BAMBOO SEEDS GERMINATION AND GROWING

BAMBOO SEEDS GERMINATION AND GROWING

Bamboo Seed Germination

The following steps are how I germinated bamboo seeds last year with a success rate at around 75 per cent; the seedlings have all survived through the winter indoors and are now ready to pot on.

Growing Medium

I used two different growing mediums last year. One with a general purpose peat based compost that I put through a sieve to get any big lumps out, and mixed 50/50 with sand. (Keep the big lumps for later on when you pot seedlings on, they will help with drainage). The other was using peat free compost just as it came out of the bag, and it was quite coarse.

I had the same results from both growing mediums.

You can buy purpose made seed compost if you would rather do it that way.

I am going to try a topsoil mix this year and will post the results once known.

While your seeds are soaking through the next stage you can prepare and warm up the growing medium, so get it ready first.

Soaking Seeds

Soak the seeds in water for 24 hours to start to soften them up.

This process also helps judge the viability of seeds because those that float are probably not viable.

A viable seed will normally sink to the bottom of the water.

It’s up to you if you want to try the floating seeds as well or not.

I just put my floaters in a pot altogether and none of them germinated so I guess the theory is pretty much correct.

Planting Seeds

Use a seed tray or very small pots for the bamboo seed germination process.

Put a layer of growing medium into the tray; leave enough room for a layer on top of the seeds, about half an inch.

Place in a warm place for 24 hours to raise the temperature of the compost ready for planting the seeds the following day. Placing plastic over the tray should help keep it warm. Germination temperature should be at between 20 and 26 centigrade.

Place the seeds on top of the compost around 2 inches apart so their roots don’t get tangled up. There will then be an inch on each side of each shoot when they appear.

Cover the seeds with a fine layer of around quarter inch compost; this is where the sieving comes in handy as you don’t want big lumps of compost on top of tiny seeds. Don’t put too much compost on top. If you imagine these seeds in their natural environment they would just drop to the ground, they would not be buried under piles of heavy compost. Bamboo is a grass and grass seeds usually geminate successfully on top of compost but I like to put a small amount on top just as a bit of protection when the seed starts growing and to ensure they do not dry out.

Place the tray in a warm place, in a plastic bag or covered by something that will retain moisture along with letting air circulate.

Bamboo Germination Time

Different bamboo species seeds germinate at different lengths of time; there are no hard and fast rules. It does generally take around 30 days but may take shorter or longer.

So don’t throw out the seeds unless you are sure there is no likelihood of germination.