Spring is the best time of year to start your fertilizer program for bamboo. After a long winter without feeding, your bamboo may look a little yellow. Or a lot!
Bamboo needs nitrogen almost year round . Some types are easy to keep green, such as the Phyllostachys ’Bissetii’ . Others, such as the Phyllostachys aurea “Golden bamboo’ , are not so easy. In most places of the country winter is too cool for roots to be growing and taking in food, so the plants are not able to replenish its nitrogen. Bamboo is still using up nitrogen, and depleating its stored food. This is what makes your bamboo looks so yellow by the spring.
Beginning in March as temperatures warm and roots begin to grow, we top dress with a 12-8-8 slow release fertilizer. This particular fertilizer is designed to give our plants a quick boost of green, just before spring shipping season. If you prefer to use organics, and as a home owner we would encourage you to, it would be a good time to apply manures, such as steer or chicken. There are some vegan fertilizers available from such companies as Down to Earth, in Eugene, Oregon. By May, after the propagation and shipping seasons have settled down a bit, we reapply a top dress. This time a much higher amount of nitrogen, usually around a 20-25 n. This would be a good time to re apply a manure. It is important to remember that if you are using manures, salt build up in your soil can contribute to yellowing of your bamboo. Chicken manure is high in salt and can build up in soil if there has not been sufficient rain to leach it out. It is a great source of nitrogen, but it is a good idea to limit the amount by alternating with another fertilizer, such as steer manure. In the fall we re-apply with the 12-8-8, again. Here in Oregon bamboo roots are actively growing in September and October. Applying more fertilizer in the fall as the roots are going through a growth period is a great time to give your plants a supply of food and nitrogen to help them through the dormant winter months. One word of caution: do not use fast acting lawn fertilizer on bamboo. It can cause them to burn, especially the new shoots or younger plants. Happy gardening!!
