should be able to carefully dig up the entire buried culm with roots and rhizomes intact. cut the culm on either side of each rooted node and pot or bag the rooted sections and grow in a protected environment until large and strong enough to be replanted in its permanent home. commercial nurseries use a variety of different culm cutting techniques for different varieties of bamboo which require more technical skill and controlled environments not usually available to home gardeners.
