How fast does bamboo shoots grow in a day in the UK? [VIDEOS]

Over the last 8 weeks, we attempted to answer the question 'How fast does bamboo grow in a day?' We identified the growth rate of the running bamboo that we propagated from the rhizome cuttings. 

Though this work is ongoing, we are excited to reveal the rate at which the bamboo is growing.

Bamboo Phyllostachys aureosulcata spectabilis grow at a rate of 1.43cm per day.

Find out about our latest work on bamboo plants. 

 

Growing and Caring for Bamboo Plants

We are monitoring the growth rate of the bamboo Phyllostachys vivax aureacaulis and Phyllostachys aureosulcata spectabilis to show how fast bamboo grows in the UK.

These two running bamboo plants are common and we hope that their growths will give some answers to the question.

See the GBP video on our YouTube channel, Amazing Bamboo Plants, here. This video is the 4th of a series about Growing and Caring for Bamboo Plants.

Propagate bamboo rhizome cuttings

We propagated the rhizome cuttings from a recent pruning, see the work we wrote about earlier. We also noted that there are several factors that can affect the growth rate. 

The obvious factors are the changes in seasons. We propagated the bamboo at the end of Summer. The Autumn to Winter conditions can affect the rate of growth.

Slug eating the leaves of the bamboo is another factor that we mitigated successfully by applying Slug and Snail Killer around the new bamboo. 

In our experience, slugs disturbed the bamboo shoots and leaves from growing. As we added the protection, the bamboo shoots and leaves we left undisturbed.

How to propagate rhizome cutting in two steps

We propagated the bamboos in a 'growing medium' (a bucket with nutrient-rich soil) for 4 weeks, then transplanted the rhizomes cuttings into 'holding pots'. 

A two steps propagating technique that gives the cutting a 100 percent chance of growing.

The result, as indicated in the 4th video, was astounding!

How to calculate the growth of bamboo shoots in a day

We calculated how fast bamboo grows in a day by taking the measurements at two weeks intervals. Then, we divided the length by the number of days it took for the new plant to grow.

Bamboo growth rate = length/number of days

The measurements from the 4th and 8th weeks indicated that the new bamboo shoot grows at a rate of 1.43 cm per day.

As mentioned earlier, we propagated the bamboo in two steps, from the 'growing medium' to the 'holding pot'. So, we used the measurements from the 'holding pots' to minimise the margin of error.

If you do not have bamboo plants and want to buy potted bamboo plants, check out the UK retailers here.

Find out how fast bamboo shoot grows in a day

Follow GBP's YouTube channel as we track the progress of the Phyllostachys aureosulcata vivax and other bamboo plants we grow.

So far, we have 4 videos, each showing the different stages of propagating bamboo from rhizome cuttings.

1. Propagating medium (Video 1 shows 2 weeks growth)
2. Propagating medium (Video 2 shows 4 weeks of growth) New Growth Eaten by Slugs
3. Transplanting from Propagating medium to Holding Pot (Video 3 shows 4 weeks growth)
4. Calculating the Growth Rate (Video 4 shows 8 weeks of growth) - how fast does bamboo grow in a day

From our experience, we can confirm that bamboos are, indeed, fast-growing plants.