How To Plant Rhizomes

Bamboo business takes off in Anderson

Admire it. Walk on it. Build with it. Wear it. Eat it. There's much to do with bamboo.

Hank Mautz has long been fascinated by the versatile plant with tropical looks and steely strength. He and his wife, Marty, first started growing bamboo at their rural home in Anderson about seven years ago to create a privacy screen between their place and the neighbors' home. Their interest in the plant spread from there.

Soon they had their own bamboo nursery, Tallgrass Bamboo Farm. They sell bamboo plants for landscaping and bamboo shoots for eating. There are 15 varieties in the ground at the farm and 30 additional varieties in more than 1,000 pots.

She handles the business aspects of the farm. He takes care of the bamboo. The bamboo venture began in earnest about six years ago after Mautz retired from his job as a fishing guide, something he'd done for 21 years.

"After retiring I started doing things I always wanted to do, and bamboo was one of them," he said. "I spent time in Vietnam and I'd always been intrigued with it."

With plenty of interest, but little experience, he talked to other growers, read books and took part in Internet forums on bamboo. "People that are into bamboo are really helpful," he said.

The world of bamboo is filled with hundreds of varieties. Plants differ in size, with some more than 100 feet tall and others that stay very small. Canes can be skinny or substantial. The plants come in different colors and forms. Depending on how unusual it is, the price for a plant can be $10 or $100, Mautz said.

Many bamboo varieties are well suited to the north state, he said. "The more heat, the better, as long as they have water."

Cold weather isn't a problem either. "They are cold-hardy to around zero, or even colder," he said.

And bamboo isn't prone to pests or diseases — although gophers can be trouble.

"Gophers love bamboo shoots," Mautz said.

There are two basic types of bamboo: clumping and running. Clumping bamboo is well behaved. The plants stay where they are planted. Running bamboo, like the name indicates, likes to take off. It spreads by underground rhizomes. A new plant can emerge several feet away from the main plant, Mautz noted.

To keep the pushy plants from taking over, rhizomes can be cut or blocked by a trench or thick plastic. Mowing just-emerged shoots also keeps plants in check, Mautz said. It's important to research varieties before purchasing, he said.

How To Grow Achimenes Plant – Light, Soil, Bulbs, Rhizomes an ...

The modern hybrid Achimenes bear little resemblance to the species originally transferred from tropical America to English and European gardens early in the Nineteenth Century. These original importations soon became very popular and before 1910 many new hybrids had been developed. In the last 75 or 100 years, however, most of these varieties have been lost to commerce, now only a limited number of types are commonly grown. Many fine hybrids have been developed in the past. Their care is similar to African Violets .

As popular flowers the Achimenes at one time competed with Gloxinias and Begonias as florist flowers, because of their ability to withstand better the usual house and window garden conditions of heat and humidity. For unheated greenhouse, window garden, or outside under a tree or lath shelter few plants can compete with Achimenes for beauty and length of bloom. It is almost impossible to praise them too highly.

Like most plants of the Gesneria family, these are excellent ornamental plants for their foliage alone even if they had no flowers, but to once see the choice colors in the blooms and to realize the ease of their culture is to immediately become an Achimenes enthusiast.

The plants grow from small tubers, bulbs or rhizomes which vary greatly in shape and size among the varieties, but usually resemble small pine cones. A very interesting problem is to procure a number of mixed tubers, sort them out by variety through their individual tuber form, then to check your determinations when the plants come into bloom. Since the foliage varies almost as much as the tuber form and the flowers, you can begin to check your guesses as soon as the plants begin to grow from their various leaf shape, coloring, and texture.

Plant the tubers in a good porous soil – an African Violet mix is ideal. Water sparingly until up, then top dress with a a light application of fertilizer. To attain specimen plants, do not spare the tubers when planting. Put a dozen or more in a 6 inch pot or hanging basket. Good results can be obtained with fewer bulbs in a pot by pinching out the center growth when about 4 or 5 inches high, but it takes somewhat longer for the pot to reach specimen form.

Keep the plants moist after growth has begun. A night temperature of 65 to 75 degrees F. hastens growth and blooming, however, we start and carry ours along in an unheated greenhouse which in our area means a night temperature of 50 to 60 degrees during most of the spring and summer. This retards blooming somewhat over the use of heat, but we feel gives a more robust growth and better color and lasting qualities in the blooms.

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