Phyllostachys bambusoides, Giant Japanese timber bamboo (Madake)

This giant bamboo is one of the most cold hardy of the large bamboos and is a very popular bamboo. It could reach up to 15 m.

This variety of bamboo is cold resistant down to at least -18°C, but its rhizome could survive after at least -25°C. However, in colder areas, where temperatures regularily drop below -18°C, this bamboo could hardly get taller than 8-10 meters, after many years. In areas outside of the temperature inversions in southern Bulgaria, the bamboo could reach its full potential and more than 12 meters of height.

It is important to regularily water and fertilize the bamboo. This bamboo tolerates lime soil quite well.

All photos are from our experimental filield in Assenovgrad, Bulgaria, zone 7b. We grow this bamboo there for more than 10 years.

More information is available in Bulgarian on our forum:

http://forum.palmi.bg/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=44