Extremely sickly looking bamboo

BenDover · July 2016

Have a bamboo (Phyllo. Nigra) in large container which looks extremely ill. The leaves have a yellow tinge to them. It's been well watered and I did give it some lawn feed the other week to see if that would perk it up, but still not looking great. It's not losing leaves which might suggest it's dying. I planted it in the container in May last year using compost and well rootted manure and it put up loads of new shoos but this year I've only had one new shoot. Any ideas? The picture make the leaves more green - from a distance it is yellow!

Ladybird4 · July 2016

Black bamboo will not be happy in a pot It needs to be taken out of that and planted in the garden. It is quite well behaved unlike some of its more rampant relatives. My black bamboo is approximately 15-18 feet high and the clump (5 years old) is about 2 feet in diameter. It sheds its leaves on a regular basis but they are quickly replaced.

BenDover · July 2016

Thanks Ladybird4. I put into a container because I was warned it would run. However, I'm concerned at the look at it. It wasnt a cheap purchase and I'd be upset to lose it. Might take your view on it. Have you put a barrier around yours at all?

Ladybird4 · July 2016

The black bamboo is not the 'runner' Tim. There are others that come under the 'bamboo' name and these are the thugs. Phyllostachys nigra and Phyllostachys aurea are non invasive and are therefore premium priced when you buy them. You will not need to put any barrier around yours. I just planted mine straight into my front garden and in the 5 years its been there the clump hasn't quite doubled its 'girth' in size. Your plant is just showing signs of stress due to its restriction in the pot. Don't worry about leaves looking poorly, as I mentioned in my earlier response the leaves are shed regularly but the plant is never bare. The new stems looked rather bare at first but the new leaves soon unfurl. I remove a few of the long stems but only occasionally and then I use these as supports in the garden. It will take a while for the really black stems to show too so don't worry if your stems look a bit nondescript at first. I have the golden one in my back garden and they are both beautiful. Their only drawback is that they are not really buzzing with wildlife

Last edited: 08 July 2016 16:12:51

Fairygirl · July 2016

Hi Tim - a couple of questions. How big is the container it's in? Have you had a look at the root system?

If it's been in the pot for over a year, and the pot isn't sizeable, then there's a good chance that the pot is full of roots and not much else, which means there isn't much to sustain it. Watering and feeding won't really help if that's the case. Any plant in a container for a long time needs a reasonable amount of soil to thrive.

Ironically, although many bamboos have a reputation for being invasive in the ground, they often don't do well in pots long term.

BenDover · July 2016

Hi - answer to all the questions. Yes, it is watered well. I knew when I put it in the container I would have to water it regularly. It gets a good soaking at least once a week, and when it is warm, it gets more often. I often worry if I am over watering, but read somewhere once it is virtually impossible to over water a bamboo (assume that's not totally correct). I also have been watering it when its been pelting down with rain!

I've already given it a dose of grass fertiliser which has added iron in as well. No change. I put in the dosage as per instructions on the bottle. Only did one watering can of feed as didn't want to over feed it. Says to does every six weeks.

The container is a square concrete one which is 0.5m x 0.5m. Not overly big, but then when I planted it, it didn't fill the container at all.

Its been in the container for just over one year (planted it in May last year 2015).

I use rain water from the water butt. Don't use tap water (I'm on a meter).

When I planted it, I used 50:50 John Innes No 3 and well rotted manure.

In the first year, it threw up loads of new canes. This year only one.

In terms of being a runner or a clumping type - I've read conflicting things. Some sites say it is a runner, and others (like the RHS) say it is clumping, with others saying the people think its a clumper but in reality, its a runner. Very confusing. I did read that people who have heavy soil tend to keep their bamboos contained because even running bamboo find it difficult to spread, whereas light sandy soils even clumping bamboo will spread quite quickly. I'm on light sandy soil (Bagshot sands) so do fear putting it in the ground.

Fairygirl · July 2016

Hi Tim - I think a combination of the amount of water and what you have in the container might be the problem. It looks waterlogged to me. Difficult to judge when we're only seeing a tiny part of the plant though.

Up here there's plenty of water, but the soil's clay. Once bamboo establishes it tends not to run - the heavy soil helps prevent it. ( obviously, I'm generalising because there are so many varieties, but you get the idea) The heavier the soil and the more water they have, the better the drainage needs to be. I think you need to lighten the soil mix in the container to aid drainage. The only plants that like being permanently wet are pond and bog plants. Think of the plant's natural conditions and it's habit when growing in them.

Also, does it now fill the container? If so, you may need to pot it into a bigger one.The usual practice of replacing and refreshing the soil/compost each year still applies.

If you're feeding (and I wouldn't bother to be honest) you're constantly washing it out anyway with the watering. If you do want to feed, a seaweed feed to encourage foliage growth would be the most beneficial. I'm not sure why you're using one for grass though, unless it is seaweed

Last edited: 10 July 2016 11:56:32

Extremely sickly looking bamboo

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