The first day of spring is still two months away but it seems like it is already here! We are having a long stretch of spring like weather here, 55 °F and sunny almost every day for two weeks.
Late winter is a good time to divide up any containers of bamboo that you may have.
The tools that you will need to do this with are very simple, a saw, either a hand saw or a reciprocal saw, and a pair of pruners. We use a cordless reciprocal saw here to cut through the bamboos that are grown in containers. It is much faster, taking only 5 to 10 seconds for an experienced employee to half or quarter a five gallon size plant. But a hand saw will work fine if you have just a few plants to divide. Take the plant you want to divide out of the pot. You may have to cut it out of the pot if it is root bound. The best plants to divide are the root bound ones. Younger plants tend not to have enough material to divide. A root bound bamboo will hold its roots together much easier as your saw is cutting away at the soil and root mass.
Generally you can find a natural line through a plant to make a cut. Don’t worry about losing some culms as you are cutting. It is not unusual to cut off some of the culms as you cut. It is more important to keep the rhizomes intact than the culms. Try not to damage the culm buds that are on a rhizome as you are cutting. They will be next seasons new culms. Some times it is necessary to cut off the terminal end of a rhizome. After a rhizome has stopped growing for the season, if the tip has not shot up out of the ground it will not do so next year either.
You may see some of your leaves starting to curl up on you after you have divided your plant. It is OK to remove some of your culm tops. Cutting back a culm will help preserve the plant.
