Tips To How to Grow care for black bamboo Plant?

Black bamboo is a striking choice for your garden or landscaping project or whatever you prefer for. It is known as the diet for panda bears. Before planting or caring  Black bamboo plant, first you need to know what is Black bamboo!

What is Black bamboo?

Phyllostachys nigra, is a scientific name of black Bamboo which is famous for its ebony-colored stalks, or culms. It is a running bamboo, which spreads and grows rapidly going through underground rhizomes. This can cause black bamboo to be very invasive if it is not in  control.

Those who grow ‘Black Bamboo’ in western gardens will love its graceful habits. The sharp contrast of color provided by the dark culms and green foliage is very desirable.

However, its rapid growth is not bad in all the times. Black bamboo is perfect for creating dense walls, natural privacy fences or noise barriers within the house. Black bamboo culms first appear green before transitioning to their black coloring during the second or third year of growth period. These culms leaves support bright green, long, lance-shaped leaves, providing a striking contrast against their black color.

This type variety of bamboo can grow up to 30 feet high with each culm leaves growing up to two inches thick. It is one of the hardiest bamboo species that can be grown in colder climates than the other types of bamboo. Even northern gardeners also enjoy this tropical plant by taking them in  indoors for the winter season.

How to care for black bamboo plant?

Black bamboo can grow easily under light conditions, from full sun to partial shade. New black bamboo plantings should be watered regularly until they established properly. The addition of mulch around the base of black bamboo plants should be considered to retain moisture in the plant. Black bamboo prefers soil which is moist and loamy with a soil pH ranging from highly acidic to slightly alkaline. Fertilizing is not mandatory for growing black bamboo plant, but you can do so in mid to late spring with a fertilizer which is high in nitrogen.

Black bamboo loves water and will benefit your plant soil from a consistent watering schedule. Try to keep your soil moist, but never soggy at all. For bamboo plants , which you kept in a container will need to water more frequently. Depending on the humidity and temperature in your area, you need to water these plants as often as every other day.

For those living in areas with harsh winters, black bamboo can be easily grown in containers  and  brought indoors for the colder months. For humidity, black bamboo is quite tolerant  in nature of varying conditions. However, if you kept them indoors, the occasional misting will ensure for better growth and vitality of your black bamboo plant.

The shallow root system of black bamboo means that the harsh winds could  damage or uproot them. Planting black bamboo in that area where it is easily sheltered from gusty conditions ideally. Most people have a pretty specific idea of what bamboo looks like, yet the plant actually comes in a different variety of sizes, shapes and colors.

Like most in vegetation, bamboo has green leaves but the stems, or culms, of a bamboo plant can be deep green, buttery yellow, blue, gray, or even magenta. Some of the most attractive bamboos have stripes on their culms and of course there’s black bamboo.

If you have one only bamboo plant in your garden, black bamboo might not be your first choice at all. If you have several however, adding a black species for a bit of variety is a great idea. The contrast of black bamboo poles amidst a good texture of greens and yellows which may produce a striking effect.

Even so, black bamboo does look beautiful on its own, because of its bright green foliage.
In addition to beautifying your garden or backyard with black bamboo, you may harvested and used for making some lovely arts, crafts and furniture.

Propagating black bamboo

Propagating bamboo is  the simplest and best when done by division. It is ideal way to divide bamboo plants in the late winter or early spring.

• Water the bamboo well in the day before you plan to divide it.

• Before dividing, cut off the top of the plant to the 2/3 of the culm.

• Using a sharp spade, dig up the section you would like to divide form your plant.

• It’s upto you to keep the clump large or divide it into smaller sections of 3 or 4 culms each.

• Plant each section in a hole twice as wide as the root ball and mix in compost or other fertilizer to fill in the area.

Water the plant thoroughly and daily.

Bamboo is known to be a fast-growing plant, which adds appealing attitude towards natural privacy barrier. However, to keep check on the height of your black bamboo , you should plan to prune the plant to your desired height occasionally.

Pruning bamboo can lead to control the growth if it should be done in the spring season. The nodes of the plant provide an easy visual cue like where to cut back the height of each stalk or should cut each stalk just above a node. In addition, the unwanted growth in-ground black bamboo plants by cutting new shoots that sprout from the rhizomes to ground level.

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Black bamboo can easily be grown in containers, which is a perfect choice for those who have to deal with smaller yards or who want to keep it inside. While choosing a container, try to find  out one which is short, wide, and bottom-heavy. Adding rocks to the bottom of the container can help black bamboo  to grow tall and lighter.

Since black bamboo is a running bamboo and a rapid grower so, it may outgrow its pot quicker than any other species. You will need to repot once your black bamboo plant is root-bound.

Potted bamboo will need more water than plants in the ground, make sure to keep tabs on your soil moisture stability. Place your black bamboo plant pot in a sunny, wind-sheltered area and enjoy it’s striking looks with green foliage.

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