Propagating through cuttings

[Bamboo Conne'isseur]

So at what point does one conclude that the cutting is a failure? My success with cuttings has been horrible, so I need to figure out what I am doing wrong. I think its possible it may be the soil, because I have been using mostly sandy soil, and the water drains out too fast. At least that is my guess...

[boonut]

We have had soo much rain since December or so that I have had 100% success with B. Lako cuttings. I think all did great.

Moral of the story... in addition to time of the year, using cuttings from bamboo that are putting on new leaves (growth), and using hormones, never letting the boo dry out is critical.

We don't have the same climate as Florida, so it is hard to say what works best for you. I use a Miracle Grow Garden Soil which specifically says "NOT for pots". I have been using that for some time. It works great for cuttings. I would think a primarily sandy soil would dry out too quick unless you have the cuttings in a mist house... then it would be perfect.

All my cuttings just sit on a picnic table in the back yard. I water once a day and that is it. The picnic table is in the shade. Keep trying and you will succeed. I tried for 2 years before I got my first Lako to take. Now - piece of cake.

[webgator]

So at what point does one conclude that the cutting is a failure? My success with cuttings has been horrible, so I need to figure out what I am doing wrong. I think its possible it may be the soil, because I have been using mostly sandy soil, and the water drains out too fast. At least that is my guess...

This is hard to say. I have a propagation I put straight in the ground that I took of Oldhammi from Richard Waldron place after he passed away, sometime in early 2006. Anyways, to this date it has not put up any new shoots but has put on new leaves and still appears alive.

However, that has been a rather rare one, as most propagations I do in pots and after about 6 months if they lose all their leaves, turn completely brown and show no new growth then I gently pull/dig them out. Since I use a mixture of peat, perlite and sand the soil is rather loose so if it has rooted it often does not damage them and it can be replanted. If there are no roots it goes in the trash pile.

I have some excellent pics on my site here:

Bamboo Propagation Pics