Weather Related Information
BAMBOO BEFORE/DURING/AFTER A FREEZE:
*If you have concerns about freezing temperatures and how it will effect your bamboo please read through the following information. If you have questions not answered on our care page please email wendy@bambootexas.com as there will be too many phone calls to respond to by phone before, during, and after a freeze.
The majority of the clumping bamboo that we grow and sell is hardy to 18 degrees. These are the most cold hardy clumping bamboos that can also handle the Texas Heat. Temps right at 18 degrees or just below at 17 degrees might just cause leaf damage or leaf loss, but anything lower than that can cause cane loss and in the worst case root/plant loss. That being said, bamboo is very resilient and comes back in most cases. The few running bamboos that we grow and sell are listed as hardy to 10 degrees and -5 (we put the Tootsik closer to 15 degrees).
To protect your bamboo pre-freeze be sure to do the following:
Mulch the bamboo well.
Water the bamboo well before and after the freeze. Do not water if 32 degrees or less.
You can wrap the bamboo all the way up with freeze cloth or tarps if you are able to do so with the size of your plants. Wrapping just the base will not be effective at protecting anything above the wrap.
You can also install heat producing landscape lights or heat producing in ground cables, although we have thus far not found this necessary.
To help your bamboo recover after a freeze we recommend that you follow the instructions listed below.
Unwrap the bamboo as soon as it is safe to do so temperature wise so that the plants can get sunlight.
When temps are above freezing water and wait. Do not cut anything until you have a chance to see if the canes turn brown or black.
If you just have leaf damage or leaf loss the bamboo will likely put on new leaves in the Spring with proper treatment (watering regularly and then fertilizing mid March and mid July).
Any canes that turn brown or black should be cut flush with the ground. We know this is hard to think about doing, but the brown/black canes will not come back and it is best to get them out of the way before the new growth comes up.
If you have green canes at the bottom, but they are brown up top you can still cut all the way to the ground or you can cut above the last live node (ring where branches come out) and wait to see if that portion lives and puts on buds. The height they are cut to is the height they will stay. If the green canes eventually turn brown and black later, which is likely, you can cut them down to the ground then. The simplest option is to cut everything that is mostly brown/black to the ground as it is a one step process and makes it nice and clean when the new shoots come up.
In the Spring (mid March) add composted cow manure, mulch, and fertilizer to the bamboo to hopefully encourage new growth. Depending on how long lasting your fertilizer is you will treat once a year in mid March or twice a year in mid March and mid July. A high nitrogen fertilizer with numbers close to 19-5-9 is ideal. We currently recommend a fertilizer sold by Lewis Bamboo. The numbers on this fertilizer are 18-5-12 and it is a twice a year application.
If the roots survive, which again is likely, you may see some small branchy growth come up in the Spring and new shoots come up in the Summer. The small branchy growth that comes up in the Spring is thin and will lean over very easily, but it is important to leave it there as it is helps the plant recover. The new shoots that come up in the Summer should be bigger than the branchy growth that came up in the Spring . We do not recommend staking or tying up any of the branchy growth or new shoots, but if you do choose to do that be sure not to do a tight wrap. The tight wrap suffocates the leaves and can cause the new tender shoots that come up in the Summer to hit the tight wrap and bend or break. You can cut this small branchy growth after the new shoots have come in and had a chance to harden off and leaf out, late Fall to early Spring.
Water on a very regular schedule, such as every morning or every other morning, and do a long transition period when switching to watering just several times a week in the Fall and Winter. Don’t worry about over watering the bamboo. They love water, especially in the Summer Heat. They are happiest with regular deep watering in an area that drains well.