AT A GLANCE
When does bamboo bloom?
Bamboo begins flowering at intervals of around 60 to 130 years, depending on the variety. The flowering period can last for several years, with the plant usually dying off after flowering.
When does bamboo start flowering?
Nobody can predict exactly when the bamboo will bloom: Depending on the variety starts flowering at intervals between approx. 60 to 130 years. The flowering period can then last for several years, with the grasses forming seeds and from them new plants grow. This is also necessary because the mother plants die after flowering.
also read
Despite intensive research, it has not yet been possible to find out exactly which factors are which bamboo blossom influence. All that is known is that the bloom cannot be influenced or even stopped.
Why does bamboo die when it blooms?
The flowering usually costs bamboo plants so much energy that they practically die from exhaustion. You cannot prevent this and must therefore ensure that in the case of a bamboo blossom, it is done in good time new plants can grow.
However, not all bamboo species die: Pleioblastus and Phyllostachys are among the few varieties that flower more frequently and then live on. However, this is usually a stress bloom in which only a few stalks are affected and the eyrie as a whole continues to live.
When was the last time bamboo bloomed?
The last time there was a large bamboo blossom was in the mid-1990s, in which Fargesia murielae – also known as garden bamboo – and other Fargesia were particularly affected. This bloom occurred in almost all Fargesia species around the world and led to a global bamboo die-off.
Plants currently (as of 2022) available should not flower for the next 60 years. These - at least when it comes to high-quality breeds from gardeners - are vegetatively bred offspring of the mother plants that died at the time.
Why do all specimens of a bamboo variety flower at the same time?
All commercially available bamboo plants of the Fargesia species go back to a few mother plants from which the cultivated bamboo was grown vegetatively, usually by root division. This means that they are basically genetically identical clones, which of course also flower more or less at the same time.
In addition, scientists suspect a kind of "internal clock" that is genetically programmed into the plants and is therefore responsible for the flowering at similar times.
What should one do when the bamboo blooms?
With Fargesia species in particular, flowering cannot be prevented. After flowering, you should either dig up the dead plants or cut them down to the ground. The grasses have often already seeded themselves, and their seeds quickly begin to germinate and sprout.
If a stress bloom occurs with Pleioplastus or Phyllostachys, you can simply cut off the stems in question. The clumps should then be watered vigorously and supplied with a special bamboo fertilizer.
Tip
Bamboo is dying due to lack of nutrients
Bamboo, especially Fargesia, dies after full bloom because it simply runs out of supplies. The rhizomes store little of the nutrients, which is why flowering physically overwhelms the plants.
